Women's Conference and Mom.

My sister, parents, and I went to BYU Women's Conference a couple of weeks ago. It was such a rejuvenating, uplifting, enjoyable trip! We were there from Wednesday-Sunday, and Women's Conference was Thursday & Friday.

We started off Wednesday by going to Rodizio Grill in SLC. It's a Brazilian steakhouse where they walk around with skewers of meat and you get to decide what/how much you want. I went to one in Provo when I got my mission call and found out I was going to Brazil. Many thanks go out to Kira who put the idea in my head by suggesting we go to Tucano's, which is another restaraunt with the same idea. Her suggestion helped my mind to quickly fixate on the idea of enjoying some of the amazing flavors of Brazil that just aren't available here. Looking at the websites for both restaraunts, I knew that Rodizio for sure had some of the things I was reminiscent of, so we decided to go there. Things like Pao de Queijo (cheese bread), Farofa (this delicious crunchy stuff you put on rice), Guarana (Brazilian soft drink), Pudim (like Flan but even BETTER), and Bolo de Brigadeiro (chocolate cake with chocolate candy sauce on top). It was AMAZING, just like I anticipated.

After we ate we walked off the pounds on Temple Square. We first took a tour of the Conference Center. It was so amazing! I have been to the Conference Center a variety of times, but never actually took the tour. It was really cool to see/hear things that I hadn't seen/known before.

The Conference Center was also hosting an art show of the winners of an art competition to depict how Christ shows forth His love. There were a couple of things that really struck me as I looked at the pictures. One was in a couple of different paintings set to portray the "10 Virgins." It struck me that the 10 ladies were probably friends and cared a lot about each other. They all were there waiting, and I imagine that it was probably painful for the 5 to have to leave their other 5 friends behind. Both of these pictures really portrayed that to me, and 1 shows one of the 5 wise virgins looking back longingly for her friends, and the other shows one of the 5 wise reaching back longingly for her friends. It made me stop to think about unity and truly loving one another. Which was a great segue into one of the big things I got from Women's Conference, which I will discuss momentarily. :)

Another thing that hit me in the art show was a depiction of 3 Nephi 17, where the Lord tells the people to bring any that are afflicted in any manner, and He will heal them. Here again is a portrayal of someone's deep love for their brother, as he carries him on his shoulders so that the Savior can heal him. That and the reality that the Savior really can and will heal us of ANY afflictions if we will just get to Him.

After our tour was over we walked through Temple Square. The flowers were in full bloom, and it was absolutely beautiful and so refreshing!

The next 2 days we went to Women's Conference at BYU. It was so great to be back on BYU campus! It was really a nostalgic experience that brought back a flood of wonderful memories. We stayed with some wonderful friends in Orem. He is related to Archibald of Archibald's restaurant in Gardener's Village in West Jordan, so he introduced us to Gardener's Village one night. It was so yummy, and a really fun little place to shop! So fun, in fact, that we ended up going back on our way out of town, and had to buy another suitcase to get all of our goodies back home. :)

During the opening session of the conference Thursday morning something the music chorister did really hit me. She had us stand and sing, "Now Let Us Rejoice." Except as we started singing she quickly stopped us and talked about the strength that we can have as we all join in together. She had us restart, singing all together as one. It was so powerful! Then the words, "We'll love one another and never dissemble...and ever be one," meant so much more than they have before. Because at that moment we all did love one another and become one, and the power of that togetherness was incredible. My hope is that we can all be more unified and have that power of oneness together. It also hit me in the next verse, "With fail we'll rely on the arm of Jehovah, to guide through these last days of trouble and gloom." Let's face it, times are tough! And our Savior really will guide us through the trouble and gloom we face as we turn to Him and allow Him to.

Saturday we went to the Geneology library in Salt Lake and found amazing amounts of information on ancestors on my mom's side. For the first time in my life, I feel a REAL sense of excitement about geneology. That night we met Bobbi for dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Salt Lake, and it was so much fun! Thank you for the great laughs and friendship, Bobbi! We're all excited to see you when you're here in November!!

Sunday morning we went to the Tabernacle Choir's "Music and the Spoken Word," then walked through one of the visitor's centers before we had to catch our plane back home. It was such an uplifting morning. I was so personally spiritually fed, and I am really grateful for the experience of the whole trip!

Now I'm back home. Mom's birthday was yesterday and Mother's Day is today. I am so grateful for my mom--for her consistency, strength, and love. Last night those of us in town got together for a yummy dinner of kabobs, rice, veggies/dip, fruit, and a delicious apple crisp Danielle made. It was a lot of fun to be together, and to eat good food. :) Tonight I went over to the parental's and made hamburgers and hot links for dinner. It was a weekend of good eats and good peeps! :)