Conference Weekend!

I had the awesome experience of actually going to conference this time around. It was a pretty sweet experience.

Tyler got tickets for the Saturday afternoon session from his cousin, but we thought we'd try for tickets Saturday morning as well.


So, Saturday started early. I got up at about 6:20 so that we could leave by 7:15 to get to Sandy to catch the train to Salt Lake. We both knew that traffic would be horrific on the way to Salt Lake, and neither of us wanted to fight the inevitable mass of cars that would clog the highway.

We left about 7:20, and got to Salt Lake with plenty of time... we thought...
As we got off of the crowded train, we began discussing strategies for obtaining tickets to the morning session of conference. Tyler was trying to convince me to hold a sign asking for tickets, as girls are supposedly more likely to be given tickets than boys. As we talked about this, a lady in front of us, turned around and gave us her two extra tickets. She heard us talking and saved us the trouble. Awesome, huh!

But then we got to the Conference Center. Holy COW!!! I have never seen so many Mormons in one place before. There were "lines" to get into the Conference Center outside the many doors that stretched for miles, and weaved all over the place. I say "lines" because a line, by definition is straight, from point to point (that's how Michelle defined it when I asked her). There are connotations of an ending point. Not at the Conference Center. It was impossible to find the end of the line. We found ourselves in one line, only to be told that this was the express line, and because I had a purse, I couldn't use it, and Tyler had to go check his backpack at a different door.

By the time we finally got in and found where our seats were to be, the Conference Center was full. So we left and went to the Tabernacle instead.

Now, because we had gotten up early, neither of us had eaten, and we were tired. I had brought a couple of snacks, but by the time Conference was over, we were starving! I could feel that it was time to eat. And I was super tired.I think that I had only gotten four or five hours of sleep. Staying awake was so hard. I managed though, to keep myself mostly alert during the morning session.

But we were STARVING!

We left before the prayer to go find a place to eat. The idea was that we wanted to beat everyone else, and get back in time to get in line so that we could actually have seats in the Conference Center for the afternoon session.

But we went the wrong direction, so we ended up at a restaurant about the same time as everyone else. We opted for Crown Burgers.... DELICIOUS! And fast. With the volume of customers, their efficiency was impressive. We probably got in and out in about 20 minutes or so. We walked back to the Conference Center and finally ate. It was so good. I got so full....

We got in with plenty of time, and found our seats easily. We were on the bottom level on the far left side up towards the front. Great seats. And comfortable.

You guessed it, I wasn't entirely able to stay awake. I tried, but I was so tired. And full.
But it was really cool to be in the same room as all of the apostles, and with the prophet. I was really glad that I got to be there and listen to the inspired men and women who spoke... even if I couldn't stay awake. Some of our apostles have such lulling voices...

Afterwards, I saw President Riding! I love him! He's always been my favorite member of the stake presidency back home. I feel like he really cares about me and my family. And I always learn something new when I listen to him speak. So that was pretty cool.

As we headed back to the train to take us back to Sandy, we realized that we almost forgot Tyler's backpack! So we walked against the current of people back to the conference center... to stand in another line...

We finally got to Sandy somewhere around six, tired and dehydrated. So we stopped at Arby's on the way home to get some water. (They wouldn't just give it to us, so we bought the cheapest thing on the menu-- a chocolate turnover-- not undelicious, but not great.)

Then home!!!! It was so good to be home. Tyler left and went to priesthood, and I don't remember what I did... put on PJ's... and oh yeah, watched Mathilda with Michelle on TV. I had a bit of a tummy-ache... I think that I got carsick because I was tired.

Tyler came back over and we watched Minority Report, then I went to bed.

All in all, it was a good day. Stressful, and long. But really good. I don't know if I'm in a hurry to do it again, but it was neat to be in the same room as the Prophet of the Lord, and the Lord's apostles.