Conference Day

So today was the big Conference trip and it was pretty much awesome. We packed a little lunch and drove up to Salt Lake during the morning session. (Don't worry, we listened to it on the radio.) We had a really good time and we even got to see Ty's sister Connie a couple of times. It was really cold, especially when we first got to Salt Lake, but it was still a lot of fun. Here are some of the things I loved about it (in no particular order):

1. Chatty McChatterson that sat next to me - We were sitting in the 4th row of the top balcony on the very end of the row (minus one seat). This older man sat down next to me and seriously chatted me up for over an hour. I think people like that are hilarious because I am so not that way. I would never just go up to a random stranger and talk to them about nothing. He told me about his granddaughters that were singing in the choir, about the lesson he was teaching the High Priests next week, he even asked if he could "share an inspirational thought" from the Duty to God book. It was funny. He was really nice.

2. Being in the Conference Center even though we were too far away to really see anyone - At first I thought, "If I'm going to watch the screen the whole time I might as well do it from home." Once Conference started though I realized that it really does make a difference to be there. There were no distractions so I could really concentrate on what was going on.

3. Sleeping people - Two in particular. First there was a man (who I thought was a woman for at least half of the session) with his two boys sitting in front of us. He fell asleep about 20 minutes into it and his head was slumped down on his chest. Within a few minutes both of his boys, one on each side, were also asleep with their heads on his shoulders. I thought it was cute. Then there was another man who was sprawled across his wife's lap sleeping when we first sat down. (An hour before Conference started.) He literally slept through at least 87% of the session. I think he woke up for the congregational hymn and one other time to switch places with his wife. (I'm not sure why.)

4. The congregational hymn - I really love Redeemer of Israel, and it's even better when you get to sing it with thousands of other people. It was a really cool experience.

5. Protesters - I don't know why but they make me laugh. I mean, if you're going to go out of your way to interrupt someones special event you can at least actually protest something. Most of their signs were just vague scriptural references about God condemning sinners. Are we supposed to be the sinners? I'm not sure.

6. Elder Carlos H. Amado's talk - In particular the part where he said that any two people can accomplish anything as long as one of them is God. I thought it was really funny, and really profound at the same time.

7. The usher for our section -She was a really cute old lady and she was sincerely concerned that I was going to fall down the stairs to my death (and Leo's). She made Ty go down first so I would hit him if I fell. Then she made me hold my purse in the other hand so I could firmly grip the hand rail.

8. Ty being afraid that the balcony was going to collapse - Apparently it freaks him out that there are no columns supporting either balcony. I looked over at his notebook at one point and he was drawing sketches of the balcony collapsing and little stick people falling to their deaths.

There's a lot more, but this is getting kind of long. I'm just going to end with two (minor) things that I didn't so much love about our trip.

1. The static cling issue that my skirt was having - Just bad enough to be an all day annoyance.

2. My shoes - This one requires a short story. I decided to wear a pair of shoes that I haven't worn in a while because I thought they would be more comfortable that high heels to walk around in all day. It would have been a good idea except for the fact that they did this:

to both of my ankles. Stupid shoes!

Any how, that's my Conference story. Oh, and I get to go to AZ two weeks from today. YAY!