The Highlights

I was afraid the title of this post might be misleading, you might have thought this would be about me getting some highlights in my hair or something (which I wouldn't put that past me, dedicating a whole post to just that lol). I know this is late in coming, but I wanted to post some of what I thought were the highlights of the most recent past General Conference or at least what the highlights were for me, personally.

First, here are some pic's. We dragged (drug?) (drugged?) Atalia's mattress out to the living room and got comfy. We had yummy food, which is a must for conference. Atalia had crayons and stickers to keep her busy and quiet.

Fist highlight- I was telling James something during the first song, while the choir was singing and Atalia turned around shushed me... twice.

I absolutely LOVED Elder Anderson's talk. He had James and I both laughing at some points. I wanted to pull some quotes from his talk that I particularly liked:

"Many voices in the world today marginalize the importance of having children or suggest delaying or limiting children in a family. My daughters recently referred me to a blog written by a Christian mother (not of our faith) with five children. She commented: “[Growing] up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood. … Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get.” She then adds: “Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.”⁷

- I especially love, "Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling" and "It is what God gave you time for."

"Having young children is not easy. Many days are just difficult. A young mother got on a bus with seven children. The bus driver asked, “Are these all yours, lady? Or is it a picnic?”

“They’re all mine,” she replied. “And it’s no picnic!”⁸

- lol That last one made us laugh.

"Across the world, this is a time of economic instability and financial uncertainty. In April general conference, President Thomas S. Monson said: “If you are concerned about providing financially for a wife and family, may I assure you that there is no shame in a couple having to scrimp and save. It is generally during these challenging times that you will grow closer together as you learn to sacrifice and to make difficult decisions.”¹⁰

- James and I have definitely made sacrifices so that I could stay home with Atalia.

Elder Anderson's whole talk can be found at lds.org under the most recent General Conference for the second session on Saturday.

I think it's easy to feel like you're not worth as much when you are 'just a mom' and the world doesn't always help you feel valued for what you do as well. I think that's why I was so grateful for this talk.

There was more that I wanted to share, but Atalia is up and I need to go be Mommy :) It's not always easy, but I wouldn't have it any other way.