Stake Conference

This weekend was incredible. We had our stake conference on Sat. night and Sunday morning. I really enjoyed it!!! Saturday night was so wonderful. The theme was "If I Could Hie to Kolob". It was a great theme. The speakers talked about truth, love, and marriage having no end. Then the stake presidency each spoke about all of the wonders of God's creations and how they have no end. Then they testified that although God's creations are endless and enormous, we are the "matter" that matters. He still hears and answers and prayers and even weeps for us (account given in Moses). I usually take a lot of notes during conference but this time I didn't because really it was more of a feeling of love that was given to each member as they bore testimony of the Father's love for each of His children.

Sunday morning I woke up sick to my stomach because I was so nervous about my talk. I seriously thought I was going to throw up. I forced food down my stomach and just prayed my heart out all morning long. As I got to the assembly building, my fears only increased. By the time I was sitting on the stand and looking out over the bustling crowd I was almost shaking. Then all of the sudden, the pianist began to play my favorite song in the whole world, "My Soul Hungered". I knew that it was a tender mercy of the Lord. I instantly felt peace and calmness. After the music stopped and the stake president stood to welcome everyone, my nerves once again got the best of me. The opening song was done by the choir. They sang an incredible rendition of "Behold a Royal Army". It was so powerful!!! All that I could think about was how lucky I was that there was I sitting out looking upon the royal army of Asheville stake. I felt so inadequate to speak to such a crowd. I knew that anyone in that crowd could have given a much better talk than I, but for whatever reason,I was the one that the Lord had chosen to speak on having a forgiving heart. I quietly pleaded with Heavenly Father to pour out His spirit upon me and upon the listeners so that he would be the teacher because I knew that I could never do it alone. As I stood up to speak, my nerves gradually calmed down and I was able to listen to the spirit's whisperings and speak with confidence beyond my own. It was a great experience and I learned so many things throughout the entire process.