Conference Weekend

You probably have all noticed by now that there is on the left hand side of this blog a small strip of ad space. It is a small, trivial piece of blog which stands as a testament to my own arrogance. I put it in there without asking Carrie, and knowing full well that nobody in there right mind is going to pay to advertise on the Diggins Family blog. Still, somewhere in the back of my own mind I must believe there is a possibility that someday a check for 57 cents in going to arrive on my doorstep just for updating our blog. When I first put it up it had a nice little sign about hurricane relief and I smiled at the .0000001% percent chance that our blog would someday produce residual income.

A funny thing has happened to my little piece of blog hope in the last few days. Instead of nice humanitarian messages Google is instead using the space to provide links to sites they think my readers would enjoy. Base on the content of the blog they decided every link should be to a American Idol superfan site or to celebrity gossip site. That's what I've become...according to Google I am now Chris Diggins - your source for the latest scoop on American Idol and updates on celebrity gossip.

Now I don't have to tell you about the horror and shame I felt once this fact finally settled in. So today I'm taking steps to change the little ad window and make it more representative of who I am and who we are as a family. So today I am appealing to the best parts of my nature and writing about General Conference

For our friends who are not LDS, General Conference is the twice a year meeting where the entire Mormon church gets together to hear messages from our leaders and enjoy watching church on TV, from home, and in our pajamas. Cami especially loves conference because she gets to keep her daily schedule and Mom and Dad are both home all day to play with her.

This Conference was a different experience without President Hinkley. Much has been said, and said much better, about what President Gordon B. Hinkley meant to the church and and the unique opportunity it is to see a new prophet and first presidency called. To me, President Hinkley was the only church president I have know. I joined the LDS church in 1998 when I was 17 years old in Pennsylvania. It will be 10 years this August and it's incredible the amount of life that you can pack in 10 years. Going from 17 to 27 is all about changing, growing, and having the experiences that eventually will define who you will become. All that time the church I had just joined was changing right along with me. New temples and programs, New conference locations and new ways to reach out across the world. I felt that while I was always striving to be better President Hinkley was doing the same with the church and making sure that the whole church was better and that we were trying to be better as individuals.

I missed President Hinkley more this conference weekend then I did at his funeral or at the time of his passing. However, I felt glad to sit and the beginning of a new era for the church and what would probably be a new era for my family. I know that God has called a new prophet in Thomas S. Monson and that he is the Lord's servant chosen to lead the church at this time. Listening to President Monson I became impressed once again with the emphasis he placed on people. His memory is a marvel. I feel very strongly that his example is one for the church to follow. President Hinkley gave us everything we need, Temples across the world, programs to lift and educate the poor and afflicted, Materials to educate ourselves on everything we would want to know about the church and share it with our friends. If we take what President Hinkley gave us and follow the example of President Monson by using it to care for others more than we care for ourselves then I know the Lord's work on the earth will continue to progress at an amazing rate.

Sadly I'm behind on this one. Too often I think of myself in terms on my job, my family, my comfort, or rest that I need. I feel the challenge to think of others like the Lord thinks of them. It's a difficult task, but it is one worth pursuing. I am grateful that the Lord gives us leaders and examples for our day, and that he continues to give us the messages we need through his servants on the earth, just as it's always been.

That's all for this week. I'll put some pictures up a little later. I'm more than a little excited to be here for Kansas vs. Memphis. Let's hope everything breaks right for the good guys. Until next time.