Amazing weekend and one not so great thing

On Saturday I got to go with my girls down to the Phx convention center for Deseret Books Time Out for Women & Girls. I have my mother-in-law to thank for this. She is awesome. Every year she buys ticket to the Timeout for Women events, and includes me and whomever I want to bring. This years event targeted our young women, but was just as wonderful as past years. The messages still applied to women. They brought in a lot of the popular LDS musicians, knowing that it was a sure way to reach the girls. The spirit can touch you so quickly through the power of music. Kacie picked out a new Hillary Weeks cd, and Sarah picked out a new piano book full of all the most popular EFY and other LDS songs. (So anyone needing songs for YW or Choir call me!) We then were able to get 3 of the songs autographed by their writers! Also, we got pictures of the girls with them.

This is Hillary Weeks.

Next we got Cherie Call. She is around 7 months pregnant with her 2'ND baby.

Finally, Jenny Jordan Frogley.

Abe Mills, who sings with Jericho road, was also there.

One of the presenters was John Hilton III. He has been a religious educator for 8 yrs and has taught at EFY conferences. His message was on the scriptures. Highlights were: The scriptures have the answers you need. It's easy to miss something you're not looking for. Look for applications to your life, the scriptures teach the why. The scriptures can get you through hard things. And finally, Know that when you read the scriptures God is talking to you. Of course mixed in with this were lots of great stories and video clips that related to the message!

Now let me tell you about the absolute highlight of the day.

The end of the day was supposed to be a question and answer session with the presenters. If you had a question you wanted answered you could write it on this small, pink piece of paper. When we came back from our lunch break Our wonderful MC, Laurel Christensen, was holding one of these papers in her hand. I wondered what she was doing with it. She started by saying that this person had no idea she was doing this and then asked if Molly Guber....(something) could come up on the stage with her mother. Molly was 14 and from Tuscon I believe. She was just an average looking young woman, and I wondered how difficult her life had been...not being one of the beautiful people, and with her last name. You can see it made an impression on me, at least the first part of it, because it was pronounced goober. As she was making her way up on stage, Laurel began telling a story about a group of her friends. The abbreviated version being, that they had spent a few days camping together and came up with the fact that at any time you could request a standing ovation, and the rest would get up and oblige. She then asked everyone present to give Molly the standing ovation of her life! The one we felt that she deserved. As she was saying this (before the applause even began) Molly put her hands over her mouth and began to sob. Over 1200 women/young women immediately jumped to their feet and began clapping, cheering, shouting out woo hoo's. I couldn't have possibly opened my mouth at that time because I was struggling not to sob as well. We watched her mother cry as she witnessed what this was doing for her daughter. I was so overwhelmed with the spirit bearing witness to me that this is how Father in Heaven feels about each of his daughters! Both young and old. He would have each of us receive a standing ovation. How I wished that we could make all of our young women feel the way Molly must have felt at that moment. I will never know what was written on that piece of paper that prompted Laurel to do this, but I do know that she followed the spirit and did exactly what she was supposed to do! I am so glad that I was there to witness this event for myself. It has been two days since this happened,and still I can't think about it without both my heart and my eyes over flowing! Surely this was a life changing moment for more than just Molly.

The main message of the day was this "God knows each and every one of His children by name!" He knows us, loves us, and truly wants the best for each of us. What a blessing it is to have this testimony for myself.

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Now, the not so great stuff. Poor Sam, he just got his truck out of the shop after having the fuel pump replaced. With his class schedule (he has one class at Liberty every morning) he has to have a vehicle. He and I did some car juggling last week. On Saturday he took his truck over to Fletcher tire and auto to get his oil changed. He drove his truck home and parked it in the driveway. Sunday night we had dinner at my in-laws. Sam didn't go because he had mission prep. He called me on my cell about 6 to say that he was pulling out of our street when all the sudden his gauges went to 0 and his dash said check gauges. He didn't know what was going on so we told him to take his truck home and drive Jim's instead. He did the long loop to get back to the house (down to Pinnacle Pk and around). When he pulled out of our street the second time he discovered his oil filter and all the oil out of his truck in the road! Holy crap!! Boy, did Fletchers screw up! This was definitely their error! To bad for them it happened to a family who not only knows about cars, but owns tow trucks, has mechanics employed, and also has a lawyer on retainer for the business. Joe, one our drivers, came and got the truck this morning (along with Sam who was supposed to be enjoying a ditch day) to take back to Fletchers and then down to the shop to start pulling it apart to find out how bad the engine is. :(

I'm telling you this so all my friends who live up here will be warned! Bishop Purtymun told Sam last night that he won't use them anymore because twice they shorted him a quart of oil. Then his seminary teacher this morning told him that they screwed up her car and they ended going to the BBB to get Fletchers to give them their money back. So beware! If you need work or your oil changed, go somewhere else!