About every six months, Rich seems to utter the phrase: "Let's go to Conference!"
Well this spring, it actually looked like it might work out for us to take the trip! Conference was at the end of our Spring Break too, so the kids only needed to take one day off school. So we called the Stake Clerk and got our name on the list of people who wanted tickets for Conference.
Since you need to be eight years old in order to attend Conference, we decided to leave Katia and Mackenzie at home, even though Katia had just turned eight. We planned to take our three middle girls, that way we could all fit in the big, safe diesel truck.
Rich at the start of our journey.
Backtracking a little . . . the stake clerk told us that there weren't any tickets available for us for conference. So we were prepared to wait in the Stand-by line-ups for two-three hours to try and get in. But then, six days before we were planning to leave, we got a call saying we could have the six tickets that were reserved for our stake president since he and his family wouldn't be attending. I was so relieved and excited to be able to attend the Saturday afternoon session, and sustain the prophet with him right there in the same room! I was also happy to know we wouldn't have to stand in line for hours because the forecast was calling for rain all weekend.
Now Jas decided that she really wanted to go to Conference . . . and we did have six tickets! She checked out her college schedule and made it all work out so she could come along too. Originally she was going to be one of our babysitters, but Chelle and Logan took on the role of babysitters (sure appreciate you guys!!!), with Grandparents as back-up if needed.
We were happy to have Jas come along with us, it just meant someone needed to sit in the undesirable seat - middle front. So we all took turns, although Jas mostly stayed in a back corner doing school work on her laptop.
To help pass the miles . . .
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. . . the girls took pictures and edited them.
Avatars Carlee and Jenna.
And Jordyn the quadruplet.
We left home on Thursday morning and stayed that night in Idaho Falls at the Hampton Inn (they have the best breakfasts!!!). After dinner we had to visit the temple grounds of course.
Carlee, Jordyn, Jenna, Rich, Jasmine
While Rich is gazing adoringly at me, our three rugrats are posing in the background. We didn't know they were doing this until we saw the picture. I wondered why Jas was laughing while taking the shot!
We went into the Visitors' Center for awhile. A young missionary, Sister Kuhns, guided the girls and I to a display and Rich stayed at the door chatting with other missionaries. So he was right there when some Koreans came in the door. Sister Kuhns came back to us after the presentation and was so thrilled to tell us that Rich was able to talk to these people in Korean and tell them a little bit what was going on. Apparently they all got a laugh when he explained to them that they were going to go in a room and watch a telephone in Korean. So they helped him remember the word for "video". I love little heavenly orchestrated coincidents like that!!!
We all listened to Sister Kuhns as she showed us a display of prints of the twelve paintings by Arnold Friberg that are in The Book of Mormon. There are some amazing stories there - we'll never look at those pictures the same way again. Click here for info on this amazing artist who died three years ago.
We had to leave the Visitors' Center because it was closing. When we got out, the temple was all aglow. I love this picture of Jordyn standing in a Holy Place.
We continued on our way to Utah the next morning in the rain. We stopped in Bountiful and drove around the beautiful temple there and hit a store or two. We decided to stay at the Hampton Inn again in Salt Lake City because we really liked it in Idaho. Rich saw one off the Interstate and pulled in, and came out again with a reservation for the last available room in the downtown Inn. So we checked into that Inn and were happy to find that we only needed to walk three blocks to the train that would take us right to Temple Square. No need to find parking spots!
So we set off exploring! Temple Square (and our Inn) was full of tourists there for Conference. Lots of happy people there - a fun place to be. The girls even saw Richard G. Scott while we were on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
Here we see those magnificent doors on the Salt Lake Temple. Rich and I had wedding pictures in front of these doors almost twenty-four years ago. We haven't changed a bit, and neither have the doors!
Beautiful girls and a beautiful temple.
Sure looks like rain!!! Apparently, it had really poured all morning before we got there.
We took a stroll through the new City Creek Mall with its retractable roof. Rich and I couldn't help but notice, as we walked along with our four long haired blond beauties, that they were attracting some attention. Guys watching them, actually approaching them, and honking made it pretty obvious. So we whisked our lovelies back to the Inn for swimming and watching some of the final basketball games of March Madness!
On Saturday morning we watched the morning session of General Conference in our hotel room. Then we walked our three blocks to the train, with a little Wendy's lunch stop on the way, and rode to Temple Square. There were people everywhere holding up signs saying they needed tickets to Conference. There were also quite a lot of people on the streets playing nice music.
We made it to the Conference Center. I think this building is an illusion because it looks pretty small on the outside, but on the inside it's massive. It seats 21,000 plus all the huge isles, and waiting areas and technical places, like restrooms (we learned to call them that - we asked one lady where the washroom was and she had no clue what we meant!). We had to be in our seats thirty minutes before the event started, because then they opened the empty seats up to the Stand-by line-up. We were assigned to section 7 in the top balcony. No seat numbers are assigned - you can sit in any row you want, they just tell you to move all the way to the right. That way, the empty seats are on the left which makes it easy for the Stand-by people to be seated.
Oh, and before we got our seats, we were able to look at all the original Book of Mormon paintings done by Arnold Friberg. We had only seen prints in Idaho Falls. Seeing the texture of the paintings made them even more awesome, especially the one of the Savior appearing to the Nephites.
We're in our seats now, waiting for conference to begin! It really was incredible to watch it all fill up. We were about five rows from the front there in the top balcony. Before the opening hymn was sung, there were still lots of empty seats around. But when I looked around after the hymn, it was all full.
The view from our seats.
The BYU choir performed at this session and they were already seated when we arrived. I loved watching all the General Authorities arrive and greet each other and take their seats. Dallin H. Oaks was in his seat long before anyone else! But the most amazing part was about ten minutes before the session was scheduled to begin. There was noise in the room as people are finding their seats and visiting, but suddenly a hush fell over the whole congregation and everyone rose to their feet as in walked President Thomas S. Monson. Not a sound was heard as every eye in the Conference Center watched our beloved Prophet walk in and take his seat. The silence was powerful as the Spirit witnessed to me again, and I'm sure to many others, that this indeed was the Prophet of the Lord, here to guide us in these latter days.
In the Saturday afternoon session of conference, we have the priviledge of sustaining all the church leaders. I found it extra-special to be able to raise my hand in support of these leaders while actually being in their presence. And . . . it was especially exciting to me, when they were reading out the long list of newly called Area Seventies, to hear the name of my cousin!!! He will be serving over the Pacific. I didn't see him or his family, but I was sure looking because I knew they were there, somewhere down in the front!
And since I have the opportunity to serve in the Young Women's organization right now, I also found it special to be there when the new General YW Presidency was called. It was so neat to watch them take their seats and greet all the other sisters that they had to pass to get to their spots. They don't show you that on TV, but it took them about five minutes to finally get to their seats!
Okay, my last favourite part of this session was the intermediate hymn. Wow!!! Singing "Rejoice, The Lord is King" with 21,000 other people was incredible!!! I mean, it's an incredible hymn anyway, but wow!!! Especially the last line, "Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!" It has never been so easy to hit the high notes! I really can't describe it - you've just gotta experience it for yourself!
After conference was over, it took quite a while to exit the building and crawl down the stairs on the outside of the building. There were people everywhere, creeping along like ants. Once we crossed the street onto Temple Square, it was like we were walking a gantlet, only a good one! About fifty Priesthood brethren, each holding a Hymn Book, were lined up on each side of the street, singing hymns. It was truly beautiful to walk through this tunnel of men's voices singing the gospel hymns.
We strolled around Temple Square and went to the Visitors' Center with the Christus. There were tons of people taking pictures by the Christus, so we just watched. It's always fun to watch people!
It was such a treat to see and smell the flowers!!!
Rich loved the popcorn on the trees.
We went in the other Visitors' Center where there was a model of the temple. I'd never seen that before so that was neat to see what the inside of the temple looks like. I've been in the temple before, but you can't really understand the architecture - you're too busy looking at all the beauty of the rooms. It was fun for Rich and I to remember where we sat before we were married, and to see where the sealing rooms were.
The magnificent Salt Lake City Temple.
While looking at the exhibits and reading the dates, we realized that it was April 6, and that it was the 120th anniversary of the completion of the temple, and the 160th anniversary of when the pioneers started building it. So many good things happen on April 6th!
It was a glorious day on Temple Square! As we were heading back to our hotel, the crowds were moving in for the next session of conference - the Priesthood Session. The train was packed with men and young men in their white shirts and ties, all heading to the conference center. It was awesome to see . . . and the girls sure enjoyed it!!!
In our hotel room that night, we saw the weather forecast was calling for blizzards the next day, so we decided to head home earlier than our original plan. We got all loaded into the truck a few minutes before 10:00 the next morning, just in time to listen to conference on the radio as we began the trip home. We didn't hit any snow until Idaho, but there was no accumulation. By the end of the day though, when we were finished driving, the roads were getting pretty slushy. We got another hotel and did some shopping the next day before completing our final leg of the journey and getting home. The next day all the girls went back to school and I made the trip to pick up my two littles, Katia and Mackenzie. I sure missed them! Mac just wanted to be close to me, and kept playing with my face, stroking my cheeks and pulling out my lips.
Now the trip is over and our memories of details are fading already. But there are special parts that will always stand out in our minds. I'm so glad we had this opportunity to go to General Conference and have some special testimony building experiences and other good times with our daughters.
We are truly blessed!
