WELCOME, ELDER HOWELL! PLUS CONFERENCE COMMENTS

Elder Howell, the newest missionary in our district is waiting his turn at the pool table before district meeting.

He's going to make a great addition to the district!

Right after district meeting, the elders moved the furniture, and the sisters and we changed into our painting clothes and finished the job not quite completed last month.

I can't let this opportunity pass to mention general conference last weekend. I have always said each time, "It can't get better than this," and then I feel the same way next conference.

We saw the conference in the chapel in Zollikofen, right next to the temple. On Saturday evening we saw the Saturday morning session live. Then on Sunday morning, the brethren saw priesthood meeting recorded. In the afternoon Sunday we saw Saturday afternoon recorded, and on Sunday evening we saw The Spoken Word and Sunday morning session live. We will see Sunday afternoon next week in our sacrament meetings. I am astounded at the technology that brings us all together almost simultaneously around the world. And we hear the messages in our own language. What a blessing to live when we do!

Now, I have to say that there was a glitch in the Sunday morning broadcast. The transmission faded in and out. While President Eyering was speaking the screen would go black for a few minutes and then come back on, but more time was black than on. Finally it stayed black, so we started to sing hymns. By the time Elder Bednar spoke we were singing along and he would come on the screen for a second or two, and the singing would fade hopefully, then it would go black again and we would continue singing without having missed a beat. That continued through out his talk. It was really funny and fun. Except it was also frustrating because everybody wanted to hear Elder Bednar, of course.So we didn't really hear his message or anything that followed. Lenski and I are going to watch that session on the internet tomorrow while our laundry is washing.

I haven't heard them all yet, but one of my favorite talks this time was Elder Neil A. Andersen. His theme was, "You don't know everything, but you know enough." Very comforting, especially to missionaries, new moms, and gospel doctrine teachers. He made several other quotable statements that would make be good sound bites. One that stood out for me is,

"Faith is not only a feeling. It is also a decision."

I had not heard it stated quite in that way before, but it rang so true to me. I love conference and afterward always feel motivated, uplifted, and that I have learned something.