Favorite General Conference Memory???

I thought it would be fun...and more interactive if we all took the opportunity to get ready for General Conference by sharing our favorite conference moment, memory, or talk over the years...You can just share by posting a "comment" to this blog entry and everyone can read it.

I'll go first:

Favorite Talk: But if Not... by Dennis Simmons, April 2004
It just helped remind me that no matter what curveballs life throws at us, that we can and should remain faithful because the Lord is molding us. My favorite quote, "The Lord has given us agency, the right and the responsibility to decide. He tests us by allowing us to be challenged. He assures us that He will not suffer us to be tempted beyond our ability to withstand. But we must understand that great challenges make great men. We don’t seek tribulation, but if we respond in faith, the Lord strengthens us. The but if nots can become remarkable blessings."

Favorite Memory: Well, my favorite story is the one that Dad tells about waking Scotty up during conference by calling his cell phone (while in the conference center) so that the vibration woke him up...My favorite times at conference were freshman year, sleeping overnight outside on the sidewalk at Temple Square so that I could get tickets to see and hear the prophet speak in real life. The sleeping on the cold sidewalk wasn't quite so fun, but the spirit inside the Tabernacle was amazing!!

Other Highlights:
- Hearing Dad get called to be an Area Authority Seventy
- Taking notes and watching ALL sessions of conference so that I could get days off of Seminary
- Having lunch at the Church Office Bldg. with Elder Anderson and his family between sessions
- Sitting in the new conference center in comfy seats (too bad they almost are too comfy they make you fall asleep)

And there are many more. I hope we are all getting excited and preparing for conference!! I'm so glad that I'll get to spend the weekend with K&K in NorCal.

Update from the Smithkirks

Greetings from the Northern California branch of the family!! Things are going great for us up here. Kristina is in her sixth week of teaching and is having a great time with the little people. Highlights have included tantrums (from kids and parents), aides being absent and absent-minded, antagonistic substitutes, and a huge donation of wet wipes (true story).

Another highlight was when Kevin came and visited the little people last week! He spent a few minutes interrupting math rotations to talk to the LPs about his recent root beer party (no mention of video games to the emotionally-disturbed children) before going and spending some quality time with a cute little Brazilian second grader who just moved to the U.S. and is totally lost by all things English.

Kevin is also doing really well at work, which is due in large part to the frequent lavish team lunches and Cold Stone runs (or "Pedra Fria" as his Latin American manager calls it). He has one week left with Visa in Foster City before he returns to Salesforce.com in San Francisco. He is looking forward to avoiding traffic and potholes and police as he commutes to the city via CalTrain. :-)

Seminary is also going great for us! We have a great and very energetic group of students (the Big People, or BPs) who keep us on our toes and entertained. On Friday we had out first Prophet birthday celebration! We celebrated Ezra Taft Benson's belated 107th birthday. We felt old when none of the students recognized his picture. We shared stories of his life and church service, and then briefly covered some of his well-known teachings--pride, the Book of Mormon, and roles of mothers and fathers. The BPs then enjoyed a rousing early-morning consumption of his supposed favorite treat, lemon meringue pie! Kevin was pleased there were leftovers, but Kristina was sad to see precious refrigerator space taken up that could have been reserved for chocolate (and diet Coke).

Speaking of desserts, we had some fun this weekend with our pretty new trifle bowl! We bought this on Friday night to console Kristina, who was asked to make a non-chocolate dessert for a baby shower on Saturday. (She was told that chocolate was too rich, so she should make something less sweet, like cheesecake. Go figure.) The trifle was a hit, and we had enough leftovers to share some with the Buskirk 'rents that evening. We are happy to report that they are optimistic and calm as Allen begins his treatment tomorrow morning. They again expressed their appreciation for all the love and support they have received from the Smith fam. :-)

In closing, Kristina wishes to remind you all that Halloween candy can now be found in a supermarket near you. Especially Snickers pumpkins, which are her favorite.

Lots of love,
K&K