Sunday Thoughts

Early on in the year, our church leaders announced that we would be having a special stake conference in April, which was today.  I think there has been a lot of anticipation of what might be happening, especially when they said that a General Authority would be present.  To our surprise....nothing big, no changes just fantastic talks!  The Stake Relief Society President talked about the importance of teaching our children the value of hard work and how it makes them better people and teaches them how to serve.  Our Stake President gave a great talk about the Savior.  The presiding General Authority, Elder Costa gave an excellent talk.  One of the things that really struck me is that our homes should be like the Temple.  We should feel the spirit in our homes as if we were at the temple.  We should talk to one another as if we were in the temple.  It really put things into perspective.  We as a family have a lot to work on!  He also talked about the importance of having meaningful relationships with our family and friends.  Not just Facebook friends, but ones that can support you, help you and love you on a personal level.  I think we live in a time when everyone is so caught up in this virtual world (I am just as guilty), they we rarely take the time to make a phone call and have a real conversation, write a real letter to a distant family member or even communicate with our children one on one.
I have really struggled with how I can break some of my virtual habits and be a better mom.  I love staying connected and reading about personal stories of friends and family, but I also know how much time it takes away from family.  I need to find a happy balance.
The Stake choir sang a beautiful song that really brought the spirit into the meeting.  I love how music has a way of doing that.  I am really glad our family made the sacrifice to get up way early to be there way early to get a seat so we could be spiritually fed on this beautiful Easter Day.  After the meeting, the kids stood in the long line to have the chance to shake the hand of a General Authority.  They were pretty excited about that!