Today was our regional stake conference. It is amazing to think that the church is so huge that the general authorities cannot make a personal visit to each stake. I loved each of the talks and felt privileged to be able to have them talk to me. Terry and I sat next to Matt and Jen Jarrett. I can't wait to be a grandma. Jen says any day now. She is due in 10 days. She says that I get to be her Mesa Grandma. Though this baby will have tons of people lining up to love it, Jen is so sweet to me. OK, back to the conference. Matt was taking notes on his phone and I was scribbling on this little 2"x 3" pad I found in my purse. Jen was teasing me saying that I needed a bigger pad. The thing that I loved the most was said by Elder Packer. He talked about his responsibility to warn the Saints. He said that the thing he felt he needed to warn us most about was how to receive personal revelation. Since I was a primary president back in Arkansas, I have felt very strongly about this. Our generation needs to listen to the spirit. We have gotten very far away from hearing the holy ghost in our daily lives. We need to identify it in our personal lives and then teach others how to be guided by that personal revelation. He said so many great things. He talked about preserving marriage. That we can have tolerance and that this word is used as a weapon. He said " have tolerance, but not for patterns of transgression" He warned that change is coming but to have faith, not the antithesis of it... fear. He warned us to teach our children about faith vs. fear. He left our region with a blessing that we should remain steady, inspired and gather as families and do what we have been taught to prepare for hard times. I could feel the love that he had for us living here in "the" valley of Arizona.
