I love conference!

Dear Family and Loved Ones,

    We all enjoyed a wonderful Spring Break – Ben, Mari and I played and relaxed and Ted kept the work going in the Great California Long Beach Mission!

     Monday Ben and Mari cleaned their rooms (we are starting to feel the pressure of getting the mission home ready for President and Sister Tew by the end of June). They did a good job of de-junking and sent several bags of clothes they weren’t wearing to Good Will.

     Ben, Mari and I (Ted ended up having a missionary emergency and missed out on our excursion) were also able to travel to Lake Forest to meet Shelly and Ian for a delicious lunch at an adorable French Bistro – the food was amazing and the company was even better. We also got to tour Ian and Shelly’s beautiful apartment in Rancho Santa Margarita. They have done such a great job of turning their first apartment into a comfortable retreat!

     Tuesday was the first day of our zone conferences. Ben and I went to Costco and bought cases of Gatorade and water and boxes of snack bars. We had the missionaries arrive after lunch so we didn’t need to ask the local stakes to feed them (we have zone conferences next transfer too and we didn’t want to impose again so soon) so we just gave them a snack about half way through their training. Everything went very well and it was a great chance for Ted to get to know our newest missionaries better and observe some of the older missionaries he has been considering to serve in leadership callings.

     Tuesday night Mari’s sweet friend Janessa arrived to spend Spring Break with us. We had fun the rest of the week visiting Universal Studios, the mall, the beach, Yogurt Land, etc. Ben and Mari also took Janessa to one of the multi-stake church dances Saturday night. I think Spring Break was a big success – hopefully everyone is ready to get back to early morning seminary and school tomorrow :)

     Conference was amazing! My only complaint is that it went way to fast! Ted traveled to five different stake centers to see each session and to see as many missionaries and investigators as possible. It turned out to be a great way to check up on a few of the missionaries he had been concerned about. We enjoyed conference on Ted’s laptop in the mission home. It wasn’t exactly a big screen TV but the inspired messages came through loud and clear. I can’t wait to read and reread each talk (this is necessary for me since I have a terrible memory!). It was very cool to realize how many of the General Authorities we have interacted with because of our mission assignment including Elder Perry, President Eyring, Elder Clayton, Elder Hale, Elder Porter, Elder Golden, Elder Holland, and many others. Having seen them up close has increased my testimony of the fact that they are men of God, they are His chosen servants and their words are inspired by the Lord for our day!

     It’s been fun to see the many LDS posters on Facebook with some of my favorite quotes. I’ll have to have Ben and Mari (my personal tech support) teach me how to save or print some of them. Here are a few of the words that touched me the most from this conference:

 From Sister Dalton, "What would the world be like if virtue … were reinstated in our society as a most highly prized value? If immorality, pornography and abuse decreased, would there be fewer broken marriages, broken lives and broken hearts? Would media ennoble and enable rather than objectify and degrade God's precious daughters? If all humanity really understood the importance of the statement, 'We are daughters of our Heavenly Father,' how would women be regarded and treated?"

From President Eyring, "As we give devoted service to Him, He draws closer to those we love in our families. Every time I have been called in the Lord's service to move or to leave my family, I have come to see that the Lord was blessing my wife and my children. He prepared loving servants and opportunities to draw them closer to Him.”

"You have felt that same blessing in your lives. Many of you have loved ones who are wandering off the path to eternal life. You wonder what more you can do to bring them back. You can depend on the Lord to draw closer to them as you serve Him in faith."

From President Uchtdorf, "Your Heavenly Father knows that you will make mistakes. He knows that you will stumble — perhaps many times. This saddens Him, but He loves you. He does not wish to break your spirit. On the contrary, He desires that you rise up and become the person you were designed to be. To that end, He sent His Son to illuminate the way and show us how to safely cross the stumbling blocks placed in our path."

From Elder Anderson, "As surely as the Lord has inspired more missionaries to serve, He is also awakening the minds and opening the hearts of more good and honest people to receive His missionaries," Elder Andersen said. "You already know them, or will know them. They are in your family and live in your neighborhood. They walk past you on the street, sit by you in school and connect with you online. You too are an important part of this unfolding miracle."

From Elder Holland, "I am not asking you to pretend to have faith you do not have. I am asking you to be true to the faith you do have."

"Brothers and sisters, this is a divine work in process with the manifestations and blessings of it abounding in every direction, so please do not hyperventilate if from time to time issues arise that need to be examined, understood and resolved.... And remember in this world everyone is to walk by faith."

From President Monson, "There is no need for you or for me, in this enlightened age when the fullness of the gospel has been restored, to sail uncharted seas or to travel unmarked roads in search of truth. A loving Heavenly Father has plotted our course and provided an unfailing guide — even obedience."

     I love conference weekend! I’m so grateful to be taught by living prophets and our other inspired church leaders and look forward to reviewing their wonderful messages.

    

We love and appreciate each of you and need your continued prayers as we continue to care for our MANY missionaries!

The Long Beach Buberts