Women's conference, the real thing, in the conference center, with the prophet and everything!!

I traded babysitting with the Calls so that Anabelle and I could have one last chance to go to the conference center together before we move. I can't imagine having the opportunity again to take her to the actual meeting and to feel a part of the worldwide sisterhood she belongs to. We went to dinner first and then made our way through thousands of umbrellas and pouring rain, running through the streets of Salt Lake in hopes of scoring a ticket. And we did. We walked in just in time to see the prophet come in so we stood still and silent with thousands and thousands of other women until he was seated. I'm so glad we didn't miss that. I love to feel a prophet walk in the room, even if we're hundreds of feet away. The messages were perfectly what I needed to hear and worth all my efforts to find comfort from the tiny ninja in my lap. One of the sisters talked about how her Dad left for a 2 year mission just 6 days after her parents were married, and then came home to serve 4 years away in WW2. It always offers me a healthy dose of perspective to hear others who find joy in circumstances so much more drastic than my own. Afterwards, we were walking to our car, holding hands, and Anabelle said, "Mom, I felt the spirit in there".  It absolutely filled me up for her to recognize that. I asked her what the spirit feels like to her and she said, "warm and happy". That's all I wanted from tonight. And I wanted to get some time to just snuggle her and play with her hair and hold her hand, because those things are so important to her, and so hard to do with babies and toddlers around. On the way home we chatted about some of our favorite moments and, per tradition, picked up a tres leche cake. She told me it was her favorite night since the last time we went to women's conference. I cherish these times with her. A teenage girl sitting in front of us spent a good amount of time on her cell phone throughout the whole meeting and I kept looking over at little Anabelle and hoping with all my heart that her desires stay pure and her priorities remain true. I sure appreciated my time with her tonight.