Unofficial Superbowl
The Superbowl. It's a big deal. We all know this. Friends and family gather, they eat food, they talk - but most importantly, they stare intently at the television. Every so often, a cheer makes it's way through the group, but mostly everyone sits on the edge of their seats, watching in awe and amazement. When it's over, it's discussed in GREAT detail, everywhere, and with everyone. The Superbowl is big.
General Conference is the Superbowl of the MTC. For reals, though. We all gather, watch the tv intently, listen in amazement as the Prophet and Apostles preach. It's intense. And yeah, actually, every so often there's a little cheering (because we're still just a rowdy bunch of kids in their late teens, and no one's perfect, right?). Since there's about a gazillion of us missionaries, we were in four different locations throughout the MTC to watch it. All our classes were cancelled, so basically all we did all day was watch Conference and read our scriptures and talk and stuff. It was fabulous. I loved it so much. We did get to see the in between sessions thing on Sunday (kind of ... we were watching it in the cafeteria, and it was awkwardly turned off half way through for some reason I couldn't explain), and that was fun! Also really weird, because we saw REAL ACTUAL TV COMMERCIALS. Craziest moment of my life. When you go five weeks without seeing a commercial, and then BOOM, you see one, it's kinda bizarre. Sister Wendel and I were sitting with the Bulgars during lunch while we were watching it, and they were like, "Hey, Poland," so Sister Wendel and I were like, "WHAT?!" and looked over and saw it and it was super exciting! Poland Represent!
General Conference was AMAZING! I don't think I've ever loved it so much in all my life. Usually 8 hours feels like a REALLY long time to sit and get spiritual guidance (don't judge! It is a long time!). But now? Psh, 8 hours is nothin'! I spend pretty much every hour of every day now getting spiritual guidance and what not. This was nothin'. And it was SO good. Honestly, I'm pretty sure there were several talks in this General Conference written just for me, Anna Lin Young. Incredible. However, my FAVORITE part of Conference was actually the Young Women's meeting from last week. We got to watch it Saturday night while all the elders were at Priesthood (which I was SUPER grateful for, because I adore the Young Women's meeting! And I thought a lot about my sweet baby sister who is NOT a baby, because I remembered that she was actually there - it was like a little connection to her and my Mama). It was so good. And President Uchtdorf's talk - gosh dang it, I love that man. He is amazing. Absolutely beyond amazing. His talk was written for me. I mean it. Maybe you people were able to get something out of it too, but that talk was written for me. He was talking about our life journey (and of course, being a missionary, I thought of my mission journey), and he mentioned a couple different stories - The Wizard of Oz, A Christmas Carol, and then, much to my joy, THE HOBBIT. Which is kind of the inspiration for my mission. He talked about how Bilbo Baggins wanted to stay comfortably at home and sit in his chair, but instead he went on a adventure and changed the world. Of course, I'm not thinking I'll change the world out there or whatever, but other than that, Bilbo and I are twinners. In our district meeting after we were talking about things we liked, and I brought this up. I said that my family and Lord of the Rings are like this (and crossed my fingers, indicating we were very close. Which is possibly the dorkiest thing in the whole world. But it is true. Don't be hatin' - the Young Family is one classy bunch). And then I said we went and saw The Hobbit the day after I got my call, and that when Bilbo ran out of his house, after the dwarfs and called behind him, "I'm going on an adventure!", both my Dad and I thought about my mission and the adventure I would be embarking on. Hello, Tender Mercy! I mean, really? What are the odds that President Uchtdorf would bring up The Hobbit of all things? Cray cray, right? But I needed a little reminder of what I'm doing here, and why I decided to come out here in the first place. It's because this is where the Lord wants me, and I just need to put my faith in Him and trust that He will guide me on this fabulous adventure. And then, this morning at the temple, one of the temple workers asked where I was going and I said Poland, and she said, "You are going to have a wonderful experience. What an amazing adventure!" These Tender Mercies - I tell you, they are coming out of the no where these days! And I love it so much.
I am so glad I got to be at the MTC for Conference. It was an amazing experience, and one that cannot be replicated. It's just such a different feeling, sitting with thousands of other missionaries, listening to our dear prophet together. And they talked so much about missionary work! It was incredible. Just, wow, you know? That's how it was. Wow.
General Conference is the un[OFFICIAL] Superbowl.
