Easter

It's Easter Sunday (did ya notice?) and also the second day of the 188th Annual General Conference of the Church! Normally, we meet up at Mom's house for breakfast together prior to the Sunday morning session of conference, but since Mom is home sick today, we instead met up at Mike's and Jana's house in Layton.

The kids took part in our annual Easter egg hunt and had a great time looking for goodies.

General conference was pretty amazing, but then again, it always is! The Saturday morning session yesterday was also a solemn assembly in which we sustained our new prophet. President Russell M. Nelson, as well as his counselors in the First Presidency, President Dallin H. Oaks and President Henry B. Eyring. In addition, we also sustained the first Asian-American and Latin American members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of this dispensation: Elders Gerrit W. Gong and Ulisses Soares, respectively.

Priesthood meeting last night featuring a change: the end of high priests groups in wards, which are being combined with elders quorums. The Church is also consolidating some of its priesthood meetings (which means fewer meetings; hooray!).

Following priesthood session, JB and I traveled to downtown Salt Lake City to visit an old friend of mine, Janett Cuba del Carpio, whose father, Carlos Cuba, was my mission president in Peru. Janett's husband, Elder Fernando del Carpio, is an Area Seventy in Tacna, Peru, and they were both in town to attend general conference.

There were two other special announcements today during the afternoon session: Home and visiting teaching programs are being discontinued and replaced with "ministering" objectives. I guess we'll find out more about those in the weeks that follow. Also, Pres. Nelson announced seven new temples to be built in: Layton, Utah (Davis County's second!); Richmond, Virginia; Salta, Argentina; Managua, Nicaragua; another in the Philippines; and the first temples in both India and Russia.

What an inspiring, uplifting weekend it was. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to sustain a new prophet and to feel the mantle upon his shoulders as he taught gospel truths. So many wonderful messages delivered so many incredible teachings.