General Conference: The Cabin

General Conference time is come around again, and I love it! My weekend is going to be pretty varied with where and with whom I watch Conference this time around. Last night after I helped out with Katie's family's mission reunion (more on that later), I headed up to Heber with her family. Her parents just bought a cabin up in that area, and I was invited to come up with her to watch Conference today!


Their cabin is beautiful: it is totally the kind of place my family would love for a family compound. If you want to be by yourself, you can; but, if you want to be with everyone, you can do that too. The ceilings are high and vaulted, the kitchen is big and open, the lighting is cozy, the decks are large--it's just amazing!



Anneli and I slept in the "dormitory" room. It's this long room with four beds in it, so it's perfect for having lots of people over. There are three levels to the cabin, and we watched Conference on the ground level in this cozy room with a big TV and a large, way comfy sectional.

The decor wasn't necessarily to my taste, but it was definitely mountain-y and cozy. There was a big stone woodburning stone fireplace, and several fun little family rooms complete with a ping pong table, a chessboard, and a piano.

In between sessions, Katie's dad took us out on a "cart ride," which was really a ride in a four-wheeler-esque type of vehicle. It was completely open, and it was raining, so I put up my hood and had quite a ride bumping along the muddy roads around the area. It was a definitely a stellar--and wet--20 minutes!

The colors up there were absolutely breathtaking--it was just beautiful. This was outside my the window by my bed:


I brought schoolwork that I need to do, but did I? Not really. I did a little bit of editing, but read only about two pages out of Great Expectations. At least I tried, right?

General Conference since I've been out at school has been a bittersweet experience, because I love love love love love Conference, but I really miss being with my family. So being up in the cabin with Katie and her family was great, because I was with a family, even though it wasn't my family. After the first session, we had a family prayer, and afterwards, I almost got ready for a family cheer--it pulled on my heartstrings a bit.

Some quick highlights from today's Conference sessions:

• The 5 new temples!
• Elder Andersen's talk about how we don't know everything, but we do know enough. That was so encouraging.
• Elder Oaks's saying "texting" in his talk. Not text messaging or using your cell phone, but he actually said "texting."
• President Uchtdorf's connections between hope, faith, and charity
• Elder Holland's talk about how angels are always among us
• Elder Bednar's instructions for having more meaningful prayers
• The children's choir. I loved seeing the kids see the camera and then look away smiling; that one boy who frustratingly thrust his arms down at his side; and the boy who was standing sideways when everyone else was standing facing the right way. Ha!
• The overall theme I saw of hope and faith and comfort: we are never alone.

I loved it, and I can't wait for tomorrow! I probably would have stayed up in Heber for tomorrow's sessions, except that Emily and I have tickets for the morning session tomorrow! We'll be off around 7:00 a.m. . . . Can't wait!