Loaves and Fishes

"There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down... So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten."

John 6:9-13

I attended Women's Conference for the first time last weekend. It is a chance for women to take time out for instruction and edification held on the campus of BYU. When I thought about what I wanted to share/remember about my experience, I just kept thinking about the loaves and fishes... 18,000 women were in attendance and we had the chance to hear from an apostle of the Lord. It was the simplest things that caused me to feel the Spirit of God wash over me (sometimes more like a tidal wave!) and I came away filled (and not just with BYU mint brownies, kettle corn, or chocolate covered cinnamon bears, although there was a good deal of that). I'll try to do justice to the experience by recording some of the things I learned over the next few days.

We stayed in the dorms. It enabled me to get to know the campus better and prepare for when Justin will be there.

This is my group: Natalie (Treisha's Minnesota friend, now our friend too!), myself, Dionne, and Treisha. It was fun also to run into family and friends, sometimes unexpectedly!

One day I sneaked out for lunch with some of my favorite women--sister in law Michelle, (me), mother in law Joyce, sister in law Haley, and beautiful niece Jocelyn (niece Lexie is taking the picture). Cafe Rio--yum! No trip to Utah is complete without it--Dionne and I actually had to go twice!