As you can imagine, conference might not be very fun for little ones. The talks are rather long and well, you know, it's church, so it isn't exactly a dog and pony show. However, we had a fabulous family friend in England, who invited us every conference weekend to her house. She would make the weekend special - she would cook lots of amazing food, give pedicures to the girls, let the children play, etc. She took over child care duties as well, so I could sleep in!
She would also give each child a 'conference pack', which consisted of a notebook, glue stick, pencil, and small pictures of all the general leaders of the church so that the children could paste the picture of whichever leaders spoke into their books, and then take notes on what they said.
We have been going to her house for years to conference, so my children know all about conference. They know how important it is, and they look forward to it because we've managed to make it fun for them.
This year, however, we didn't have the option of going to our friends' house. I had to make conference fun myself! I did it by buying two dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts to mark the occasion. The response I got from the kids was incredible. You would have thought that they were told they were going to Disneyland or back to England for a visit. I didn't realize they were so easy to please!
Anyway, there were two two-hour sessions on Saturday to watch, which we did. We always try to go for a walk in between sessions, to let them let out some energy. We went for a walk around an English riding center, which is near our house. It really is a beautiful place. Here are some pics:
The track is huge, and reminds me of the Circus Maximus in Rome!
Here are the kids, getting out their wiggles:
After the two Saturday sessions, we then had the rest of the day reserved to spend at the science museum at Balboa Park in San Diego. Tim has ranted and raved about Balboa Park for months now, and I had never had a chance to see it. Balboa Park is a complex of buildings and gardens that were built in the early 1900's as part of a sort of 'world's fair' exhibit, where San Diego could show off what it had to offer to the world. Tim was right to rave about it; it is a beautiful place with stunning buildings. The buildings are in a 'mission' style so the whole place has this Spanish feel to it. Some pics:
..... AND what I didn't realize was that they have re-created Shakespeare's Globe Theater here! All I can say is: COOL! Last February we visited the recreation of the Globe Theater in London, and having seen that, I would have to say that the one here in San Diego seems a bit smaller. But, hey, it's Shakespeare, and I am SO EXCITED to see Othello there this summer.
After we wandered around the Park, we finally got to the science museum. There were tons of hands-on activities for the kids, plus we got to see an IMAX theatre production - the kids had never been to one of those. Anyway, they built, stacked, shouted, pulled, pushed, stared, listened, and all the other things you do in a science museum:
Sunday was two more session of conference, and then choir practice at our house with a potluck dinner afterwards.
I always find conference to be so inspiring. The talks this time were no exception. Elder Jeffrey Holland talked about enduring persecution as Christians, as did Elder Lawrence Corbridge and others.
As church members we have experienced alot of ill-will and opposition lately - as I think many other Christians have as well - particularly regarding our stand on same-sex marriage, but in general just regarding our belief in God, as aethism seems to be 'trending' at the moment in much of the world. I was moved when Elder Corbridge spoke of the persecution and sufferings that Christ endured, and asked 'Why did they not leave Jesus Christ, the Son of God, alone? Because He is the truth, and the truth will always be opposed.' So, prepare for more opposition ...
Another point that struck me was made by Sister Linda Reeves. She talked about how she struggled as a mother of 4 young children. She and her husband went to the Lord in prayer with their difficulties, and recieved that answer that what was important in raising a family was not so much whether the house was clean or other things of that nature, but that they used their time to talk with their children, listen to them, and rejoice in the gospel of Jesus Christ with them. I love that idea! Important reminder.
Finally, my favorite quote from conference was by Sister Jean Stevens: 'The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a checklist of things to do; rather, it lives in our hearts. It is not weight, it is wings. It carries us!' Absolutely.
No comments:
Post a Comment