All about Light

It felt a little sad not to have a President of the Church preside over General Conference this year, but thankfully God has such a secure safety net in place that we almost didn't notice. Prophet after prophet after prophet shared carefully sought wisdom, direction, and Light, and I just can't get over the blessing and miracle and comfort of it all. It's one of my favorite things, and one that keeps my feet so firmly rooted in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Prophets on the earth... amazing.

We were in Flagstaff for General Conference this year. 

Josh Birdno was getting married, and just as we couldn't imagine missing General Conference, we couldn't imagine missing his wedding. We were there in North Carolina for his birth (did we watch his big sister Mikayla during that night?) and have watched him grow all the way up into a fun and happy man.

So, we blended the two events.

We were still able to keep most of our General Conference traditions alive. We rented a quiet airbnb with cozy couches and a big tv, prepared the breakfast casserole and soups ahead of time, bought the greatest cinnamon rolls of all time from Chais, and packed the frozen orange juice concentrate in coolers to make Orange Julius. We emptied small candies from pretty cups and filled small pages in plain notebooks.

And now we have been taking those notes and continuing our work of becoming.

Sunday night was Josh's wedding, and this was the cutest thing ever.

Josh and Cami did some swing dancing to "Life is a Highway" for the mother/groom dance, and now I have to figure out how to convince Carson to swing dance with me at his wedding. 

It might be easier to ask an axolotl to fly, but I will certainly try.

The whole wedding was beautiful and centered on Christ from the ceremony to the vows to the party. Even their guest book was a Bible; each guest put a tiny post-it note next to their favorite verse explaining why it was their favorite. 

It was special and wonderful to feel the Light of Christ shining brightly all through the evening. It didn't come close to the Light I feel in the temples, but if I were to get married again today, I would certainly take a lot of ideas from Josh and Mckennah, starting with that Bible.

Speaking of axolotls...

All dressed up and ready for stake conference. 

These two are the funniest. They are so different in the best ways possible and help to balance out each others extremes. Sometimes the Lord sends his Light in the form of a very best friend.

Lisa sent me this picture moments before they all got into the car to come meet us at stake conference (Brian and I had to go early), and we hoped that Nora would show up as an axolotl. It would have added a bit of liveliness to the stake center that morning.

But she did not.

Amazing as that would have been, it still would have taken second place in the competition of My Favorite Things of the Week, because this is hands down my favorite: 

Those smiles are all genuine and I can't believe how blessed I feel to have such a closeness in our family. Lots and lots and lots of Light here.

And I hope that closeness lasts forever.

One of my favorite things about Carson's weekly calls is how much we laugh. With all seven of us on the call it's hard to have a thought make it all the way from its beginning to its end, but we really do get there eventually. Carson leads the discussion with a play-by-play of his week, but it usually takes us close to two hours to get through it with all the tangents and laughter.

For example, while Carson was screen sharing to show us the incredible, amazing pictures of his foreign land, Miles and Timothy (sitting in separate cars) only had eyes for themselves and were perfecting this: 

I wouldn't change a thing.

But of course, change is a part of life, so I will cherish this moment in time and then cherish the next moment when it shifts and comes in differently (easy to say now when things are all rosy...).

I'm currently cherishing this shift:

This is (obviously) not my picture, but I love it so much and had to screenshot it from the church's newsroom to add to my library. 

Their testimonies were so beautiful on the day they were sustained and set apart, and it was remarkable to hear through their words and examples how humility and confidence can blend together to create power. It will be fun to watch the prophetic mantle rest on President Oaks' shoulders and see what that does to him. I love them all so much, and can't wait to watch them fill the world with Light.