Occasionally, though, a weekend comes along that is jam-packed full of activity, and I think to myself, "This is what every day is like for Rebecca and Patty." They are truly awesome, by the way, both of them.
So Friday night I set up two crock pots full of food: El Pato chicken meat in one and teriyaki chicken in the other. Those cooked overnight, and were ready to bag up Saturday morning. Then I went to the store and bought stuff for spaghetti sauce and ground turkey taco meat. Back home, I cooked all that up, and the final result of all this was 10 family freezer meals and 11 individual frozen dinners. I really hate to cook, so this is huge, people.
Already on a serious path of productivity, I drove to DI and dropped off all the bags of clothes from the back of my car, then took my car through a car wash, vacuumed out the interior, wiped down every surface, and even spot cleaned the upholstery here and there. How impressed are you? Right?
By then it was time get ready for the adult session of stake conference, so I showered and got dressed and headed to Mac Grill for a quick dinner and chat with Amanda, who had only a couple tables at the time. Eli was working the expo line, so he couldn't really talk to me, but at least I could see him, and that's better than nothing.
The adult session was good; I got to hug so many people from our former ward. All of them asked about Seth! In the new ward, people don't know Seth, so of course they don't ask about him. Why would they? It was lovely to see so many friends.
I came back home and did school work until falling into a state of blissful sleep, which lasted the entire night, a definite victory, when all too often my stupid anxiety doesn't allow me a full night's sleep. Woke up Sunday morning feeling great; donned my only orange dress, in honor of National Gun Violence Awareness Weekend; and drove to the stake center an hour early for the general session because no, I can't handle the hard, folding chairs way back in the gym. Instead, I found a nice padded pew near the front, where I sat with Eli, who had been at an earlier leadership meeting, and worked on my gospel doctrine lesson for next week.
Both sessions of stake conference were enjoyable. Several young adults spoke Sunday morning, including Seth's good friend, Daniela! She is working to complete her mission papers, and Seth is super excited to find out where she goes. Another young man spoke, who had recently completed a service mission. His pure testimony was inspiring, and I was so grateful he was asked to speak.
Throughout the weekend, I was pulled into a discussion on social media about finding common ground with those whose opinions are different from ours, political perspectives in particular. (Wow, I didn't even plan that alliteration, but dang it works, huh?) As I participated in this discussion and thought about my many relationships with folks whose opinions differ from mine, in some cases, intensely, I was reminded how thankful I am for the ability to find common ground. There is always common ground. For example, there's the person whose comment on my post initiated this discussion. He and I agree on nothing related to politics, absolutely nothing. And yet! We both want the Toronto Raptors to crush those Warriors and send them right home. Common ground.
We are, every one of us, children of Heavenly Parents. And ultimately, what else really matters? Whose we are is far more significant than we can even imagine! That's what I thought about throughout this busy weekend as I spent Saturday prepping food. That's what I thought about Sunday as I wore my orange dress and remembered those who died so tragically, victims of preventable gun violence. And that's what I was taught in so many ways in stake conference. When we remember whose we are, we can always find common ground.
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