Connors Come to Conference

I love Conference weekend! And this one was one of my favorites ever.

My parents flew into town on Thursday morning and came straight to my school to meet their grandstudents. My dad has never come to my class, and my mom hasn't come this year. It was so fun to have them!

True confession: we spent the entire morning on Spring Cleaning. When my parents came, they gave me flowers, handed out ring pops to my kids, and got a special sneak peek performance of one of the songs from our end-of-the-year program.

We were supposed to be at the Salt Lake temple for a 5:00 session, but we didn't make it. Instead, we spent 3:00 - 5:30

- driving to the FrontRunner station to drop off Cassidy Jane
- driving from there to SLC
- driving all around Salt Lake, looking for a quick-food (but not fast-food) place to eat
- driving past the Blue Lemon, then spending 10 minutes trying to turn around and get back to a parking space close to it
- ordering and eating at the Blue Lemon
- running back to our car, finishing the meal as we ran
- choking
- recovering
- finding a new place to park so we could go to the temple
- realizing we were not going to make it to the 5:00 session, so then my dad started
- feeling woeful and insisting that my mom park at a hotel because they apparently have "nice dressing room areas" in hotels
- parking in the hotel parking garage, where my parents took turns changing in the car while I took turns eating lemon squares
- going into the temple, after asking only five people for directions

5:30 is about when we walked through the doors and conveniently ran into my dad's mission president. So, obviously we didn't make it to the 6:00 session either, because then there was too much catching up to do.

Even though things didn't go exactly as planned, it was a nice night.

Friday was Fun Day! We went rock-climbing and played soccer  at UVU, Shimps vs. Connors.

They were acting all nervous about climbing! But they actually conquered their fears and did a good job! I was very proud.

After that, we went to my dad's mission reunion. It was delicious and someone famous came! Not President Obama. Although, he was in town this weekend, because I guess he didn't hear that it was only the biggest weekend of the year for Utah.....but yeah it wasn't him.

This famous person was on the Hispanic version of You've Got Talent and got to the finals. He sang two songs in Spanish and looked deeply into everyone's eyes and I promptly got a crush on him forgot his name. Alejandro or Alex something. Then the pres and his wife gave talks in Spanish and I got an appreciation for how hard it would be to learn another language! I was trying so hard to understand and I couldn't keep up! Stephen translated most of it for me.

The reunion ended whenever everyone wanted it to end and headed home. So naturally, we were just about the last ones to leave.

We had breakfast on Saturday morning with the Shimps! I love having both of my families together.

I don't know why I thought this would be a good picture as half of the food is not even here....but we had waffles, eggs, sausage, and these toppings and orange juice. Use your imaginations :)

We had tickets to the Saturday afternoon session of conference so we left pretty much right after the morning session. I can't get over how beautiful Temple Square is at conference time!

I've done it so many times before, but it was still nice to be in the conference center to sustain our cute leaders. I love them so much and love feeling the love they have for us.

While the boys went back to Lehi for the priesthood session, the girls met up with Aunt Lila (my mom's sister) and her friend Sue. We went to Texas Roadhouse and happened to get the same waiter I just had last week when I came in! So that was a little embarrassing. But fun!

My parents left on Sunday. We watched the morning session at the Shimps and then said goodbyyyye. Thanks for coming padres!! Next step: buy a house and move out here.

If you Love what you Know....

Two summers ago, I had the opportunity to be an EFY counselor. It was great because I never went to EFY as a youth, and because my brother went the first week I was a counselor, and it was just a wonderful time. One of the things that one of the many speakers said that has stuck with me ever since was: "If you love what you know, share it."

In that moment, it was simple for me to say that I loved what I know. Of course I loved it. I loved it as easily as I loved my own family. 

Since that time, I have watched as the religion and church I love have suddenly become a regular topic of discussion in sensationalist media. People are sharing what they know....and what they think, and what they feel, and sometimes, it is not because they love it. 

Most of the time when I read things written by people who want to share what they don't love, it made me annoyed, or angry. So I would go looking for articles that supported what I think, and how I feel. There are plenty of these, too - so I would binge-read a bunch of them, expecting to feel better. Because, confirmation bias, or whatever. 

But I realized recently that it didn't make me feel better. It just made me feel more annoyed, until I had an epiphany the other day. The quote I mentioned earlier came into my mind, along with this question: "What do you love?"

Hence, this blog. I'm Heather, I love what I know, and I'm a Mormon. 

-I love that I know, firsthand, what it means to grow up in a happy home. I love that I always knew my parents and siblings loved me, and I love that I have never expected anything less than forever with them. 

-I love that I know that I am a child of God. 

-I love that I know that Heavenly Father knows everything, and I love that I know that I can ask him anything. 

-I love that I know that one day, all of my questions will be answered. 

-I love that I know that my best is enough. And I love that I know when my best could be better. 

-I love that I know that I will have friends wherever I go in the world. Sometimes you'll meet a mean or grumpy Mormon, but in general, Mormons are nice, friendly people. 

-I love that I know that my sister Nicole is exactly where she needs to be.

-I love that I know that Stephen is not just mine for now, but for forever. 

-I love that I know that what I do in this life matters. The time I hope to spend as a mother may be trivialized by some, and rejected by others as a calling that is not important enough to be worth of their time and energy, but it is one that I have always felt I was meant for. One day. Don't panic, Stephen. 

-I love that I have always felt important in church, too. Ever since my first calling as the Beehives President, I have felt like my ideas were listened to, and I have seen things happen and change based on my suggestions. 

-I love that I have before me a legacy of faithful people. I love that I can feel my grandmas being proud of me when I go to the temple. 

-I love that Marjorie Pay Hinckley existed, and that someone put together a book of her quotes. 

-I love that optimism and joy are a part of our church culture. 

-I love the youth programs of our church - the dances, the Youth Conferences, the Treks, the awkward flirting in the hallways after Mutual every Wednesday. I love the Young Women's leaders I was blessed to have and who I hope to be like.

-I love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and I love how BYU turns out awesome award-winning dancers. I love that we care about things that add beauty to the world. 

-I love the confidence that we put in our youth, to the point that we send 18-22ish year-olds out to represent the church. I love that my sister is one of them, and my brother will be soon.

-I love what a mission does for people, and I love how it changes them. I love the effect it had on my dad, several of my friends, and especially on the man I married.

-I love every time the primary kids sing in church. 

-I love EFY songs. Jenny Jordan Frogley is so wonderful. Also, Alex Boye. 

-I love that the kids I teach in school sometimes invite me to their baptisms, and I love the amazing spirit I feel when I go to one. I love their little examples to me. I love feeling their faith and being strengthened by it. 

-I love that I know that Joseph Smith was inspired. 

-I love that there is always more evidence for the church being uncovered. I love that all of the pieces of the puzzle aren't yet in place, but I love that if someone looks for evidence, they can find it. 

-I love that this church began with a simple prayer. 

-I love that Stephen and I got called to teach in Primary. 

-I love that our church teaches against smoking and porn. I love that it encourages family time, education, and going on dates. 

-I love that President Hinckley was so cute and sweet, and that he loved his wife so wonderfully. I love that some of his quotes are collected in a book for women, called "One Bright, Shining Hope." I love this book.

-I love temple open-houses. I love that so much work is put into making the temples beautiful places. I love that it has always been this way.

-I love that I know that we may not always get what we want, but we will always have what we need. Heavenly Father knows perfectly what experiences we need to progress, and what people we need in our lives. He knows the material things that we need as well as the chances and opportunities that will shape us into the people we need to be. If you don't have it, you don't need it.



I have never believed that I know everything there is to know. I don't know all of the answers or even all of the questions that will arise.

But what I do know, I love. So I thought I'd share :) What do you love?