April 2016 General Conference Notes

These are my notes from this April's General Conference sessions! Some of the Goals I've blocked out because they're private, but I've left visible the Counsel, Topics, and Notes sections for each talk! I also have a summary page for the entire General Conference weekend that I'll be sharing soon, once I finish compiling my favorite pieces from each talk into it.

Genealogy + General Conference

This week I had a pretty cool genealogy experience. Monday morning I was doing some work on my dad's father's side, and ended up stumbling across a line of our tree that had been missing for AGES. My uncle had hit a dead end working on that branch years ago, and I ended up coming across it totally by accident! When I added it to my tree, something amazing happened: I discovered how far back the line had been worked on. Whoever it was that had been working on this line was INCREDIBLE, because they had worked the tree back to the year 100 A.D. Yes, you read that right. 100 A.D. I'm related to King Louis II from France, Charlemagne, and many more other amazing people!! I could hardly believe my eyes as I was looking over the huge chunk of family that my little discovery had added to our tree. Family history work is AWESOME!!

Zoe is just SO CUTE. I can't handle it!!

Tuesday morning Jake and I went to the temple, which was another special experience. On Wednesday, however, the day started out a bit rougher than most: Jake accidentally elbowed me in the eye HARD. I thought I was going to have a black eye, that's how bad it was! Thankfully my eye was just a little swollen for the day, but I definitely teased Jake about it quite a lot.

On Friday Jake got off early from work, and we discovered that we had received our tax return in the mail! It was perfect timing because we've been needing to go to Idaho Falls for a few weeks, but haven't had the money to make the trip worth it. Not only did we have the money now, but we had the time to go, since Jake was off work earlier than usual. We scrambled to get ready and headed out the door. Zoe wasn't too thrilled about being left home alone for several hours, but it was well worth the trip! 

General Conference this weekend was AWESOME! 

Saturday morning I made homemade cinnamon rolls (check out the Kitchen Adventures tab for the recipe) and settled in on the couch with a notebook and pens, ready to have my questions answered and to learn more about why the gospel is so wonderful. My favorite talk from Saturday was Elder Bednar’s; it was just so cool to hear all that doctrine about baptism and the Holy Ghost being linked to the sacrament. I’d never looked at things in that way, or known all that stuff. So cool!

Jake watched the Priesthood Session that evening and I tuned in a bit, and caught some of Brother Owen’s talk and I’m so glad that I did, because something he said is my all-time new favorite quote about Christ, and probably my new favorite quote from General Conference:

"Christ is the greatest leader because He is the greatest follower." 

Not only is this an awesome thing to learn about Christ, but I’m planning on applying this into my life as a teacher. If I want to be a great teacher, I need to be a great student, and show that to my students. I need to model for them how I learn, to show them that not only is it possible to learn from the books we read and the writing we do, but that you should be learning throughout your life, even after you're done being a student in school.

Sunday's sessions of conference were amazing as well of course, and I'm really just so grateful that I had the opportunity to hear from our church leaders and really absorb their counsel. I tried a new method of taking notes this time around, and I really love how much it helped me truly listen to what was being said! My favorite talks from Sunday were President Uchtdorf's and Elder Holland's, which is really no surprise because they are always incredible speakers.

 I'll be sharing my notes from General Conference in another post, so stay tuned!

A Busy Week + General Conference

This week was another hectic one with lots of homework, classes, cleaning, and of course spending time together with Zoe. The weather in Idaho right now is still pretty wonderful, so Jake and I have enjoyed taking Zoe on walks almost every night this past week!

This past weekend was General Conference, and I loved every minute of it. Jake had to work on Saturday so he wasn't able to watch those sessions with me, but Zoe and I cuddled up on the couch together and enjoyed hearing from church leaders and being inspired. Over the past few months we've lost three apostles, and over the weekend three new ones were announced! I can't wait to learn more about the three great men that have been called to help lead our church. Hearing them bear their testimonies on Sunday morning was so touching!

My favorite talk was given by Sister Neill Marriott, one of the counselors in the General Young Women Presidency. Her talk was so sweet and I felt the spirit so strongly as she testified to us of the power of pressing forward in difficult times, and shared her own personal experiences with trials that have tested her faith. I can't wait to go back and read her talk again once it's online!

Easter + General Conference

This week was a GREAT one here in Rexburg! Jake and I had lots of little adventures, and we can't wait for the weather to keep getting warmer so we can have more outdoor adventures.

At the beginning of this week, I finally found out what textbooks I'll be needing for next semester. I'm taking 5 classes, and need 12 books. That's the life of an English Major, I guess! I'm so grateful that my grandma Maime insisted on paying for them, and they arrived from Amazon later in the week. I'm hoping that I don't have to bring all of them to my classes during the semester or my back might break!

On Tuesday, Jake and I started learning ASL. Jake's littlest sister Sierra has DiGeorge syndrome, and due to that she is slowly but surely losing her hearing. She's learning sign language at the moment, and Jake and I have talked for a while about starting to learn, but never really got around to it until Tuesday when I decided to look up videos on YouTube. We spent about an hour watching videos and learning some basic expressions or words, and it's been pretty fun so far. It'll be a good way for us to spend time together while making the most of our time.

Thursday Jake had the day off! When I found out about that late last week, I was VERY excited and immediately texted my friend Tiffanie. I've been wanting to have someone take some photos of Jake and I, but timing hadn't worked out with Jake's work schedule for that to be possible. So we jumped at the chance! Jake even cooperated and wore pants for the occasion (he wears shorts 24/7 except to church, even in the snow). The pictures turned out beautifully and we had so much fun, so thank you Tiffanie! 

On Friday we received another package from my Maime! Inside was an AWESOME 1,000 piece dog puzzle. We've been working on it since Jake got home from work that day for a few hours at a time, and aren't even at the halfway point! But we're having a lot of fun working together on something. Puzzles just might become our "thing" to do constantly. At least now I'll always know what to get Jake for a birthday or Christmas!

For Easter, Jake and I celebrated here together just the two of us, as we have with every other holiday this year haha. We bought each other treats (some of which I kept a surprise from Jake, cuz I'm the Easter Bunny!) and I put them out this morning for us. Jake got lots of candy and a new puzzle, and I got candy and some makeup. I made cinnamon rolls from scratch and they were AMAZING! Then we settled in to watch the Sunday sessions of conference.

This Week's Spiritual Thought

General Conference this weekend was AMAZING!! I absolutely loved the talk given by Linda K. Burton about strengthening our marriages and homes. I guess I'm a little biased since I'm a newlywed, but I thought her talk was so inspiring and just really wonderful. I can't wait for the talks to be available online because I'm definitely going to go back and read hers again!

As I watched conference, I was on Twitter posting the one main principle I got from each talk after they were given. I took more detailed notes in a notebook, but I wanted to share small messages online. Here are the principles I got:

Packer: procreation is essential to the Plan of Happiness

Sister Burton: lift and help each other to become what the Lord would have us become

Oaks: make "a root in ourselves" so that nothing can shake our faith

Clayton: belief and faith require our personal choices and actions

Perry: families will go forward into the eternities

Bednar: when we're frightened, remember God. Godly fear dispels mortal fear.

Christofferson: no one is predestined to receive less than everything God has to offer us.

Andersen: teach our children to feel the Spirit. Keep practicing.

Renlund: God cares more about who we are and who we're becoming than He does about who we once were.

Ringwood: serve others because we are disciples of Christ, not for praise from men.

Cook: when we follow the Savior, we flourish and become glorious

Monson: by attending the temple, we will be strengthened and receive peace.

Sister Wixom: make the gospel personal.

Teixeira: look for God everywhere; it is a worthwhile pursuit.

Causse: don't take the gospel for granted! To marvel at the gospel is a sign of faith.

Neilson: never lose hope in those who lose their way. We cannot embrace all their choices, but we can embrace them.

Holland: Christ will never let us fall!

Uchtdorf: His grace refines us, and helps us to become our best selves.

Hales: satan doesn't want religious freedom on the earth. Use our agency to protect the rights of ALL to have it.

Pearson: build our lives on the covenants we make. Once made, there is no going back. Stay by the tree!

Peno: don't make decisions of eternal value with the perspective of mortality

Anderson: pray to recognize the miracles of God in our own personal lives.

Zeballos: seek our own salvation through the actions we choose every day.

Sitati: charity shouldn't be seen as a duty, but as a joy.

Nelson: no other work transcends that of righteous, intentional parenting. 

I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to listen to all four sessions of conference. It's such a blessing that we get to hear from so many amazing men and women every six months and receive strength from their testimonies and insights into the gospel!

Happy October!

October is HERE! I'm so happy, since it feels like Fall has officially begun now. The mornings in Rexburg are getting colder and colder, but they're usually around 35 degrees when I take Jake to work. That means sweater weather! I "celebrated" on Monday by drinking some apple cider from my adorable owl mug!

On Monday after my classes, I went over to the new Supercuts in Rexburg hoping to get my hair cut...only to find out that they hadn't opened yet. However, they made me an appointment for Wednesday afternoon. Since I'm a student and it was their opening day, I got my hair cut for FREE! That made me feel even better about finally chopping 6 inches off of my hair. It's amazing how much lighter my neck feels now that all that hair is gone!

On Wednesday, I had an...exciting evening. I climbed onto our kitchen stool and reached up to get our crockpot down so I could start dinner, and for some reason forgot that the lid was on the crockpot. It came crashing down...and bonked me hard on the top of my head, hard enough that I saw stars for a few moments! Thankfully the lid didn't break (and neither did my head) so all is well now, I just have a bruised noggin!

This weekend was General Conference; a special semi annual event for our church. It happens in Salt Lake City and is broadcasted all over the world! Speeches are given by our church leaders on a huge variety of topics. Jake had to work on Saturday and missed the speeches given that day, but we spent today curled up on the couch in our PJs watching our church leaders speak to us about how to live more Christ-centered, charitable lives. It was a great weekend! We ended the day by taking a walk around our neighborhood, and I took lots of pictures of the unique scenery Rexburg has.