And a weary one.
It all began about six weeks ago when we learned that local youth would have the opportunity to sing in the choir for the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference. I was immediately excited and, right there in church, texted Seth, "You have to do this!" It wasn't that he didn't want to; it was more that he was already so busy with two different choirs, Les Mis rehearsals, school, and work. But I kept reminding him what an opportunity it was, likely a once-in-a-lifetime one. Ultimately, Seth decided to go for it. Since then he has rehearsed for two hours every Sunday evening, preparing four wonderful songs for Conference.
When the weekend finally arrived, Seth was super excited. Me too, but the whole thing definitely changed our typical General Conference weekend. Seth had to be downtown at the conference center at 10:15 a.m. on Saturday, following an all-state choir rehearsal that began at 7:30. Gerald and I picked him up from all-state rehearsal at 9:30 and drove him downtown. Then we hurried home just in time to catch the morning session, where, in my favorite talk of the weekend, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland reminded us that though celestial goals may feel quite far out of our reach, we can take heart in God's perfection, and "be grateful that God is merciful and a peacemaker because we need mercy, and the world needs peace." It was Elder Holland at his best; if you missed it, I highly recommend you look it up.
As soon as the morning session was over, Gerald drove me to the Trax station, where I rode back downtown. They gave each kid in the choir one ticket to the session, and no, I didn't offer it to Gerald. How surprised are you? I have never sat down on the main floor of the conference center, and that was crazy cool. Even cooler was looking up at the choir loft where the kids were rehearsing and seeing my baby right up on top:
I fought back tears I was so proud of him. The choir did a lovely job; my favorite song was a medley of "I'm Trying to be Like Jesus" and "He Sent His Son." Simply beautiful!
And just like that, it was over. Seth and I managed to find each other outside the conference center, even sans cell phones (they didn't let the kids have their phones).
Gerald picked us up, and we came home once again. Poor Seth went straight to work, while I got to relax and watch the Priesthood session as I waited for Eli and Amanda to arrive.
Sunday was our typical Erichsen-Webster General Conference, aka "pajama church," filled with Twinkies, Swiss Rolls, Mint Milanos, Oreos, Almond Joy bars, red vines, and more. Seth was so tired, and I had decided not to wake him, but he got up anyway to join us.
Gerald got up early and drove Isaiah to the airport, on his way to Lisbon for a week. It was his first time in Portugal, so he was excited. Gerald got back almost in time for the first session. All the talks Sunday were excellent, but if you'd like to know my personal favorites (and even if you wouldn't, because this is my blog, so...), Elder M. Russell Ballard's denouncement of racism, sexism, and nationalism was amazing, as were Elder Quentin L. Cook's discourse on equality as God's children and Elder W. Craig Zwick's heartwarming message of love.
It was wonderful to have three of our kids here watching Conference together; my mommy heart was happy! Here are Shulamith, Eli, Amanda, and I in our matching Conference pajamas. Couldn't quite talk Seth into it, and Matt? Not a chance. Haha.
Eli and Amanda really like babies, so Shulamith lent them her Theodore for one of the sessions:
When it was all over, we ushered in October by decorating our house for Halloween and feasting on french dip sandwiches, chips, and pasta salad. Amanda's brother and sister-in-law even joined us for dinner with their little girl. We don't have family of our own here in Utah, so we were grateful Amanda was willing to share hers. After ice cream cookie sundaes, we had to send Eli and Amanda back to Rexburg. We can't wait until July, when they will graduate and move down here, so we don't have to keep sending them back.
And there you have it....
Conference weekend. Wonderful weekend weariness.
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