I have the greatest home teachers ever.

Allen and Juan Carlos are so awesome. Just studs, all around.

Allen taught Jessica and I today on preparing for Conference this upcoming weekend. We've heard this lesson before all the time. But why did it have such an impact on me today?

He really prepared this and thought about it beforehand. His spirit is so strong, you really can just feel it emanating from him. I love it. I honestly just wanted to cry after the closing prayer. His testimony made me feel God's love for me so strongly, stronger than I've felt recently. And I'm so grateful for that.

His lesson was as follows. In Mosiah, we see that the people were pointing their tents toward the temple, where King Benjamin, a prophet, was going to speak. They were pointing themselves towards the word of God. But if we look in Genesis, Lot and his family lived in the fields but with their tents pointed towards Sodom. A few chapters later, we see that his family ends up living in Sodom, a wicked city. It shows that where you point yourself, your life, your thoughts, is where you will end up.

He tied this in with Conference, saying that if we take this week to prepare, to point our tents towards the prophets and their teachings, we will really get a lot out of it. If we pray and prepare ourselves with questions and actively participate, then we will feel God's spirit and love for us. He will answer our questions, He will strengthen us, He will comfort us. That hit me so hard. It's been a tough week, no matter what my outer shell says, and I have really been seeking some comfort. And now I know that I can get it this weekend. If I prepare myself and really focus on pointing my entire self towards God, then He will bless me for it. And I will be comforted and I will be happier.

I'm trying to look forward, to stop thinking about the past and the what-ifs and the maybes. I really love this verse, which has never hit me so hard as right now:

"Where, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men..." --2 Nephi 31: 20

That's exactly what I want to be doing, should be doing, is really pressing forward instead of kind of dawdling or being still or looking back. And doing so with a perfect brightness of hope. That's been hard-- it's been difficult to be hopeful recently. I'd rather just pity myself and be angry at people and their mistakes and my own. But we are commanded to have hope. And honestly, it just feels better to have hope anyway. And finally, to have a love of God and of all men. Which means loving people who hurt you. Loving people who annoy you. Loving people who might seem to suck at the time. Maybe you just don't see exactly what they're thinking or going through. Maybe they don't really mean to hurt you. (Which never seems to make me feel better anyway, because you still end up hurt even if they didn't mean to. It seems just a dumb cop-out to me.) Regardless, we are also commanded to love, and loving also makes us happier. So I really need to just do it. Hard as it is.

Anyway. It's been an enlightening Sunday and I hope to really prepare myself well for General Conference this week. I hope I can focus and think of Christ often and talk to Him often and get that comfort I am seeking. I challenge you all to do the same! I know that if we will point ourselves and our tents towards God and His word through His prophets, we will really be blessed and it will help us progress towards being more like Him and being happy. :)

I took this my freshmen year while enjoying a spring afternoon with my friends. I like it because it's so peaceful and nature along with man-made structures are so beautiful.