We were able able to attend the Saturday morning session of General Conference in the Conference Center. Driving into the area of the Temple and Conference Center, I realized that we'd not warned the babes of those who would be standing, calling out, bearing signs against the church. We quickly instructed them to just ignore them. It was a bit frightening for them. Once inside the building, the protesters were quickly forgotten as we enjoyed the paintings, statues, waterfalls and fountains. And then, of course, the anticipation of seeing, not only our beloved prophet and apostles, but "Aunt" Sally Jones, our dear friend who performs in the Tabernacle Choir and "Uncle" Larry, Doug's first cousin, Lawrence E. Corbridge, who is now serving as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. To say that they were thrilled about it all was an understatement.Suffice it to say that Conference was wonderful... the talks, the music, the overall feeling of peace that accompanied it all.

And then, we walked outside of the building. We encountered protesters every few feet on both sides of the street. I'm guessing that the fact that there were only a few there when we arrived at conference at 7:45AM means that protesters like their sleep, because there were hoards of them at noon! One protester,in particular,was right in our faces, with his huge sign bearing a negative message. His words were horrifying for this mother to hear. I will spare this detail, as it is one that I won't forget but would love to. The blessing of this interaction was that ZJ misunderstood his words and didn't capture the venom that he spewed. Thankfully.

However. This experience did frighten the children. It was eye-opening to them. Gracie was very concerned, "What if some of the members believed the things those people were saying, Mom?" I explained that those who'd gotten up at 5AM, traveled long distances to be there, been in line at 8AM, waited two hours for conference to begin and then... and then felt the Spirit that we'd felt in the Conference Center when President Monson and the brethren entered the room, when the Choir sang that beautiful arrangement of "We Thank Thee, Oh, God, For a Prophet", when Elder Holland shared that beautiful and touching story of his parents efforts to support his mission as a young man... those people had been strengthened by all of this. Those people were feeling strong and powerful and were not in jeopardy of falling into the mistaken attitudes of these protesters at that time. We were all wearing our shields of armor as we walked outside! I asked them if they felt more power or less after the experience. They felt more. Of course they did!

We drove the two hour trip home, with fun stops for lunch and quick shopping and then listened to the afternoon session on the radio for the remainder of our trip home. We had treats and snacks and talked and laughed and shared our thoughts about the entire day as we got home. Several times throughout the day, one of the kids would ask, "Why did those people have to do that?" ZJ even said that she wanted to "tear that mans sign right up!" It obviously had affected them.

Later that evening, came the highlight of my day. Doug and Quayd were off to Priesthood Meeting together and then out for their traditional icecream date. The girls and I did some more shopping and came home for our own fun girls' night. I was cleaning up a bit in the kitchen while they were making the popcorn and melting the butter before we watched a Disney movie together. This was when I heard ZJ singing softly to herself, "We Thank Thee, Oh, God, For a Prophet" and then, Gracie joined and began singing with her. My eyes filled with tears. Of all the songs in the world for them to have "stuck" in their heads, it was this hymn. I commented on how beautiful their singing was and ZJ said, "I really am thankful for President Monson, Mom."

The words of the church leaders and the Tabernacle Choir all, so powerful, were a testimony to me that day. But, the words of my girls singing this hymn, in their own simplicity, brought peace to experience of the angry protesters... "While those who resist this glad message... and threaten our peace to destroy..." and then brought an even stronger resolve to try harder and be our best, "We feel it a pleasure to serve Thee and love to obey Thy command." It was a perfect end to an amazing day. Enough said.