Spiritually Uplifting

I had to share this moment before I forget all about it. Today I had a very spiritually fulfilling day at church. I have a calling in the primary (which is great), but I don't get to sit in and have the great a-ha moments very often because I am in teaching the four year olds and before that it was nursery and before that I was the pianist for the primary and before that I was teaching nursery (not very much adult interaction going on, but I love the kids). Today there was a special stake meeting. Elder Oaks from the Quorum of the Twelve came to Denton to speak to us. There was also the mission president and his wife from the Dallas Fort Worth Mission that spoke, along with a member of the seventy, and the stake president. It was almost two hours of the spiritual enlightenment I was really needing. It was nice to listen to Elder Oaks speak and laugh. He is just a man and he is a character. He joked and then he spoke on serious matters, but he did it with so much love. I could tell he really meant it when he said he loved all of us. Between all of the speakers, there were quite a few funny stories and moments shared (if you want to hear any, you'll have to call and ask because I can't do it justice on a blog). It really was a special opportunity to have those general authorities so close and having special messages to share with us here in Denton, Texas. There has not been a member of the Quorum of the Twelve since 1981 and Elder Oaks said it was time. He had a special message for the youth of the church about having good friends and influences and staying away from those that will bring them down and try to talk them into doing things they know are not right. Another thing he emphasized was not letting those in this area (the evangelicals that protest us and give us a hard time) get to us. He said we know we are Christians and the best we can do to convince those that are against us is to show that we not only say we believe in Christ, but we actually live Christlike lives. He told us not to try to argue or anything like that because it will not get us anywhere. I have had my own personal experiences here in Texas with people that I thought were full of good intentions turning on me and telling me how I was not Christian and how I was dooming myself and my family. It is hard not to get defensive, but now I know I just need to smile and say that I know for myself what I am and I am not going to argue with someone who obviously knows little of my beliefs and change the subject or just walk away.
It has been interesting thinking about this after the meeting. I have to think about those types of encounters, but so do my children. My son, who is in elementary school already has his friends asking him about what church he goes to and what he believes. He has a friend that is atheist and his parents are really pushing him to talk to his friends about it, but my son has a pretty strong testimony for a little guy and he comes home some days and tells me about he told his friend about how Jesus loves all of us and that he knows that he is real and that God does exist. It makes me so proud of him. There are times that I am afraid that someone might say something to shake his testimony (like about how so many churches around here teach that members of our church are not Christian), but I have come to realize that he knows what he believes and he is not afraid to speak up to his friends. I hope he can always feel open to kindly discuss what he believes and why. I also hope that his friends can be a good influence on him. It is crazy to hear what seven and eight year olds discuss at recess. I think my son is ready to be baptized in just a few months.
It was a day that left me with the warm fuzzy feeling and I am hoping it will stay with me for a long time. It is good to know that our church leaders are aware of our situations in all parts of the world and that they do care about us all. They are so full of wisdom and love and today just made me so excited for General Conference coming up and the messages that will be shared with us then.