We've started a family tradition for General Conference, which I hope will continue! Since this was really the first time, it was a little rocky...we weren't all completely on the same page, but it turned out nice and it was a great way to spend quality time with our families, while listening to the leaders of the church, and teaching our kids how important conference is!
My Dad is the stake president over the Tongan stake in Utah County....with that calling comes the opportunity to get tickets to go into the conference center. Usually my dad just gives them out to whoever asks, but this year he decided to do something a little different. He saved the tickets he got for us, our whole family, and we planned to spend the weekend together watching conference! :)
He had enough tickets for all the girls to go to the Saturday afternoon session.....so we all planned to meet up that afternoon. We actually met at the hotel they were staying at and we walked together to temple square.
The original plan was to have all the girls go into the conference center and the boys stay outside with the kids, either on the lawn or in the tabernacle. That was the part of the plan that didn't turn out completely as planned. My dad ended up getting himself a ticket, so he went into the session with all the ladies....Lini didn't come to that session...Patrick didn't come to that session...Misi didn't come to that session, so it was only Ova and my kids. I felt bad for him because he didn't really get to listen to or enjoy the session at all. He did get to spend 2 hours of quality father/children time with our 3 oldest though sitting on the grass at temple square! :) He had fun taking pictures of them.....
After the Saturday afternoon session, we all met in the middle of the conference center. We waited for priesthood session to start and my dad had tickets for all the boys...including the boys who were 8 years old. While the boys were in the priesthood session, us girls took the kids to the new City Creek mall. I probably would have enjoyed it a little more if it wasn't so croweded, but I took the stroller (in case Lautala got tired of walking) and it was a huge hassle trying to get the stroller through that whole crowd of people! We ended up just going to the food court and getting ice cream cones from McDonalds
.....with about 30 minutes left until the priesthood session was over, half of us girls went to reserve us a spot at Chuck-A-Rama. We knew it would be packed, especially with conference just getting over, so we thought we'd get a head start on getting a table. Good thing we did because it was Tongan central up in there! haha I guess everyone had the same idea as we did! The other half of us girls waited and picked up the guys after the session and then we all met and ate together.
After dinner all us parents with the younger kids headed home and G-ma and G-pa took the kids that were older than 8 to their hotel with them to sleep over. That's a total of 6 grandkids older than 8 (or turning 8 this year.....Lote, Jalen, Pita, Makai, Lia & Halle) My parents always stay in a hotel on conference weekend....since they live so far.....this time they had two rooms and that was just enough room for them, Leka and all the kids! G-pa had tickets all of them for the morning session on Sunday....so him and G-ma went with the kids!
The kids LOVED it! They always love it when G-ma and G-pa take time to spend with them. G-ma made sure to have notebooks and pens for them to take notes, and treats for them. What a better way than to spend conference weekend with the family...teaching the kids to be excited to listen to the leaders! Now they're all excited and already looking forward for the next conference! What a great family tradition to start!
They went and watched the 2nd Sunday session at Marie's house and then they came to our house for dinner. Tea always goes all out for my parents when they come to visit. She made them tons of Tongan food, my dad was loving it! She is so sweet!
It was a great turnout and we're looking forward to the tradition of spending family time together every conference! Thank you so much G-pa!
Here's some of the notes I took from the conference:
14441346 Members as of December 2011
136 Operating Temples
Jeffrey R. Holland
Why should you be jealous because others choose to be kind?
Don't get hurt or feel envious when good fourtune comes to someone else....we are not in a race for who has the most or who is the prettiest....we are in a race against sin.
Do not covet. Be kind and be fearful that God is kind...it is a happy way to live.
Don't dwell on old issues and grieveances, not towards yourself, or others or towards the church. Don't hyperventilate at something that happened in the morning when the Lord is trying to bless you in the evening.
Even though those grievances didn't start with you, they can end with you...and you will be blessed for it!
You have not traveled beyong the brinks of everlasting love. No problem you cannot overcome. No dream that can't be realized. Even when you think it's too late, it's not...come fall upon the feet of the Lord.
To husbands and fathers....awake and be men...brethern, step up....do it for your sake, do it for the sake of those that love you and are praying for you. Do it for the Lord.
Testify of the renewing power of God's love and his grace. It is never too late as long as the Master of the vinyard says there's still time. Don't delay, it's getting late.
If you haven't made covenants, make them!
If you have made them, keep them!
If you have made them and broken them, repent and be clean!
Robert D. Hales
The sacrament gives us the opportunity to come to ourselves, to remember our covenants and to lead us back to Heavenly Father
Our desires to return to our Heavenly Father intensify as we become worthy
Worthiness to hold a temple recommend gives us strength to follow God. Sustain our leaders. Attend church meetings. Live a virtuous life. Be good parents. Faithfully live the gospel and follow the prophet. Be obedient and make sacrifices. Giving of ourselves to build the kingdom of God. As we do all these things we receive power from on high to face our challenges.
As our desires to learn and follow Christ increase, we become closer to our Savior, and the spirit becomes a part of us.
The purpose of temporal and spiritual reliance is to life ourselves to higher ground so that we can help to lift others.
Follow spiritual desires to come to ourselves...talk to ourselves in the mirror and see where we stand. Are we worthy to take the sacrament? Are we worthy to go to the temple? We need to follow our spiritual desires and get there.
David S. Baxtor
Speaking to single parents
With God's help, you need not fear the future....never feel you're in some kind of second tier....to the Lord, there are no second class citizens.
You are not alone!
Ulisses Soars
There is a fine line between the Lord's territory and the devils territory...if you stay on the Lord's side, you will have the spirit...if you cross the line, the evil will overpower you and you will lose your spirit.
We need to ask ourselves if the things we choose to do keep us on the Lord's territory, or not
If our attitudes are good, we are on the Lord's side...because everything good comes from God. If our attitudes are bad, we are on the wrong side. We need to fix something so we can be back on the right side.
The Savior banished from his life anything that tried to take his focus off his divine mission. Although he never sinned, he had a broken heart carrying the burden of the sins of mankind as he atoned for us.
You can't be right by doing wrong
You can't be wrong by doing right
Quentin L. Cook
Have the courage to refrain from judging others
The hope is that everyone will be faithful in all things, not only in some things.
Many of your goals is to be good parents to your kids. Here's one way to start. Avoid being overly judgemental about conduct that it youthful, innocent and playful...and is not sin. Where there is lack of knowledge, the children need to lovingly be taught knowledge. We need to speak softly to our children. Teach them in love, not fear.
What we are speaks so loudly that sometimes our children don't hear what we say. Are we who we want our kids to be??
Mothers and fathers, praying with your children may be more important than doing anything else with your children. Next is reading the book of Mormon with them. Persistence is the answer....it requires dedication from everyone in the family. It will bring blessings.
Regardless of the challenges you face, please do not get discouraged.
Richard G. Scott
Relationships are strengthened through the veil. The separation is temporary, but the covenants we made with our loved ones are eternal.
We should be comforted in knowing that our loved ones that have passed can see us so much more clearly than we see them.
Yielding to emotions of anger, hate and frustrations chase away the spirit. Sense of humor is ok with the spirit, loud laughter is not and chases the spirit away.
We need the spirit because it is the Lord that is doing the teaching through the spirit of the Holy Ghost. When it is for the Lord's purposes, he can bring anything to our minds. Revelation, inspiration.
Humility is fertile soil where spirituality can grow.
Obedience ensures that we qualify for divine power.
My Dad is the stake president over the Tongan stake in Utah County....with that calling comes the opportunity to get tickets to go into the conference center. Usually my dad just gives them out to whoever asks, but this year he decided to do something a little different. He saved the tickets he got for us, our whole family, and we planned to spend the weekend together watching conference! :)
He had enough tickets for all the girls to go to the Saturday afternoon session.....so we all planned to meet up that afternoon. We actually met at the hotel they were staying at and we walked together to temple square.
The original plan was to have all the girls go into the conference center and the boys stay outside with the kids, either on the lawn or in the tabernacle. That was the part of the plan that didn't turn out completely as planned. My dad ended up getting himself a ticket, so he went into the session with all the ladies....Lini didn't come to that session...Patrick didn't come to that session...Misi didn't come to that session, so it was only Ova and my kids. I felt bad for him because he didn't really get to listen to or enjoy the session at all. He did get to spend 2 hours of quality father/children time with our 3 oldest though sitting on the grass at temple square! :) He had fun taking pictures of them.....
After dinner all us parents with the younger kids headed home and G-ma and G-pa took the kids that were older than 8 to their hotel with them to sleep over. That's a total of 6 grandkids older than 8 (or turning 8 this year.....Lote, Jalen, Pita, Makai, Lia & Halle) My parents always stay in a hotel on conference weekend....since they live so far.....this time they had two rooms and that was just enough room for them, Leka and all the kids! G-pa had tickets all of them for the morning session on Sunday....so him and G-ma went with the kids!
The kids LOVED it! They always love it when G-ma and G-pa take time to spend with them. G-ma made sure to have notebooks and pens for them to take notes, and treats for them. What a better way than to spend conference weekend with the family...teaching the kids to be excited to listen to the leaders! Now they're all excited and already looking forward for the next conference! What a great family tradition to start!
They went and watched the 2nd Sunday session at Marie's house and then they came to our house for dinner. Tea always goes all out for my parents when they come to visit. She made them tons of Tongan food, my dad was loving it! She is so sweet!
It was a great turnout and we're looking forward to the tradition of spending family time together every conference! Thank you so much G-pa!
Here's some of the notes I took from the conference:
14441346 Members as of December 2011
136 Operating Temples
Jeffrey R. Holland
Why should you be jealous because others choose to be kind?
Don't get hurt or feel envious when good fourtune comes to someone else....we are not in a race for who has the most or who is the prettiest....we are in a race against sin.
Do not covet. Be kind and be fearful that God is kind...it is a happy way to live.
Don't dwell on old issues and grieveances, not towards yourself, or others or towards the church. Don't hyperventilate at something that happened in the morning when the Lord is trying to bless you in the evening.
Even though those grievances didn't start with you, they can end with you...and you will be blessed for it!
You have not traveled beyong the brinks of everlasting love. No problem you cannot overcome. No dream that can't be realized. Even when you think it's too late, it's not...come fall upon the feet of the Lord.
To husbands and fathers....awake and be men...brethern, step up....do it for your sake, do it for the sake of those that love you and are praying for you. Do it for the Lord.
Testify of the renewing power of God's love and his grace. It is never too late as long as the Master of the vinyard says there's still time. Don't delay, it's getting late.
If you haven't made covenants, make them!
If you have made them, keep them!
If you have made them and broken them, repent and be clean!
Robert D. Hales
The sacrament gives us the opportunity to come to ourselves, to remember our covenants and to lead us back to Heavenly Father
Our desires to return to our Heavenly Father intensify as we become worthy
Worthiness to hold a temple recommend gives us strength to follow God. Sustain our leaders. Attend church meetings. Live a virtuous life. Be good parents. Faithfully live the gospel and follow the prophet. Be obedient and make sacrifices. Giving of ourselves to build the kingdom of God. As we do all these things we receive power from on high to face our challenges.
As our desires to learn and follow Christ increase, we become closer to our Savior, and the spirit becomes a part of us.
The purpose of temporal and spiritual reliance is to life ourselves to higher ground so that we can help to lift others.
Follow spiritual desires to come to ourselves...talk to ourselves in the mirror and see where we stand. Are we worthy to take the sacrament? Are we worthy to go to the temple? We need to follow our spiritual desires and get there.
David S. Baxtor
Speaking to single parents
With God's help, you need not fear the future....never feel you're in some kind of second tier....to the Lord, there are no second class citizens.
You are not alone!
Ulisses Soars
There is a fine line between the Lord's territory and the devils territory...if you stay on the Lord's side, you will have the spirit...if you cross the line, the evil will overpower you and you will lose your spirit.
We need to ask ourselves if the things we choose to do keep us on the Lord's territory, or not
If our attitudes are good, we are on the Lord's side...because everything good comes from God. If our attitudes are bad, we are on the wrong side. We need to fix something so we can be back on the right side.
The Savior banished from his life anything that tried to take his focus off his divine mission. Although he never sinned, he had a broken heart carrying the burden of the sins of mankind as he atoned for us.
You can't be right by doing wrong
You can't be wrong by doing right
Quentin L. Cook
Have the courage to refrain from judging others
The hope is that everyone will be faithful in all things, not only in some things.
Many of your goals is to be good parents to your kids. Here's one way to start. Avoid being overly judgemental about conduct that it youthful, innocent and playful...and is not sin. Where there is lack of knowledge, the children need to lovingly be taught knowledge. We need to speak softly to our children. Teach them in love, not fear.
What we are speaks so loudly that sometimes our children don't hear what we say. Are we who we want our kids to be??
Mothers and fathers, praying with your children may be more important than doing anything else with your children. Next is reading the book of Mormon with them. Persistence is the answer....it requires dedication from everyone in the family. It will bring blessings.
Regardless of the challenges you face, please do not get discouraged.
Richard G. Scott
Relationships are strengthened through the veil. The separation is temporary, but the covenants we made with our loved ones are eternal.
We should be comforted in knowing that our loved ones that have passed can see us so much more clearly than we see them.
Yielding to emotions of anger, hate and frustrations chase away the spirit. Sense of humor is ok with the spirit, loud laughter is not and chases the spirit away.
We need the spirit because it is the Lord that is doing the teaching through the spirit of the Holy Ghost. When it is for the Lord's purposes, he can bring anything to our minds. Revelation, inspiration.
Humility is fertile soil where spirituality can grow.
Obedience ensures that we qualify for divine power.
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