General Conference Weekend, Complete with Beagle, Knitting, and Apple Pie

Last weekend was our church's General Conference - 8 hours of watching the prophet and apostles and other leaders speak. We watched most of it at home, and a bit at a friend's house.

Lots of good messages, such as this talk from Elder Vinson, a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy. He shared a story about his grandson, who was amazed because the car doors kept 'magically' unlocking and locking. The grandson declared “It’s amazing! I think it’s because Poppy loves me and is one of my best friends, and he takes care of me!” Our Savior loves us, and is our best friend, and will take care of us. But, Elder Vinson explained, he doesn't just remove our challenges.

. . . rather than solve the problem Himself, the Lord wants us to develop the faith that will help us rely upon Him in solving our problems and trust Him. Then we can feel His love more constantly, more powerfully, more clearly, and more personally. We become united with Him, and we can become like Him. For us to be like Him is His goal.

Here is the challenge Elder Vinson offered, which I have been pondering (and for which there is no simple answer):

God should be the center of our universe—our literal focal point. Is He? Or is He sometimes far from the thoughts and intents of our hearts? (see Mosiah 5:13). Notice that it’s not just the thoughts of our hearts that are important but the “intents.” How do our behavior and actions reflect the integrity of our intents?

* * * * *

While watching the sessions of conference, I knitted (of course!), and finished my Limited Edition Cowl:

Wear it as a cowl...

...or as a hood

Jim and I tried our hand at making single serving pie in a jar:

Macintosh apples, from the farmers market - terrific!

We baked and ate two right away; they were yummy! We have four more in the freezer, waiting their turn for a taste test. (The recipe said to use half-pint jars; we used 4-oz jars instead, which seemed to be a good serving size.)

Bonnie worked on being cute, and then rested from her exertions:

I wound a new skein of yarn for my sky scarf:

This is not your traditional umbrella swift. I bought this cherry swift at the Michigan Fiber Fest, this past August, from Knitting Notions. It is satisfying to use - the wood is beautiful, and it's very relaxing to wind the ball as the swift turns. It isn't a fast process - that would require a ball winder - but I was in no hurry.

With that blue yarn, I made more progress on my sky scarf. This is the photo from a few days later, at the October 9 point (8 months!) (see those solid blue sky days, near the top?!?):