Conference at the MTC

October 6, 2012 (Saturday night)

Hello Family (and friends)!

We were sent back to our Residence buildings early tonight with an invitation to write our families about Conference. Let me start by saying that there is absolutely nowhere else in the whole world I'd rather have been than in a room filled to every corner with full-time missionaries this morning. The second President Monson announced the new mission ages, everyone went ballistic. The room erupted into a roar of cheering like a bunch of fun. fans hearing the intro to "Be Calm" at a concert. I must admit that for a split second, I was filled with all kinds of emotions as I thought about how much sooner future missionaries will get this opportunity, and how I could have left a whole year earlier if this change had occurred earlier. HOWEVER, those feelings were replaced extremely quickly by a powerful witness that the Lord changed the requirement at this time for a reason. All of us here at the MTC right now are supposed to be here right now. Also, the people I met and experiences I had during my year of college are crucial parts of who I am. So, in summary: I'm glad to be here at age 19, but I'm also super excited for those who get to come at 18, and the sisters who now get to serve 2 years earlier! Do you guys happen to already know of anybody, guy or girl, who has decided to serve sooner than they would have? *ANYBODY affected by this change, PLEASE write immediately and tell me how you're feeling about it!! So yeah, things were crazy today. Everyone was deeply discussing the effects this will have on Mormon culture and BYU and stuff all day long. We got to walk to the temple between sessions and we were like celebrities at the intersection because all the people driving by were so psyched about missionaries. This is so historic. I can say that I was in the MTC when they lowered the age requirements. Anyway, conference will be over by the time you get this. What were your favorite talks? I especially appreciated Elder Andersen's talk on enduring through trials with faith. I'm sure many more fantastic messages lie ahead in the Sunday sessions. I've never enjoyed conference this much. It helps to not be on a couch in pajamas with a bunch of food. I'm way better at paying way more attention to each talk. I'm literally sad that I have to wait 13 hours before hearing more from our prophet and apostles! I LOVE CONFERENCE! I'm so grateful for it and the revelation we can receive through it. So this coming week is going to be full of exciting, new things. I'm going to save those things for my email, though. There's a good chance that I'll be emailing on Saturday instead of Friday this week because our schedule will probably be different, so heads up.

Oh yeah! I could really use a cheap watch. I have no way to tell time and I'm always asking my companion. Anything will do. The cheapest of cheap. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed conference! Hope to hear from you soon. 2 more weeks till Rica!! Can't wait. Love you all! Oh yeah, Dad, I'm really sorry that I haven't been able to go to Priesthood session and dinner with you as much the past couple years. I was thinking tonight about how much I miss that tradition. I'll look forward to doing it again in October 2014!

I miss everyone! Love you, bye!