General Conference

General Conference was super exciting.  A few years ago I was living in Tucson when the Gilbert, Arizona and Phoenix, Arizona temples were announced.  

Gilbert Arizona

Phoenix Arizona

I remember that everyone in our ward felt left out and a little bit annoyed at those Phoenix Valley Mormons for getting three temples in one metropolis.  One of our leaders pointed out that temples are built in areas where members attend the temple regularly.  What's neat is that it seems that in the last three years or so, members of the Church in Tucson *have* attended the temple regularly, and they have shown their willingness to consecrate their time, talents, and material means to Heavenly Father's work and glory.  As a Tucson convert, it means a lot to me that they will have their own House of God in which to worship.

It'll be interesting to see how President Monson's announcement changes the mission.  I know that watching conference in October 2011 gave me the push to submit my paperwork, and I was in the MTC by January.  This means that we could easily have some 19 year-old sisters here in the mission in February!  Being paired with some of these sisters will give me an extra chance to grow, since I know that I tend to get along a little bit easier with sisters closer to my own age.  People grow and mature a lot between the ages of 19 and 21.  I grew and matured a lot even after that.  (And yes, I recognize that I still have even more growing and maturing to do...)  But one of the things that I learned from my own endowment was just how good it can feel when people who are more experienced than you help you to grow and achieve your potential as a child of God.