Stake Conference

Is there anything quite as forlorn as an empty table?! Where was my camera yesterday when this table was beautifully set, laden with delicious food, and surrounded by wonderful people enjoying the company of Elder Gerrit W. Gong?

What an amazing person Elder Gong is. He is so kind and gracious to everyone, a perfect example of diplomacy. He stood by Randy's side (shirt sleeves rolled up, tie tucked in) scooping ice cream at the ice cream social on Saturday evening. He was the one to jump up from the table to help move chairs, first one to begin clearing dishes, interacting with each person at the table -- "Tell me what is special about you." "Tell me how you two met." "Tell us about your family." We had invited a non-member couple Randy knows from the law school. We were a little nervous that Elder Gong might feel like they were interlopers, but he was the first to welcome them, invited them to sit by him and made them feel completely at home.

So, you might ask yourself, what is it like to prepare to have a visiting general authority stay in your home? I suppose we all want others to see us at our very best at all times, but there's something about having a guest like that in our homes that is different. I worked for weeks trying to get our lives and our home "all together." I weeded all my flower beds, we had the bathtub re-sprayed, put all the finishing touches on the kitchen, cleaned the fridge, moved a reading chair into the bedroom he would be using, and bought a nine dollar washcloth for him to use. Nine Dollars! Although it is ridiculous (and I knew it was), I felt like not only would Elder Gong be able to see straight through me, he would also be able to see what was stashed behind the garden shed, what (and how much) was really on our food storage shelves, and he would intuitively know how long it had been since I used Miracle-Gro. Yeah, like he was really going to take the time to walk around examining my plants.

Now that it is over I feel like high-five-ing the world, dancing around shouting "Whohoooo". I'm most grateful that the toilet didn't plug up, the water softener didn't go off in the night with its piercing squeal, he didn't wake up in the morning to find 16 dead Japanese beetles on his carpet, the air-conditioner did it's job to keep the house at a pleasant 72 degrees, and to my knowledge nobody got sick from the food.

I am celebrating today by doing absolutely nothing. At one o'clock p.m. I'm still in my pajamas. I plan to spend the day reading, talking on the phone, and watching TV. I haven't seen Glenn Beck for over two weeks. Are things still okay in the world?