come listen to a prophet's voice

This weekend was General Conference which is basically one of my favorite times of the year.  Seriously, it is up there with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and my very own birthday.

If you have no clue what I'm talking about (which is totally okay) check out the link above.  My favorite description I've heard is in an article comparing General Conference to a series of TED Talks where the topics are religious and most of the speakers are older.  If you are looking for some amazing inspiration, check it out.

Every time I watch General Conference, there is always at least one talk that seems to be directed completely to me.  It speaks to the issues I am facing and leaves me feeling comforted, uplifted, and motivated to be a better person.

All of the talks I listened to this weekend were wonderful.  They all spoke of eternal truths that I know to be good and right.  But, after the last talk of the last session, I realized that I had not heard that one talk that gripped my soul and left me fighting back tears.

And then I remembered this talk.

Okay, I have been trying to figure out a way to upload or embed this video for like the past hour and a half.  Here's the link.  Link

And I realized that I didn't really get to listen to it.  I spent this twenty minutes of General Conference sitting in the dining room corner with Katelyn who was in a time out.  I didn't really hear much over the sounds of a time out tantrum.

So I watched it online tonight.  And this was the talk that was meant for me.  This was the message that I really, really needed to hear.

I have to explain that there really isn't anything going that wrong in my life.  If you listen to this message, you might wonder, "What trial is she going through that she needed to hear this?"  The embarrassing thing is I am not currently going through any major or newsworthy trials.  But I have been sad.  I've been sad for the past few weeks and I just don't know why.  I've spent hours out of every one of the last several days trying to dissect my life and current situation to figure out why I am sad.

This is what I needed to hear.

I'm not sad.  I've been ungrateful and that, I think, is worse than sad.  That means I have some serious work to do.  I sat on my living room couch watching this talk and cried tears of shame and guilt and hope and joy.  After it ended, I just sat there for a few minutes, finally grateful, especially for my Heavenly Father reminding me how to not be sad.

I have a testimony of the Gospel.  I believe in Jesus Christ and everything He did for me.  I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and answers my prayers.  I know He loves me even when my prayers have become litanies of whiny complaints and my requests for blessings have greatly outnumbered my expressions of gratitude and praise.  I know that happiness is found by being faithful to God and not by a nicer house, a bigger bank account, or more stuff.

I know all these things and I did before today.

But I still needed to hear it again.