Conference

I actually attended almost every minute of that conference. Aren't you proud of me? And I had a great time. Everyone was very friendly and the talks and workshops were great. There was one in particular that I've been thinking about ever since. It was the sunday fireside. The speaker was a former mission president in the Louisiana mission. He was raised Baptist, so he was a very dynamic speaker, loud and animated, like he expected an AMEN from the congregation occasionally. He even thumped the pulpit a few times :) His topic was living more with the Lord than with the world. I can't tell you any of the stories he told or examples he used, but since then, as I go through my day and find myself spending time on the computer or watching tv, I find myself thinking more often that I could be spending that time with the Lord instead of in the world. And that doesn't mean that I read my scriptures 24/7 and never turn on the tv again. But where are my influences coming from? What voices am I listening to? It stands to reason that the voices I surround myself with most often would be the voices I would eventually heed. Why then wouldn't I want to make sure that the voice of my Father who loves me is uppermost? Quantity counts, apparently :) So I'm making an effort to listen to better music, watch less tv, read more uplifting things, have righteous companions. Not that I wasn't doing those things before, but it was a good reminder.

I'm going to another conference this coming week. This one is in Medford. It's not a mid-singles event, but includes all single adults, so I expect the average age to be 60, particularly as there is another mid-singles conference going on the same weekend in Hood River where all the mids will undoubtedly be. I thought about going to that one, but hotels there were mostly booked and the only ones left were mega expensive. I could get 5 nights in Medford for the same price as 2 in Hood River. Also, Medford is 17 miles from Ashland, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. YEAH! I've really been wanting to go this summer. They are staging Pride and Prejudice, which, come on. I have to see it. So I am killing two birds with one stone, (I hate that phrase. There needs to be a new idiom for that concept. Poor birds) and going to the geriatric conference and seeing some great theater, all for less than I would have spent on 2 nights in Hood River. Plus Gab lives between here and there, so I get to see her too :) What could be better?