What It's Like Working Inside a Latter-day Saint Temple

When I sent my youngest child to kindergarten, I found myself wondering what I should do first: enjoy an uninterrupted morning shower? eat meals comprised of more than his leftovers? have an existential crisis? In the end I settled on a little of all three, but one other thing I really wanted to do was start volunteering at the temple of my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Since May, I've been working at my church's temple twice a month, and I really love what I do there. But it's unfamiliar to many people, so I wanted to write this post.

First Thing's First: What's a Temple

If you want to know what I do at the temple, it helps to know what a temple is. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a Christian religion, and temples are buildings where our most important ordinances (i.e: ceremonies/rituals) are performed.

Right now, there are 168 Latter-day Saint temples in the world and something like 100 more that are either being planned or built. 

Latter-day Saint temple in Houston, TX.

Latter-day Saints have a great respect for the temple, so much so that we don't discuss specifics of the ceremonies when we're outside of the temple, even with other people who've been there. But it's not breaching any confidences to tell you that there are four different ordinances done in temples:

• Baptism for the dead - like a regular baptism, but you do it on behalf of someone in your family tree who has died without being baptized
• Initiatory - preparation to make further promises with God, symbolizing the washing and anointing done in the Bible to prepare people for priesthood service
• Endowment - learning about God's overall plan for humanity and the central role of Jesus Christ in that plan, starting with the creation of the world; it culminates in making promises of faithfulness to God
• Sealing - like a marriage but with two important distinctions: (1) sealing lasts for "time and eternity" and not "until death do you part," and (2) it doesn't just seal the two spouses together, but their children or future children as well

June 20, 2003: Phillip and I were sealed in the St. Paul, Minnesota temple.

After Latter-day Saints come to the temple for their own ordinances of initiatory, endowment, and sealing, they can come back to do them on behalf of ancestors who've died.

What Do You Do in the Temple When You Volunteer?

Like everybody who comes to the temple, I drive there wearing my Sunday best and when I get inside, I change into white clothes. (Because I work there, I also get to wear a snazzy name tag.) Everyone wears white inside the temple to symbolize holiness and purity, which makes for a pretty striking visual reminder that we're in a heavenly place.

Sapporo, Japan temple.

The workers attend a short prep meeting that consists of a devotional and some training on our responsibilities. There are logistics to cover, but what's emphasized most is the sacred character of what's going on in the temple. You can practically feel the heartfelt desire of everyone in the room to simply be a facilitator in God's holy work that day.

Then, for the bulk of my 6-hour shift, I'm helping in various capacities in the temple. 

I could be involved with any of the four ordinances I mentioned a few paragraphs ago: guiding youth groups around the baptistry as they get baptized for their ancestors, delivering the words and prayers of the initiatory ordinance, assisting people as they go through the endowment ceremony, or witnessing a sealing to make sure it's done correctly. My role in the ordinances is always different, but I feel the same spiritual significance every time.

I accommodate people who come to the temple with special needs, from language translation to physical disabilities, and answer questions for people who are new to the temple and might not know what to do next. 

Depending on the day, I could also be welcoming people at the front desk or lending white clothes at the clothing desk to people who didn't bring their own. Whatever I'm doing, I try to do it with a kind smile and a gentle voice so that everyone who comes to the temple can feel the presence of God in His house.

What Do You Think of Your Experience So Far?

The 98-year-old president of our church sometimes mentions spending a lot of time in the temple with other church leaders (most of them in their 70s and 80s), and halfway through my first shift I said to myself, "Ohhhh... so this is why they live so long." 

Entering the temple is like hitting the 'pause' button on everyday life, and I can't help but think the regular reset-and-refresh is good for my mind, my spirit, and possibly even my physical health.

It's powerful to go somewhere that is completely devoid of anger and loudness, where every single person is there out of a common desire to follow Jesus and help others (remember, people come to the temple to participate in saving ordinances for themselves or others). 

Temple in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

It's hard to accurately explain the peace I feel in the temple, but the best I can do is say that when I'm there, there's a very palpable sense that I'm in a holy place. The temple's influence makes me a better, more patient person — even after I leave. 

I don't think it would be exaggerating to say that the long stretches of time I get to spend there as a temple worker have become the highlight of my week.

LDS temple in Madrid, Spain.

I suspect there are probably people on the Internet who are happy to breech the sacredness of the temple by sharing plenty of details both true and false, but I appreciate you respecting how special the temple is to me and other members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you have more questions, shoot me an email or see the church's website. 

And if you want to see more pictures of temples worldwide, here's a photo gallery. Most are exterior pictures, but there are also several interior pictures from the Rome, Italy temple. Enjoy!

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Where Snacks and Inspiration Meet

To my friends, I usually describe "general conference" as a bunch of TED talks from the worldwide leaders of my church. Those leaders are inspired prophets and apostles of Jesus Christ that offer guidance, direction, peace, and hope.

Even though it's addressed to the whole world, I believe every single person can come away from general conference with a message uniquely meant for them, so I look forward to watching general conference every 6 months.

So do my kids, but apparently for different reasons. "Are we getting ready for church?" the 5-year-old asked me last weekend, right before the Sunday morning session of conference began.

"Sort of. It's not regular church today, it's general conference."

"Good," he said. "General conference is better."

"What do you like about it?"

He shrugged.

"Then why is it better?" I asked.

"Because screens trigger dopamine!" (Obviously the family dopamine detox we did a while ago left a big impression on his little mind.)

Of course continued the kids' beloved Conference Snacks™ tradition, but time my health-conscious 15-year-old came to the store with me so we ended up with stuff like pomegranate seeds, dried apricots, and cassava chips... but there were also cookies and sour gummy worms to balance it out. 

I joke about it, but honestly I ♥ the cassava chips.

Each snack has a leader's picture on it, which the kids get to eat when that person gives a talk, so from one conference to the next the kids keep track of who had which snack last time. It's easiest to remember Elder Cook, whose picture is always on the cookies. 

You should've seen my 8-year-old throw his paper and pencil into the air and run to the kitchen screaming "ELDER COOOOOOK!!" when he got up to speak.

Watching Elder Oaks on the TV we brought upstairs.

We also write down a sentence or two about what each person said and collect them all in a Ziploc at the end of the talk. The 5-year-old is getting old enough to catch at least a little of the meaning on his own now, so his notes are hands-down the cutest.

"You can NOT control other people. You CAN control you." -President Nelson

Also this one:

"Don't cause fights, stop fights." -Elder Andersen

There were so many great talks in this April conference, but here's a quick list of a few of my favorites:

If you're searching for happiness and peace seems hard to find, you'll want to read or listen to these words from Elder Holland. 

If you want to know why Latter-day Saints don't believe in hell, here's a great explanation from Elder Oaks.

If you're wondering how to find balance in life, follow this advice from Elder Uchtdorf.

If you've been (or are being) abused or wronged, this talk from Elder Kearon was written just for you.

If you want to improve the quality of your scripture study, Elder Pace has some great suggestions.

If you're trying to change something in your life but don't know how to succeed, try this inspiring sermon from Elder Hamilton. 

And if you're ready to scream if you see one more person arguing on Facebook, read what Elder Andersen says the world needs most right now.

One of the bajillion coloring pages the kids did throughout the 8 hours of general conference.

If you take a look at any or all of these links, I probably won't need to explain very much why I love general conference. It's like getting a Pauline epistle written specifically to me, from modern-day apostles and prophets who are telling us what God wants us to know right now.

As much as I enjoy the dark chocolate Oreos and my kids' cute misspellings, even more important to me is the peace and optimism in Jesus Christ that settles over our home and my attitude without fail when I really listen.

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When You Feel Like Life Has Broken You Down

Like most of you, I'd never given much thought to how caterpillars turn into butterflies. I suppose I'd assumed a caterpillar went into its chrysalis, gradually transformed into a butterfly, and came out when it was finished.

But I recently heard a story on NPR about caterpillar metamorphosis and learned I was completely wrong. When you dissect a chrysalis, you don't find a caterpillar in the process of turning into a butterfly. It's just full of... goo. 

Caterpillars don't go into their chrysalis and immediately start sprouting wings. The first thing that happens is that their body breaks down. Their organs dissolve. Tissues die. The expert interviewed on the radio jokingly called it "caterpillar soup." 

It turns out that metamorphosis is less of an evolution and more of a complete demolition and rebuild. And the crazy part is, science doesn't really understand how it all works: we just know that somehow, that mush of cells and structures gets rearranged into a butterfly.

As we're rounding out the second winter of this pandemic that we all surely thought would be over by now, and as we think about the New Year's resolutions we're already failing at (or never felt motivated enough to attempt in the first place), we can all learn a few things from caterpillars.

First lesson: big transformations are messy. We're wired to like small change. Change that's straightforward and linear, where every day we get a little bit better. But there's a limit to how much self-improvement can be made that way.

Can we acquire new habits bit by bit? Sure. Make small tweaks to our behavior? Absolutely. But when we're talking about major overhauls to our character, things get a lot more uncomfortable and uncertain. Big changes are going to involve some dismantling first. We've simply got to make room for the new creature that's going to be rebuilt in our place.

That's easy to say, but hard to remember when you're in the middle of a heartbreaking loss or a devastating crisis. As Christians, we believe that trials exist to refine us! As optimists, we want to say that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger! But the fact is, you can't emerge a butterfly without spending at least some time (and sometimes it's a long time) feeling like caterpillar soup.

Second lesson: we don't know exactly how metamorphosis works. Going from sludge to breathtaking creature isn't the kind of thing there's a manual for. It might seem impossible to us, but fortunately we're not left to our own devices. 

If you're in the "caterpillar soup" stage of your transformation, there's not much anyone can do or say to make things easier right now, but just you wait. Jesus Christ is the One who knows how to eventually rebuild you into a butterfly. You can rely on Him.

I don't know how He does it, but I've seen it in my own life and the lives of people I hope to be like one day. And I know He'll do it for you. Just hang on.

If you're wondering what Jesus can do for your life or how you could connect with Him better, the author invites you to start exploring that question here. Even (and maybe especially) if you feel like caterpillar soup.

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The Hallmark of Christian Discipleship

On Sunday, I was asked to give a talk in church (in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, members of the congregation take turns giving sermons instead of a clergy member) and decided to post it here for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!

One reason why I think our prophet President Nelson has insisted that we use the full name of our church — the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — instead of the nickname "Mormon" is that he wants us to be perfectly clear about our primary identity: first and foremost, we are disciples of Jesus Christ.

The Cost of Discipleship

The word 'disciple' comes from the same Latin root as the word 'discipline.' Think of a discipline as a subject area you might study in school, like psychology or engineering. 

In order to be a successful student of one of these disciplines, you know that there are certain formulas, concepts, and ways of thinking you're going to have to work hard to master.

Likewise, the word 'disciple' suggests practice, learning, self-control, and working toward a high and specific standard. The kind of discipleship we're called to is more than just belief, acceptance, or agreement. It's actively following Jesus Christ.

The Hallmark of a Disciple

I've taken college courses described as "rigorous," but no discipline I've ever studied is as exacting of the discipline of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The scriptures tell us we need to serve God "with all our heart, might, mind, and strength" (Doctrine and Covenants 4: 2, see also Luke 10: 27 and Deuteronomy 6:5.)

You can't get more rigorous than that.

Because discipleship is meant to fully encompass us, it can sometimes feel overwhelming. We want to follow the Savior's example, but that's a tall order for someone as imperfect as me (and I imagine, as imperfect as you, too.)

That's where the Holy Spirit comes in. It's how God helps each of us know what to do, at what time, and in what order so that we can become our best selves, one day at a time. 

Being able to recognize and act on those promptings is the hallmark of a disciple of Jesus Christ.

One Step Forward with Faith

Between the cold weather and COVID, this has felt like a never-ending winter. And maybe like some of you, I've struggled with feeling like a poorly-cast Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.

The idea of shaking off this funk was so overwhelming that one day I just leveled with God in prayer: I needed Him to tell the one single thing I should do next, because I couldn't handle anything more complicated than that.

I finished my prayer and didn't feel anything in particular, so I thought about standing in front of God and visualizing what he'd say in response.

"Pray," came a thought into my mind. 

Still unsure whether that was an inspired answer or just the first church word my brain supplied, I knelt down to pray again. And as soon as my knees hit the floor, the lyrics of a Primary song teaching kids to pray popped into my head: "I begin by saying 'Dear Heavenly Father,' / I thank him for blessings He sends."

The answer to my prayer seemed so simple and yet so profound: I needed to focus on gratitude.

I can't guarantee that the answer to your Lockdown Blahs will be the same as mine, but I do know if I hadn't followed the first direction to pray then I wouldn't have received the second one. 

And some of the time (if not most of the time) that's what disciples need to do: take the next step in faith without knowing the whole way.

Using the Atonement of Jesus Christ

When I think about discipleship, I think about the New Testament account of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.

At a basic level, this was a fantastic object lesson about the importance of serving others. In John 13: 15 Jesus teaches, "For I have given unto you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you."

But there's also a deeper meaning, one Christ said the twelve disciples wouldn't understand until later on (John 13: 7.) He hadn't suffered for our sins in Gethsemane yet nor had He been crucified and resurrected, but this foot-washing was foreshadowing those very events.

Peter initially refused to let the Savior wash his feet, quite naturally horrified it wasn't happening the other way around. But when Jesus said to him, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me," Peter responded, "Lord, not my feet only, but my hands and my head." (John 13: 8-9.)

Unless we accept Christ's atoning sacrifice into our lives to cleanse us, we simply cannot be His disciples. There is no other way. 

Peter may not have understood everything that was going on, but he knew enough to accept what Christ was offering with his whole might, mind, and strength. Because that's what a disciple is: someone who trusts God and makes full use of the Atonement to repent, partner with the Savior, and become better every day. 

Where Do You Think You Fall?

At the last General Conference, President Nelson gave a talk called "Let God Prevail." In it, he asked some questions that can help us gauge our current commitment to discipleship:

• Are you willing to let God prevail in your life?
• Are you willing to let God be the most important influence in your life?
• Will you allow His words, His commandments, and His covenants to influence what you do each day?
• Will you allow His voice to take priority over any other?
• Are you willing to let whatever He needs you to do take precedence over every other ambition?
• Are you willing to have your will swallowed up in His?

Being a disciple of Christ, as you can see from that list of questions, is a pretty rigorous discipline. It isn't easy and there's no shortcut or substitute for small and simple repeated acts of faith. 

But as President Nelson promises, "when [our] greatest desire is to let God prevail... so many decisions become easier. So many issues become non-issues." And the blessings of discipleship — namely, peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come — are well worth it.

If you liked this post, find "Topics You'll Find Here" (in the sidebar on computers and at the bottom of screen for mobile devices) and click on "latter day saint" to read more!

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A General Conference Weekend to Remember

Do you ever cruise along doing an amazing job at life, and then in the middle of congratulating yourself you realize you've also forgotten something very basic?

That was me last weekend.

I was so busy arranging the General Conference Snacks™ and getting out the kids' coloring pages and moving the furniture around to give everyone a good view of the TV that it wasn't until conference had already started at noon that I realize I'd forgotten to feed everyone.

So we all had popcorn and chocolate milk for lunch. Don't judge.

No one seemed to mind.

Twice a year, my family sits down to watch general conference, a weekend-long event where the prophet and apostles at the head of our church speak on different spiritual topics.

We always look forward to conference, but this year was a definite upgrade for us in terms of living room seating.

We got new living room furniture a few months ago. Our old couches were so worn-out they looked dirty even when they weren't (but they usually were,) plus they were too small for the whole family to sit down at the same time (even before one broke a spring and the kids started calling it "the pit of doom.")

This time we were able to get through conference with no one fighting about seats!

I mean, there was still plenty of fighting. But not over where to sit.

Taking a silly break during conference.

Because of social distancing, general conference didn't take place in the 21,000-seat conference center in Salt Lake City like usual. Instead, it was broadcast from an empty auditorium in a church office building with all the speakers seated carefully 6 feet apart.

That was pretty different, especially when no one chuckled at the little jokes the speakers sometimes inserted in their talks.

But you know what? It still felt the same. Just like when Phillip and I went to church in French Canada and didn't understand the words, or when we suddenly had to do church at home when services were cancelled due to COVID, it made me realize all over again that what I love about church isn't in the ritual or the familiarity; it's in the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This conference also marked a special anniversary for us as a church.

If you don't know, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints doesn't see itself as a product of the reformation, but as a restoration of the church Jesus set up in the Bible.

The events that led up to the restoring of that organization began 200 years ago, and in honor of the occasion our prophet released an official statement about our church's beginnings. If our church was a superhero, this would be its origin story in a nutshell.

I think some people were expecting this general conference to focus more on COVID-19. After all, we are kind of in the middle of a worldwide pandemic right now.

It was, of course, mentioned but it wasn't the main focus of any speaker's talk. Instead, many of the talks seemed to be about what will bring us lasting peace in turmoil.

In fact I noticed this theme running through several of the talks: Jesus is the master healer. He loves to fix what's broken beyond repair. I can't think of a more important message for a hurting world right now. My favorite talk was this 10-minute listen on the subject (watch for my favorite quote at 4:03.)


My kids listened to conference quietly (I can lie to you about it because you weren't there) while they colored, but I was told several times they were unhappy about the selection of coloring pages I provided.

Apparently, they are now coloring snobs. Every one of them, even the 3-year-old, turned up their noses at anything that didn't resemble an adult coloring page and said it was "too basic."

(Pardon me while I find my white gloves and fetch m'lady some fancy coloring material that won't offend her delicate sensibilities...)

And of course, there was the kids' most beloved conference tradition of all: General Conference Snacks.

Before conference, I lay out an assortment of treats with pictures of the speakers on them. Every time a new person gets up to speak, the kids find the right picture and divvy out the attached snack.

Theoretically, this helps them pay attention. In practice, it's sort of a trade-off. They listen, but only after the first few minutes of every talk which is completely drowned out by their intense debate about how to divide each snack fairly. 

My 6-year-old, clearly living his best life.

When we passed out Elder Holland's SweeTARTS, my son looked at them quizzically and asked, "Do you suck on these or bite them?" 

Luckily, the people at SweeTARTS had already anticipated that question and printed instructions directly on the candies:

Apparently, there had been some confusion.

We also pass out blank slips of paper to every family member who can spell and ask them to take a few notes on each talk. We collect them with the speaker's picture in a Ziploc bag to review later.

My 8-year-old did a great job taking notes.

On Saturday evening, President Nelson called for a special fast to ease the suffering caused by COVID-19. While I fully supported the idea and was happy to participate, for a moment I was terrified he would say "starting tomorrow."

Because we still had a table full of snacks! The kids would revolt! There was a tin of homemade chocolate chip cookies hanging in the balance. 

Luckily for the kids, the special fast was designated for Good Friday, so their ability to enjoy Elder Cook's cookies the following day wasn't impacted.

Meet Elder Cookies. I mean, Elder Cook.

By the end, the kids were getting antsy. The 3- and 5-year-old were making monster truck noises while crashing a colored pencil into a tape dispenser from opposite sides of the room. Extensive conversations about what parts of the new couches you can and can't put your butt on were had.

But in spite of all that, they really were listening!

The next day I was helping my 8-year-old put together a quiz for Family Home Evening and I asked her, "One of the talks told a story about someone who lost something in the ocean. Do you remember what it was?"

Before she could answer, the 3-year-old yelled out from the other room, "Glasses!"

They can be taught!

I'm grateful for all the inspiration and hope I got out of this weekend. I can't wait to go back and re-read the talks.

I'm grateful for the prophet at the head of our church, and for the guidance we receive on how to teach our families the gospel (especially since we may be at home doing this on our own for quite some time.)

Most of all, I'm grateful for Jesus Christ, whose message is simple enough for a 3-year-old to grasp but also miraculous enough to study for a lifetime.

That's why I love conference: it's all of that, topped off with a buffet of snacks that lasts all weekend. Life is good.

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13 Verbs from This Weekend (A General Conference Recap)

Typically, weekends at the Evans household are mostly me grumbling about soccer (Saturdays) and trying to herd everyone into the car while 3 people choose that moment to tell me their church shoes are lost and/or don't fit (Sunday,) but this weekend was different!

Some things we did this weekend included:

...watching General Conference. Twice a year, the leaders of my church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) hold a worldwide broadcast for all the members and any interested friends or curious gawkers. General Conference is kind of like a collection of religious TED talks, given in five 2-hour sessions. That's right, we watched TV for 10 hours. Don't judge.

...coloring. About a week ago we bought a new filing cabinet, and using the Kondo thank-and-release method, got rid of the ugly one we got off Craigslist for free 10 years ago. While transferring our papers, I came across a stack of adult coloring pages and there couldn't have been anything more perfect for occupying the kids while they listened to Conference.

Even the 5-year-old was really into it.

... noticing a few specific themes. General Conference speakers aren't assigned topics, but since they prepare their talks prayerfully and have made it their business to know what's going on in the church and the world, you can usually pick out a few common threads. 

Keeping Christ at the center of our lives was one of them. Our prophet President Nelson was quoted more than once as saying, "The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives." (Here is an excellent talk on that.)  

...completely forgetting my 11-year-old's soccer game. We remembered my younger daughter's game because it was first thing in the morning, but my 11-year-old's game was during a session of Conference and we just plain forgot about it. Oh, well. I have no regrets.

...eating lots of snacks. Every 6 months without fail, several people ask, "ARE YOU DOING THE CONFERENCE SNACKS???" Even people who aren't members of my church seem to be heavily invested in this tradition.

So yes, we did the snacks.

We printed out pictures of the prophet and apostles of our church ahead of time. The kids attached each one to a snack and when that person spoke at General Conference, we got to eat his snack.

As per tradition, the kids put Elder Quentin L. Cook on the package of cookies.

My kids love Elder Cookies most of all.

They kicked their wordplay up a notch this year by also putting Elder Rasband on the raspberry pastries.

Ba-dum ching!

The kids love this tradition, and I'm only slightly concerned that they seem to remember which apostle had which snack far longer than the content of their message.

...counting calories. My already-tiny 5-year-old lost weight over the summer, and after investigating food allergies we decided to keep track of his daily calorie intake and discovered he just wasn't eating enough. So now I'm following him around, measuring all his food and calculating the calories of everything he eats all day. Let's just say that all the snacks made for a good calorie weekend.

...being judged. Our house painters showed up when we were watching the Conference sessions on Saturday. They could see us through the windows and undoubtedly noticed we were sitting around the TV eating junk food for 4 hours, and I can imagine they made some assumptions about us. (I was just glad they didn't come back on Sunday to see us doing the same thing.)

...summarizing.  One talk began with a story about some boys who mistook a skunk for a kitty, and then explained how this is similar to the way the devil might want us to believe dangerous things are harmless. When the 7-year-old asked what Elder Stevenson was talking about, the 5-year-old (who was engrossed in his coloring and didn't appear to be listening) immediately answered "Skunks!"

Everyone also summarized each talk on a piece of paper and put it in a baggie along with the speaker's picture, so we can talk about it later. Such as during the next Family Home Evening when we've forgotten to plan anything... not that that's ever happened.

Little Ziploc-sized packets of inspiration, right here.

...resolving to do better. One of the things I love about Conference is that I always come away with increased motivation to improve and a better perspective on the challenges I like to whine about.

Something that hit home for me this time was the importance of priorities and being fully committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you also struggle with this, or if you just really love long Lord of the Rings analogies, you've got to read this talk from Elder Uchtdorf. 

...debating going to urgent care. My 3-year-old took all the cushions off the sofa and then hit his face on it. Even though it was upholstered, somehow he gave himself a nasty cut above his upper lip. We debated whether it would need to be stitched or glued shut, but in the end decided it would heal fine on its own. 

When I remarked to my son that he might have a scar and not be able to grow a nice-looking mustache when he grew up, he yelled indignantly "I'm not gonna be a mustache when I grow up!"

...loving the humanity of our prophet. For some people, the idea of having a prophet at the head of your church — like a modern-day Moses — is just weird. And foreign. And maybe calls to mind images of a stern Charlton Heston. But for me, having a prophet is something very warm and personal. 

As President Nelson looked out at everyone gathered in the Conference Center he said "I'd like to claim every one of you as part of my family." And then he went "off script" (it's not in the official transcript but it is in the video) and joked, "So if you're looking for an extra grandpa, give me a call." And I bet people will. He's that kind of a guy.

...inventing a new word. During one talk, our video froze but the audio kept going. One of the kids commented that Elder Eyring talking without moving his mouth looked like he was doing ventriloquism. Only she couldn't remember the word "ventriloquism," so she called it "muppetry." That one still makes me laugh.

...missing almost all of Elder Cook's talk because the kids were having an animated discussion about cookies (Elder Cook's snack, you remember.) Phillip and I were particularly irritated because this was the announcement of some procedural changes to the church's youth program, which affects both of our callings so we kind of wanted to hear it! I also missed most of the last session when the little kids were getting stir-crazy and started whacking everyone with train tracks. There's a limit to what even a boatload of Conference Snacks can do.

As good as this past weekend was, though, the best (and hardest) part is afterward, when I can evaluate the inspiration I've gotten and try to put it into practice. 

To be honest, I lost steam after the last Conference and didn't act on half of the things I felt compelled to do, which I guess is why we need General Conference every six months. Or at least I do. 

If you watched General Conference, what were some memorable moments for you? If not, what's a question you have about how General Conference works?

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Snacks and Other Things This Weekend Was About

You wouldn't think being trapped in a room with six children for 8 hours over the course of a weekend is something I'd enjoy.

But this past weekend was general conference, which I happen to love — even with all the wiggling and fidgeting.

General conference is a twice-yearly meeting of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, made famous among my children with the invention of Conference Snacks.

I print out pictures of the current prophet and apostles in our church, which the kids attach to various snack foods. Then they all pay rapt attention to the rest of the general conference proceedings.

At least long enough to figure out who's speaking next so they can eat his snack.

I adapted this idea a few years ago from Christina at Hands Full Mom, and it's become a major part of the general conference experience as far as my kids are concerned.

If you were watching with us at our house this weekend, you might have heard this:

7-year-old: Are there any more speakers?
Me: One more.
7-year-old: Oooh, I hope it's a candy person!

Or this:

Daughter: Who's that?
Son: Dallin H. Oaks.
Daughter: *wailing* We don't HAAAVE him!
Me: Yes, we do. He's in the fridge.

Or this:

7-year-old: [mistaking someone for Elder Cook, whose picture was on the Chips Ahoy] COOKIES!!!!
14-year-old: No, that's not the cookie guy.

Or a certain someone (me) yelling, "Can you guys stop fighting about Tic-Tacs for five seconds so we can hear the prophet?!"

The Tic-Tacs heard round the world.

Even though the kids are borderline obsessed with Conference Snacks, and even though they sometimes get bored and/or silly (they had a field day when someone accidentally pronounced the word "pew" weirdly and it sounded like "poo,") I was so impressed with how they were constantly making little comments that showed they were paying attention. Things like "Dad sings that song!" "hey, we've read that story!" or "you talked about that in church!"

I also hand out little slips of paper to everyone and ask them to write down an idea from each talk.

Preschooler-to-English translation: "Loving Jesus."

Even the 2-year-old took notes. Sort of.

Turns out your own feet are a convenient and accessible place to jot down your thoughts.

I also took notes, not just on the talks but also on the thoughts/feelings that came to my mind about what God wants me to do with that information.

As much as I like the warm fuzzies I get while listening to conference, the longer I'm a member of this church the more I realize the most important part is what I do after it's over.

Right now is when I begin the hard work of prayerfully implementing the changes I've been inspired to make — and it is hard, because I'm still me. Conference hasn't magically made me into a more patient, wise, or disciplined person. (Although that certainly would be convenient.)

Even though general conference speakers aren't assigned a topic, each conference seems to end up with a few themes. I'm thinking it's probably because they pray a lot to choose one and are guided from there.

Two themes I picked out were:

1. Increasing our faith in Jesus Christ. In the last year, our church has been making a lot of changes — not to our basic beliefs, but to the nuts-and-bolts workings of our programs and policies. The average Latter-day Saint is pretty active in running various parts of the church, and we've all noticed a recent effort from church headquarters to simplify programs and cut out unnecessary meetings and busywork. The point is to allow us to focus less on our "church jobs" and more on what's really important: our personal relationships with the Savior.
2. Making our homes, not the church, the center of gospel learning for our families. We should look at church as a supplement to the teaching, reading, studying, and praying we're already doing at home, not a place where we can send the kids to Sunday School and call it good. At least twice during general conference, I heard it said that our homes should be "sanctuaries."

So we've got some work to do.

Step One was to start a discussion at the dinner table that night. With 6 kids in the house it's pretty crazy and chaotic almost all the time, but I wanted to get their thoughts on the "home as a sanctuary" idea.

I asked the kids what they thought it meant, and after some discussion my 10-year-old looked up 'sanctuary' in the dictionary.

My 13-year-old was the first to burst out laughing at Definition #3:

Because we already think of our home as an asylum. An insane asylum.

I lost it not too much later at Definition #4.

Like I said, we're still us.

But with personal inspiration from heaven and the direction of a prophet at the head of our church, I think we'll be okay.

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Inspirational Thoughts Interspersed with Random Antics from My Kids

Actually, that could have been the title of my blog if I'd thought of it earlier.

Last month was General Conference, a worldwide meeting for my church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) that I suppose you could compare to a series of TED talks for the soul.

The talks were encouraging, the music was moving, and one of my children almost choked on a Mentos. That about sums it up.

Inspirational Thought #1

Have you ever wondered whether it's even a good idea to bring children into the world with all the scary things that happen sometimes? I personally haven't had that exact question because I love me some babies, but I know what it's like to be paralyzed with fear over the what-ifs. 

Elder Rasband's talk "Be Not Troubled" happened to be one of my favorites, about how we can overcome fear with love: our love for God, and His love for us. 

Random Kid Antic #1

Every Conference, we get a bunch of snack food and put pictures of the speakers on each treat, and as each one talks the kids get to eat his snack. (I cannot overemphasize how excited the kids are about this. They literally remember the apostles of our church by which snack they were on last time.)

We also have them write down an idea from each talk as they're listening and eating. As an example, see this excessively phonetic one from my 1st grader:

"Thar are bad thengs hapning but we don't net to bee fraid."

At least she was listening. The 2-year-old was busy throwing Elder Rasband's gummy worms at the TV.

Inspirational Thought #2

Elder Oaks' talk reminded me of how unique and beautiful God's plan really is. It's simple and all-encompassing at the same time.

I always love a talk that lays out step-by-step our big picture beliefs and then it makes sense why we do everything we do in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Random Kid Antic #2

Since General Conference lasts several hours and there's only so long you can eat fruit roll-ups and take notes, the kids also colored a lot.

We had some intricate mandalas, some multi-colored scribbles, and a Lego superhero coloring page that someone inexplicably decorated with a pickle theme:

Iron Man: "Wow, it's salty!" Batman: "It's a pickle!" Flash: "It will destroy us all." Robin: "I love pickles!"

As I often tell people, "I have no idea what's going on. I just live here."

Inspirational Thought #3

It would be very hard indeed to belong my church without learning that faith is a verb. As Latter-day Saints we believe that religion is a living thing that requires our active participation, and only by living what we believe can we ever really come to know it.

As you can probably guess from his name, Elder Uchtdorf is German and in his talk, describes the cure for weltschmerz (a German word for a vague dissatisfaction with life) in three familiar words. And no, they are not "live, laugh, love."

Random Kid Antic #3

Please excuse the appearance of our surroundings. We watched Conference this time in our dungeon unfinished basement, which will supposedly someday be a gorgeous living space and movie-watching area. 

For now it's the receptacle for all household junk and has a flat screen sitting on the plywood subfloor.

It's not exactly an easy space to fit the whole family for extended periods of time, and when the 2-year-old got bored he started dragging over random junk from all over the basement. Which is why we watched almost all of Conference with this giant red cooler from 1972.

Inspirational Thought #4

I've thought about this a lot. And how do you build a life that's shaped by what you believe instead of what's on your to-do list? And what does that actually look like in real time?

Elder Christofferson's talk was a nice reminder of what it all comes down to: with a prayerful confirmation that what you believe is true, you can move forward in faith toward making the gospel your compass instead of just a map you sometimes kinda sorta look at when you get lost.

Random Kid Antic #4

Continuing with our Conference note-taking, my 10-year-old summed up one of the afternoon's other talks on forgiving others with this succinct note:

Naturally I thought this was hilarious because whenever the kids are arguing about something at home, Phillip and I like to start signing a very theatrical rendition of "Let It Go."

This might not seem effective, but it actually is because it quickly stops sibling squabbles by immediately redirecting the full force of both kids' annoyance directly at us. #proparentingtip

Inspirational Thought #5

As a mother, is this or is this not one of the hardest challenges of life? That was rhetorical. Of course it is.

In her talk "Divine Discontent," Michelle D. Craig talks about feeling the gap between who we are and who we want to be. By following promptings, which is what we usually call those little nudges from the Holy Spirit to do something, we can turn those feelings into something positive.

Random Kid Antic #5

Looking for a parent-approved way to expend his energy, the 4-year-old was waving his arm during one of the hymns between talks. He was carefully following the movements of the conductor on the screen and then turned around to say, "I'm reducting."

Almost, kid. Almost.

Every six months I look forward to the direction I get at General Conference and the thoughts I have while watching on how I can follow Jesus Christ better. And to be honest, I look forward to the kids' random antics almost just as much.

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