Women's Conference

I've only been home for a week and a half...it's time to blog! It's long, and you probably don't care about most of it, but at least it's colorful!
Remeber this commercial?

Well, Phillip gave me a puppy full of love from him to take on the trip. I don't even remember when I gave him the puppy, but he's kept our family company for awhile now. The best part was I didn't have to buy puppy a ticket and I still got Phillip's love for the whole trip!
Here's Puppy all ready to go:
My parents and I left on Tuesday night after work and I drove to my sister(Barb)'s house in Elk Grove. Puppy and I got the couch.
The next morning dad drove us to the airport. Puppy made it thru security just fine. Mom on the other hand got stopped because she put her boarding pass back in her bag. Some people's mothers! :)

We got final boarding calls on the flight and of course, mom had found a bookstore. Barb got in line (and refused to be photographed) while I got to go hunt for mom.
I found her, there was actually 1 person behind us in line and we headed off for Utah! Here's puppy waving bye-bye to Sacramento:
And arriving in Salt Lake (watch the luggage grow!):
Grandma and Aunt Barbara (yes, there are two Barbaras) picked us up from the airport and took us to their place. Thanks for the ride!
Grandma loaned us her car. Thanks Grandma!!!
No puppy, you can't ride on top!
We left Grandma & Uncle Mike & Aunt Barbara's house in Layton and drove to the fabulous Lehi Days Inn. It's got a fridge, microwave and comfy beds - that makes it fabulous in my book!
Food for the day was provided, in part, by Sconecutter and Taco Time. Two places we think Fresno doesn't have but needs.
Favorite line of the night: With big boobs comes big responsibility.
Of course, since Wal-Mart is NOT a store we have here, we had to visit the Utah Wal-mart multiple times. On one of the trips we ended up with matching shirts and sweatshirts for Thursday. (Mom and Barb had not packed coats and if they were going to match, I wanted to too!)
Privledge of being the photographer is I don't have to be in the pictures! You can't tell very well, but the shirts are lavendar and the sweatshirts are a deep purple.
This is my mom and her cousin LeAnn. The two of them are abt 4 months apart. They started our Women's Conference tradition. LeAnn picked us up Thursday so we could use her pass to get great parking. Thanks LeAnn!
The opening session was fantastic! I've got it DVR'd if you wanna check it out. We usually skip one session to have lunch and do some shopping. Thursday it was the first session. We went over to the Wilkinson Center and I added my new Women's Conference bag to the mix.
The classes I went to were Heart Disease: The Number One Killer of Women in the United States by Carole Lewis, Elizabeth Dayton and “Rejoicing in Hope; Patient in Tribulation; Continuing Instant in Prayer”: Infertility and Adoption by Michelle Powell, Susan Steffen. I picked up some very interesting numbers and information in both classes. The sister sitting behind me in the 2nd class was the mother to 6 adopted children. What an angel!
The closing session on Thursday was by Sis. Olson and was good. Not my favorite, but still wonderful.
After waiting a bit to get out of the parking lot, we went back to the hotel and crashed. Here's Puppy examining my findings from the day:
One of the many treats from WC is the BYU Mint Brownies. Puppy tried to get into mine, but I caught him in time!
Friday we were more prepared...at least in clothing. We realized last year that in the midst of 18,000 plus women, it helps to find each other if you match. People see you looking lost and say "Your twin just went that way." I took the inititive and made us these matching shirts ($6 plus the cost of the iron on transfer paper)

The front has the WC Logo and on the back I put "09" and our last names - jersey style. (Rare shot of me)
Friday we met up with LeAnn and her daughter Linda (yes, another Linda). Thanks Linda for the picture and thanks Shane for watching Emilie and Maren so we could hang out!
Friday night we weren't going to be staying at the hotel, so we were all packed up. I let puppy sneak into WC.

Satan, of course, knows how spiritually potent the knowledge of our divine
identity is. He hates women of the noble birthright. He hates us because he is
almost out of time, while we are en route to everlasting glory. He hates us
because of the influence we have on husbands and children, family and friends,
the Church and even the world. It is no secret to him that we are the Lord's
secret weapon. -Sheri Dew WC 2001

A view of abt 1/4 of the Marriot Center filling up with our warrior women:
It's hard to belive in such a crowd, but we literally ran into my cousins, Andrea Browning and Chrsitine Burnett! What a great place to be together as a family!!!
Friday sessions were so touching. The first class I went to was Preventing “Emotional Homelessness” by Creating a Christ-Centered Home by Marilyn Bailey, Denise Demers. Powerful!!! We had lunch in the middle and I caught some of “True, Enduring Happiness”: Centering Our Lives on Christ by Bonnie Sellers Hammond, F. Melvin Hammond and all of “Stand in Awe, . . . and Be Still”: Spiritual Receptiveness by Susan Jones, Barbara Thompson. Sister Thompson is hilarious! We were able to hear from L. Tom Perry and his wife. (Note to self, if Phillip ever becomes a general authority, SERIOUSLY consider going into hiding!) We had a surprise visit from Russell M. Nelson as well! The spirit was SO STRONG at the end I didn't want to leave.
Even though some of the presenters weren't saying words I needed to hear, the spirit was conveying SO MUCH to me. I came home with a renewed strength and stronger testimony of my Savior's love for me and each one of us. He knows what we're going through. He gives us trials for our benifit and even when the road seems darkest, there is still a light at the end of the tunnell. As strong as the spirit was there, I knew it was only strengthened by the thousands of faithful women surrounding me. It's so easy to live the gospel when you're in the temple. It's so easy to do what is right when you're surrounded by those who are on the same fight as you. The fight we have is not fought on a battlefield with guns and cannons, but in our daily deeds with our words and actions. We don't fight with fellow warriors side-by-side, but all alone. That is when we are tested most. Let us all fight In the Strength of the Lord. This is what I learned from WC.

Beware of those who profess Christ while spewing subtle anti-Christ statements. Anyone who professes to believe in Jesus Christ but denies His divinity, no matter how many good deeds they have done, is anti-Christ. Anyone who shifts our focus away from making and keeping covenants is a servant of Satan. Anything that keeps us out of the temple or threatens the family is the work of Satan-Sheri Dew WC 2008

Come join fight with us next year!!! April 29th and 30th!