All I can say is, "WOW!"

I went to Women's Conference with a good friend, and it was so amazing! I don't think words will ever do it justice. The most amazing part was the final hymn of the final general session. We had just listened to Elder L. Tom Perry speak and were singing "The Lord is my Light." Sometime during the second verse ladies started standing up. By the end of the third verse every sister in the audience was standing and the Spirit had poured in so fully that I found it hard to sing. I was crying too hard. I wonder if that is what it was like in Kirtland when the temple was dedicated and the heavens were opened. It was impressive to see thousands and thousands of sisters standing and paying tribute to the Savior and acknowledging His role in our lives through song.

To begin our experience...

This was my fourth time to go to Women's Conference. This friend and I had gone 3 times before, but had taken a couple years off as we sent missionaries and in her case got a daughter married off. So, it was time to go back. We stopped at a couple stores and visited my in-laws on the way to Provo, and didn't arrive in the dorm until 10 pm. Then we were dismayed to find that although we were roommates she was in the May Hall and I was in the Chipman Hall (Helaman Halls). Then we had to go to the Central office for housing to get reassigned a room. The young women who were handling our problem were so cheerful and efficient despite the late hour. We finally arrived at our room after 11 pm.

The cool thing was...Our room was in Merrill Hall! That Hall is named after my great great grandfather, Merriner Wood Merrill, who was an apostle and the first president of the Logan Temple. AND that Hall was the one I lived in during my first year of college. Not only that! We were in the same wing AND on the same floor as the one I lived in back then. It was so unreal!

Front view of Merrill Hall

Back view

I also ran into a sister who had lived in the same apartment complex as I did at the same time I did. We hadn't known each other then, but it was still like we had been old friends. On Friday my friend and I walked to the Brick Oven for dinner, and then walked back to the dorm. We had to leave for home early so we decided to get gas that evening and I drove her past the homes (apartments) we had lived in when Johnathan and Timothy were born. After getting gas we ended up visiting my parents. So many memories!

I can't pick out just one tidbit from any of the sessions that is my favorite. The Lord directed me to the classes I needed most. I was amazed that no matter what the subject all the classes were centered in Christ! It was truly a spiritual feast!

Tender Mercies

I've had a very long, hard week full of stuff I won't go into here. It had nothing to do with Tom or any of the kids. They have been a great support to me always. My best friends have been there for me to lean on and my journal is full of pages and pages of everything. It has been very difficult, but I'm getting through it and I'm seeing things much clearer now. Heavenly Father has been here for me through it all.

Last night was the Ward Progressive Dinner and since I'm still the activities chairman I've been busy cooking cheesecakes all week. We had a successful evening and everyone had lots of fun, but when I went home I was emotionally and physically spent and wondering if I wanted to attend the Stake Women's Conference or stay home.

It was a really good thing I decided to attend the Women's Conference. The very first talk was exactly what I needed to hear today. It was about Esther and how she had been raised up in her time for a specific purpose. Sister Rawlins continued to apply that to our lives since we have been saved for this specific time and purpose. She talked about how Babylon in our day is spiritual in nature and that we need to keep our values intact.

Here are some things that really touched me:

The Book of Mormon was written for us and is full of prophecies about our day. Do you think Heavenly Father would leave things up to chance? We are the Lord's A-team. We are His first string.

Satan's tool is to keep us overwhelmed. He keeps us busy. He keeps the noise of the world so loud and constant that we get distracted and our senses become overloaded so we cannot feel the Spirit.

Remember who we are and whose we are.

"The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us." Spencer W. Kimball, Families Can Be Eternal, November 1980

We, like Esther have been raised up at this time for a specific purpose.