A living Apostle

     It was a beautiful Sunday. About a month ago our Bishop announced that we would have an unscheduled stake conference the following month and we would all need to be there if possible. We were obviously excited for an opportunity to hear from our stake presidency again but we later were informed that Russell M. Nelson, the President of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles would be in attendance! We were thrilled! As a family, we prepared for his attendance by studying his life and talks and getting to know him better. We learned that he had 10 children, was previously a skilled surgeon and skis every week, in spite of his age. We also learned that he was the 85th Elder of the church to hold all the keys that Jesus held, the same set of keys the Prophet Joseph Smith held, and every Prophet since. We also learned that he had personal relationships with every prophet since Heber J Grant (that's 10 Prophets of the Lord he has be personally close to throughout his life ).
  In addition to getting to know him, I was blessed with the opportunity to get to be in a choir, arranged to sing in the stake meeting. We learned and memorized a beautiful arrangement of "I Need Thee Every Hour". In the few weeks he had leading up to his coming we were briefed on the logistics of his visit. Who would be able to see him, how many body guards would accompany him, where he'd stay, and how we were to enter and exit the building. SO much preparation!

On Sunday morning, I woke up an hour earlier than I set my alarm, I was so excited to get to the church and start practicing. I packed our church bag with double the quiet games and snacks as I normally do as we would be there for two hours and Chad would have the kids by himself, i wanted them to be able tot stay in the chapel the whole time, not missing a word from an apostle. I got to the church at 8 and saw the line of saints already wrapped around the building to get a good seat for the meeting that would start two hours later.  I entered in through the side door with an ID and my named checked off a list, feel extra grateful for me seat on the stand. We were also fortunate enough to have a stake presidency row right up front that was saved for my family, regardless, Chad and the boys arrived a little over an hour early. It was truly an experience to be in a silent chapel for 2 hours with everyone equally excited and anxious to see an apostle,

    As it grew closer to starting time, everyone anxiously looked at the door exiting to the stake offices. My dad was blessed with the opportunity to guard him and usher him in and out with the rest of the stake presidency so he came in and out of that door over and over, almost teasing us. He would pull people from the congregation to come to the stake offices and do what we could only assume was meet the apostle. 3 minutes before the hour, President Nelson came through the doors and took to the stand, As he joined us on the stage, he seemed a little overwhelmed by the 60 person choir standing and smiling our biggest smiles at him, he raised his eye brows and thanked us for being there, turn to the congregation and blew a 2 handed kiss. He sat between my dad and President Holmes and the meeting started with the choir singing Come to Zion. I'm positive that everyone who could hold a hymn book was singing the loudest and best they could. The spirit was brought so quickly through the excitement and faith of the saints in the congregation, i could hardly hear myself and I loved that, the message was beautiful and everyone was brought to tears. After the opening prayer and song we got to sing our special arrangement of "I Need Thee Every Hour". President Nelson turned around while we sang and made eye contact with each one of us as we sang our testimony to him. It was beautiful memory. President Holmes then gave a beautiful message about the history of Apostleship and explained the sacredness of the calling and the keys they hold. He's a beautiful speaker and being a lawyer, he always does his research, he knew everything there was to know about Elder Nelson and introduced him perfectly. We also heard from the Gilbert temple president and his wonderful companion. They spoke of the temples ancestral importance and our childrens service and young love for the temple.

   Elder Nelson gave us so much truth. He spoke to us about the eternal Nature of Christ and reminded us that while we celebrate his like and his atonement and Resurrection...there is so much more. He truly created other worlds,
    He talked to us about the word "perfect" and how when the world was created said it was finished, with the verb "perfect" and how we are not to be overwhelmed by the call to become perfect, but he reassured us we have eons to establish our perfection but that the process must be constantly and fiercely pursued. Hearing an apostle talked about eons and timeless progression and kingdoms, throwns, principalities and dominions was like having a window from heaven inched open and the light thereof pearcing our minds. I remember a few key notes, I tried not to write too much a be in the moment.

   Most importantly He spoke about the divinity of Christ. He dissected some of his many names, Messiah, Christ, Jesus and also Elohim. He broke apart the makes and explained thier greek and hebrew roots and how similar they are and how almost all came back to the name "annointed". (I remember a few key notes, I tried not to write too much a be in the moment.)
      
The ANOINTED One. Anointed to perform the Atonement, to allow us to change, to allow us to live again, with God and like God.

SON of God. We also are children of God, but Christ was his only BEGOTTEN Son (son in the flesh)Born of a heavenly father and earthly mother, inheriting her requirement of death and His ability to ressurect.

The CREATOR of this world and other world. The more science learns, the more they see it is already part of LDS doctrine.

The great EXEMPLAR said "Be ye therefore perfect... yet we are weak and we fall. Greek meaning doesn't mean errorless, it has to do with performance, and it means FINISHED and COMPLETED. Through Christ our efforts can lead us to perfection - - and we must keep working, trying, and practicing perfection continually

MILLENIAL MESSIAH - Jesus Christ will rule the world from 2 world headquarters: 1. The temple in Jerusalem 2. The temple in the New Jerusalem (Missouri) where Joseph Smith dedicated the site.
Ephesians 2:20 Paul taught "And are built (the Church) upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone"
President Nelson, like Peter (the Rock) was given all the keys of the Priesthood to serve in this dispensation (the latter days) as we prepare for the return of our Savior. 

He gave us so much and I'm so grateful for Apostles and their willingness to give of all they are, their lives and their passions to serve the Lord and prepare us for him coming.

I loved hearing the more human, personal side to Elder Nelson, he talked about his wife and his 9 daughters and one son. He talked about the day he was called to be an Apostle and how he knew that meant he would end his life-long passion of working as a Surgeon. He talked about how supportive his wife ALWAYS was, in every circumstance, it was humbling and inspiring, He said some cute "old man" things. like "Your stake needs an apostle here as much as a cat needs two tails but I'm thrilled to be with you today" He talked about how his house was always chaos with 10 kids but how your life can still be "in order". And he talked about how obsessed his wife is with temple work, how she had a basement room dedicated to it and how she's frequently wake up in the middle of the night saying, "My ancestors know where I live, they need me tonight!" and he'd wake up and she'd have a stack of name for him to take to the temple. He taught the true significant of not only our ancestors but our descendants as well. I think I needed that. I needed to understand the importance of not just our family but our childrens children and our grandparents and their parents and just how united and together we will be in the next life. While I have a foundation of a testimony of temple work I have much to learn.

     He left us with a blessing, it was beautiful and sacred and I can honestly say, both Chad and I were personally blessed and our prayers and fasting, were answered in detail through the blessing. It was a personal testament to his calling and a testament to the Saviors love for me also.

We concluded with singing Come Follow Me. All the music throughout the whole meeting focused on coming to Christ which was special since three separate people chose the 3 hymns we sang without a theme given. After the closing prayer Elder Nelson exited the stage to the left, the same row my family was sitting on. Both my babies were losing it, 2 hours is a long time for the 2 and under crowd but when they saw Elder Nelson and grandpa coming down the aisle, they got smiles on and anxiously awaited their turn. Elder Nelson shook hands with those on they ends of the rows and spoke briefly to those he could and when they got to Chad and the boys he Said, "Well brother, you have your arms full don't you!" before Chad could answer, Liam shot his arm out eager to shack elder Nelsons hand, "Well, it's very nice to meet you too!" he said to Liam. My dad then briefly introduced the rest of our family who were sitting on the inside of the row and then moved towards the exit. As I sat in the choir watching all this I cried the happiest cry  and couldn't shake the joy from my heart. Seeing my family shake his hand and watching their eyes fill with testimony of a living apostle was a great gift. I thought I would feel sad not being able to be there with them but something about being on the stand and watching the faces in the congregation, some moved to tears, others with faces eager to listen and absorb and other finding a testimony for the first time was a gift to behold. 

My dad was able to pull us through the crowd and we all got to Meet Elder Nelson and shack his hand, we even got a family picture with him. He was so sweet and patient. My dad and mom got to enjoy lunch with him and I cant wait to talk to my dad and mom about what they discussed and any other gems they received from him. What a cherished day for me and my family, I'm so grateful.