Conference weekend!!

 Ok so on Wednesday I got a flu shot - which was both exciting and bad. Exciting because I love getting flu shots - I've gotten one every year and never had the flu. So I'll continue to follow that pattern. Bad because my arm was sore for about two days. Yuck!

When I got home on Wednesday afternoon, LOOK WHAT WAS IN THE MAIL! Our 4 free meals coupon from Chipotle. Best piece of mail ever. 

I took this photo of my car and Taylor's car being friends in the Institute parking lot <3

On Thursday when I went to work they were handing out free quesadillas!! Bonus. Super cool. 

And here is a picture of me eating my free burrito a couple of hours later. Not only was it an exciting day of free food, but it also showed me that I really like to take selfies (especially those where I'm eating food)

After Chipotle we had our friends Ashley and Amanda over to watch/sing-along to Mamma Mia. Needless to say, it was awesome. 

Alright so I didn't take any pictures on Friday but....Sydney and I drove to Casa Grande and picked up McKenzie so she could hang out with us for the night! We then went to Taco Bell, and when we got home, we painted Honey Boo Boo quotes. The usual. Mine was "I wish I had an extra finger so I could grab more cheeseballs". A classic really. EJ came over for a little bit, as did Taylor and Natalie. Friday was pretty cool but Saturday was MUCH cooler. It began with General Conference. Saturday morning session was easily my favorite. Conference is always so nice - who wouldn't want to listen to inspired messages and words from prophets while sitting in your PJ's? After the first session, we went to lunch with all of the churchy folk and the missionaries. Here are Sister Eyre and Sister Hendricks being cuties as always. 

They are seriously so cool. Sydney and I wish that we could find other girls here in Tucson that are as cool as them. Also, we have different favorites so it works out perfectly. 

A bench full of Richardsons....what a dream come true. 

Poker face to celebrate (because what else would I do?)

Anddddd Elder Wasden. 

Sister Hendricks again.

Ok so after lunch we mosied on over to Target, but then discovered that the new Walmart was open so we opted for that instead. Upon entering, we found Sydney's own personal heaven. It was an entire wall of Mountain Dew!!

After Walmart, we were trying to decide where to go and McKenzie suggested we go thrift shopping, so I drove on over to Buffalo Exchange. When we got there we discovered the greatest thing in the world! They were having a dollar sale. The following are a few photos of the madness that incurred. There were dozens of boxes overflowing with clothes that everyone was rooting through and trying to find the perfect item. Everything was a dollar after all!!!

We then took a trip up Mt. Lemmon and I took yet another selfie. It was awesome.

After Mt. Lemmon we went to In N Out and then drove back to Casa Grande to drop off McKenzie. Avery just wanted to play though. That's ok because it created a bunch of cute pictures. 

Basically Conference weekend is the best thing ever. I didn't watch all of the Saturday afternoon session yet, but starting my day with a 2 hour Conference filled with inspiration and comfort just makes the rest of the day go by so much better. My favorite talks would have to be President Uchtdorf's from Saturday morning, and Elder Holland's from Saturday afternoon. President Uchtdorf spoke about how we should accept others and that diversity within the Church is a good thing. I think this is something that really needs to be emphasized within the Church, and it really got me excited that he addressed it. It was such a curveball since it's not really a topic that is spoken about often. Since we are a Church that is based on agency, we need to respect the fact that others have agency to practice other religions, no religions, to leave our faith, or simply to do whatever they want. We don't always know what situations people are going through in life, so we shouldn't judge them for making decisions that differ from our own. We have to have faith in the fact that our church is founded on God's teachings and words, and that He "will not allow His church to drift from its appointed course or fail in its divine destiny". President Uchtdorf is always awesome to listen to. His accent is awesome, that's a given. But he also has a way of simplifying things and making his points very concise so that they are easy to remember. 

Saturday morning was also awesome because there was a lot said about Africa, and it made me really want to go back to Johannesburg and visit the church sites there, as well as the old places I used to go as a child. Elder Ulisses Soares gave a talk about a Brother from Johannesburg who attended church every week for years from the outside of the building, since they would not allow him inside due to his color. Despite this fact, he religiously attended every church meeting until he was later allowed inside and helped to start up the branch in Soweto. I got so excited about this story, not only because of this Brother's intense desire to be a part of His Gospel, but because hearing it made me feel like I was home. There is comfort in hearing of places you've grown up in. 

Elder Holland's talk on Saturday afternoon got a lot of people buzzing. His talks always do so, but I liked this one especially. He talked to those who are suffering from mental illnesses and those around them, particularly those afflicted by depression. This is such an important topic that we often ignore or think that everyone who has accepted Christ is automatically happy. But it doesn't work that way. Having Christ in your life is not going to fix the chemical imbalance in your brain that causes depression, in the same way that being a member of the Church won't prevent you from getting cancer, or won't cure someone from diabetes. Erasing the stigma about mental illnesses is a movement that is near and dear to my heart, and I will stand up for it forever. My favorite quote from Elder Holland's talk was "We are infinitely more than our limitations or our afflictions". People aren't defined by a disability or disorder that they have. There is so much more to a person than that, and it's about time people realized that. 

The following are some graphics with quotes that I enjoyed from the weekend. Enjoy! If you would like to read or watch any of the talks from this weekend, you can visit LDS.org