Peel me of the Ceiling - General Conference in the MTC

Tuesday October 5th, 2010

Familia!

Can you believe I leave in 3 weeks?! If you can, think of anything else I will need before I leave the country! Ah so crazy…. I am sooo excited!!

So how is everyone? Thank you so much friends and family for all the packages dearelders and letters--it seriously means sooo much to me to receive them, and I am so grateful for all your love and support. Camille- I loveeddd your letter, and I will write you back soon. I hope you had fun at homecoming! Nick- how are you? What is goin on in your life? Dad- so stoked about yoga and all your working out- I am jealous. Mom- the invite for the 5oth anniversary is sooo tender- I love it! Love you all so much!!!

So something funny that happened this week was- one night we were all in our PJ’s just hanging out ready for bed, and this loud fire alarm goes off, and every just goes crazy and frantic. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen- just so many ridiculous sister missionaries running around outside just not knowing what to do. Some girls were in the shower, so they ran out in their towels and were like hiding in the bushes- hahah…. It was sooo great! I was like yelling at everyone to go to the book- store, because that is what the policy paper says to do, but it was so funny I was lovin it. It happened because some Hermanas put in popcorn too long…. lame. Oh yeah and my companion, Sister Gibson from Vegas is sooo funny. She is seriously my best friend- I love her! Every time we leave meals and go anywhere she runs into the pole in between the doors and it is sooo funny because it always looks so real and everyone believes her and freaks out, and we all just laugh. Don’t you just love the MTC! I think everything is funny here just because I have been here for so long. So I finally saw Mike Gooch! I also saw Weston and Trent Anderson! I see them all the time and we all just bond and love life and party in the MTC. When Mike first saw me, he like touched my back, and I was with my whole class and teacher, and everyone was like ahhhh haha -because you can’t touch sister missionaries at all! It was just so funny and I was awk about it too…. I didn’t know what to do. I told Mike and he like didn’t get it--he said, “OH what… I cant touch you at all?! Hahaha--love life, love the mission, love how awkward everything is here!

So conference weekend!!!! Oh my gosh- where do I even begin?! First off, Friday night before conference I am not even kidding you right now I was not able to sleep….I was so excited for conference all weekend. It was literally like Christmas Eve-- I was just lying awake in bed tossing and turning and I was so excited for the next day! Hard to believe? I know! So Saturday was honestly my favorite! I encourage anyone that is reading this right now that was not able to watch any Saturday sessions to go on the internet and watch them, because they seriously are amazing and I promise you that if you watch them, that you will be able to change and improve many aspects of your life.

So right when Monson got up at the very start of conference, I was brought to tears. My whole life I have grown up in this church, knowing we had a prophet….but being here now to teach of its truth, I feel this even more. I have never felt such a strong impression in my life than that moment when he stood up, and I looked him in the eyes and I just saw God and Christ in his happy and loving countenance. I just knew he was a prophet of God. I looked around the gym of over 2000 missionaries and I just couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be apart of this amazing work. I knew that it was not just by chance that Monson addressed and talked about Missionary Work and it just made me even more excited to be doing this work, and to know that the prophet of the Lord is supporting us and loving us as we are out here. A day before the conference me and my companions did a fast to be well prepared for conference and receive inspiration, and I can promise all of you that I have been given answers and received inspiration from the divine and true words that came from the prophet and the apostles this weekend. I hope everyone else had a chance to have the same experience!

So I truly loved Holland’s talk and how sincere it was and heart felt. I want to take this time to thank my parents for the wonderful example they have been to me in my life, and the strength you will forever be to me. I love how Holland was so grateful for the sacrifices parents give up for their kids in their lives, as they serve missions. At that time, I just looked around the room and thought about how many missionaries families around the world that are sacrificing and doing everything for their kids to be on missions, and I was just brought to tears, and grateful for parents. I hope that everyone daily has a strong and sincere appreciation for their parents, and I hope that you are constantly looking to them for advice, encouragement, hope, love, and peace. I know that there is nothing more promising and lasting than families, and especially the love parents have for their kids. Cherish and take advantage of this in your lives, and look to your parents for counsel and encouragement, because they love you so much, and can help you, and when you do this you will gain so much trust between each other, and you will overtime see yourself how your parents and your Heavenly Father see you. Thank you mom and dad for NEVER giving up on me and I know that if it were not for your hard working and strong and loving parenting, I would not be here today. Parents--do not ever give up on your kids. Always have faith and hope in them and even in troubled times and confusion, know that no matter what, if you give them unconditional love and praise, they will come back and they will become the person you know they can be.

I also liked when one speaker talked about temples and families being eternal and when they said, "Temples and families being sealed to one another give children roots and spiritual wings". I am so happy and thankful for having been given those spiritual wings, and I know that through eternal families these wings will be able to lift us all up and help us soar to where we need to go, and we will become who we are destined to become.

I really liked in Christofferson’s talk when he said "Man who walks in the light makes that light and power his own, linking himself to God for life". Let us link ourselves to God for life, and embrace that light in our countenance, and our souls for higher good and beauty in everything we do. I also loved Uchtdorf’s talk about standing still, and how we can “become great by mastering the fundamentals of life". It is so important for us not to always be rushed or always busy or stressed, because we will not experience the simplicity and beauty that is given to us, that can make our lives more whole. "In times of trouble -lift up your eyes and see what truly matters”. Don’t let hard time bring you down but always see their good and always remember in your life what truly maters to you.

My favorite talk was definitely Monsons on gratitude. I loved when he said, "Thanks opens the doors of heaven" and "God has smiled on upon all or hours of work". It is so important for us to be grateful daily and to have that attitude of gratitude. We have been given so much in our lives and we need to appreciate it all. I think that it is good to have a prayer in the day, maybe the one at night before you go to sleep, that can be only a prayer of gratitude- and I promise that in doing this you will see more thankfulness in your life and you will be more aware of your many blessings, which will bring you much humility and teach you and bring you closer to God.

Family and friends-- I hope everyone had a wonderful conference weekend! And like Christmas, it is sad when the presents are opened- and your cleaning up and the day is over, and we must wait a year for the next magical date to come, but I know that we are so blessed to have this opportunity to hear from the prophet and apostles and I cannot wait for that next session to come! Live in gratitude daily, appreciate your family and parents, and know that God loves you. This gospel is a blessings and such a promise. "The sun never sets on the work of the Lord it continues to shine through the world.”

Love you all!!!

Adios :)