General Conference

I love watching General Conference every six months.  I'll admit that as a child, I dreaded it because that was "back in the day" of having to go to the chapel and watch it via satellite in the chapel.  Today I watched General Conference on the computer while sitting on the couch in my pjs and feece robe.  I love technology!

Today's General Conference blew me away!  Now that young men can serve missions at 18 years old and young women can serve at 19 years old, I have a feeling that the missionary efforts of the LDS church are going to be even more incredible.  I'll admit that I started tearing up when Pres. Monson made this announcement because I realized that Nicholas will graduate when he's 18, which means he could potentially go straight from high school to being on a mission for 2 years, with Renae possibly following suit a year and a half later.  I never felt a prompting to serve a mission, though I considered it for a brief time when I was 19.  I still probably wouldn't have served a mission, but I wonder if some of my college friends would have.  I know a lot of families who could be potentially affected by this right now, too, and I'm interested to see how it all plays out.  Above all I know that this was an inspired decision from the Lord.

I don't know about you, but combining the announcement about missionary service with all of the talks on parental responsibilities, I'm kind of feeling overwhelmed.  I told Brandon that while the bar was raised for missionaries a decade ago, this conference kind of raised the bar for parents.  I wouldn't say that I've ever taken the sacred responsibility of being a mother lightly, but when I think that Nicholas could graduate from high school one week and leave for two years the next, I realize that every moment I'm presented with to teach them by word and by example is precious.  The importance of consistent, righteous traditions in the home really impressed me today.  FHE, family prayer, and family scripture study are important everyday, but things like teaching my kids to recognize spiritual experiences as they occur, teaching them through example (and not just word) that the things in For the Strength of Youth are the standards we support in our home, and not shying away from sharing my testimony seem to be just as important as those everyday things.

So, I'm feeling overwhelmed a bit by what is expected of me, but I'm grateful for it, too.  And just maybe even a little excited for what the future holds for all of us.