Carlton's log - day three

Well we headed for home this afternoon and wahoo! we're here! It's always nice to get back home and sleep in your own bed!

I am SOOOOO looking forward to conference tomorrow, what a difference in attention that will be! (Getting hair chopped off in between sessions.) Then after the last session we have a wedding. After Sunday's last session we head back to Vegas for another conference, this time at the Paris.

Paris is quite pretty, but by far (in my opinion) the most smoky of all the hotels. So I will be out and about. Sis in law will be there with her hubby also and so we will hit the other (Thor has many siblings...hahah) sis in law for another visit. After that I am not too sure where to go. My niece has given me an art assignment (working on tonight!), so there will be a drop off of the work and some more chatting. Fun!

A temple trip again on the agenda and probably figuring out something else to do. Any suggestions will be appreciated! Thor has meetings all day and bin'nuss at night, so from about 8-5 I am the wandering nomad of the desert!

Obedience and Agency

We had a great Stake Conference today. All of the talks were interesting, but one really held my attention. We have an E.R. doctor in our Presidency and he began his talk personally. This guy can speak very well, kind of like listening to your brother go on about his daily life at Thanksgiving, very folksy and relaxed. He gave some background which explained why he chose his topic: How does one find happiness, even within the Gospel? His answer was two things: Obedience and Agency.

I like it. Simple, direct, truthful statements that require very little except acceptance of what we hear. There were the scriptures to back up his case, "...wickedness never was happiness..." and others; but what I liked the best was the agency part of it. Truth is nasty things will and do happen everyday to each of us. He pointed out the history of a couple who were among the pioneers. The family lost a baby on the journey, a grandfather, and most everything they had owned before the trip. As time went on the husband in the story eventually fell away from the gospel bitter and angry at the Lord, feeling the rewards for their obedience was unjust and trial filled. The wife, however, grew more strength in the Gospel with each obstacle and hardship. She chose to find the lesson, earn the knowledge and be happy with her situation.

This gets me thinking. I think of those folks who get up every morning in less than perfect situations and just flat out decide to be happy with their situations. Not that they are complacent or dull, just that when they realize the choices are taken away, they find something to be joyful about, they have that talent for seeing good in everything.

We all have challenges, and hopefully, S'mee can begin to better adopt this habit of seeing the good and finding more joy.