Report on the General Women's Meeting

Hello, all! Just posting about the latest in Church and personal news. On a personal note, we are still working towards moving day on Wednesday. Today was our last Sunday in our current ward. It was a very emotional experience for me. I was surprised that Amy and I were again not released from our callings today. I did find out, however, that our ward clerk, Brother Kurt Walker, who was one of the two I had trained to substitute for me in recording the Sacrament Meeting (the other was the Executive Secretary, Logan Day, who is a good friend of Joanna and Lyle and was my home teaching companion for a time while in the ward), had been asked to take over my duties in recording and editing the Sacrament Meetings and burning them on to disks for the homebound. So I turned over the recording device and the wires with it to him today. Tonight if time allows, or tomorrow, I will be contacting Brother Walker via e-mail and turning over to him all my files of Sacrament Meetings and all the notes to the homebound members that I have written. He will stop by and pick up the other supplies (CDs and CD sleeves) sometime this week. Going to Elders' Quorum was very difficult today. I commented a lot during my last meeting with these good friends. And I volunteered to give the closing prayer, invoking the blessings of the Lord upon these good brethren. And so passed our final Sunday in our current ward. Our first Sunday in the new ward will be the week after general conference. In the meantime, moving day is Wednesday. My parents have pledged to help as much as they are able to. Amy's brother Troy has consented to help, as has my brother Neal, and both are bringing trucks on Wednesday to help us move the big stuff. Neal will bring his wife Sammi to help as well, and he even said his little daughter Sage, whom they will pick up midday Wednesday, was good at helping with moving things. I am grateful they are raising her to be a helpful young lady, but I can't help wondering how much help a 2 or 3 year old can be. No offense intended, of course. We may even be able to move some of the smaller stuff into our new place on Tuesday night. But Wednesday's the big moving day. My Elders' Quorum is on call to help us if we need them. We hope to be able to move everything that needs moving on Wednesday with only one trip, but that remains to be seen.

That being said, it's time for a brief Church News update. The General Women's meeting was held last night, as I said. I touched briefly on that meeting in my last post but wanted to give a more detailed summary of who spoke and what was said. The Deseret News gave a good report on the meeting. You can read that at this link. In summary, Sister Rosemary M. Wixom, Primary General President, talked about discovering the divine identity and purpose each individual has. Linda S. Reeves, Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, spoke about recognizing and claiming the blessings that come from the making and keeping of sacred covenants, through baptism, the Sacrament, and temple worship. Sister Carole F. McConkie, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, spoke of the righteous cause for which we are here on earth to serve. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave a parable of a young lady visiting her great aunt and discovering the reasons for her aunt's happiness. The Church website gave excellent summaries of these address, which can be found by following this link.

Now all that remains is to wait for this next weekend. I am always excited about General Conference, but this go round I am especially anticipating it not just to see how right my predictions for changes in general church leadership and the speaking order I put together are, but also to hear the messages from all those who will speak, especially our 15 prophets, seers, and revelators, three of whom will be newly called to their positions. And that's aside from any other major announcements, such as more temples or other items like unto that. I will be particularly looking forward to President Monson's remarks, whether he speaks just a couple of times or gives his traditional four addresses. You can be sure to count on my report of all general conference proceedings here on this blog as time and circumstances allow. In the meantime, this week will mark a move for us. And that will include finding a new pharmacy. I will keep you updated on all the good stuff as time and circumstances allow me to do so. Until I write again, all the best!