We woke early in the morning without the aid of the alarm (and even before the kiddos!). We were pretty anxious to get on the road and start our trek toward Hamburg to listen to the prophet – President Monson. It was certainly divine intervention to wake us when we did as things took a little bit longer to get loaded up than we had anticipated, then the journey was slowed multiple times due to construction and vacation travelers (it was the start of the school vacation in the particular German state we were driving through and everyone was headed off for vacations with their cars packed to the brim) and I certainly cannot forget the quick reactions that Jason was blessed with as we narrowly missed two accidents. Though the journey was longer than we had expected, awaking early allowed us to make it to the conference location with just enough time to park and head for the door, the only problem was that there were no parking spots to be found. Having booked a hotel for the night in the area we decided to pull over and key in the hotel address for the GPS, we would then go and park at the hotel and walk over. After we typed in the hotel address we realized that it was quite a bit further than we had realized, parking there would surely make us late. Then we looked up and noticed that we managed to stop our car right in front of an empty parking spot that we had somehow missed when we drove by the first time. I know parking spots are fairly trivial, but after being in a car for 5.5 hours with two children anxious to see the prophet, a parking spot within reasonable walking distance was certainly a prayer answered for this mama.
We approached the building just as everyone was heading in. The next task was to try to find a spot where we could be certain that the kids would be able to see the prophet (after nearly 3 weeks of Atticus praying to meet the prophet, I felt it my duty to ensure he had a good seat). That part was generously taken care of by a friend who spotted us looking for a seat and offered us to sit by her. Oh, how great those seats were. I only hope our friend did not second guess her decision of letting us sit with her when the second hour rolled around and both our kids began getting a bit restless. We were certainly grateful for her generosity.
Being in the same room as, and listening to, the Prophet was an incredible experience. He is such a calm, witty and jovial man who exudes the spirit. He spoke primarily about choices and it really hit home to both Jason and I. The choices we make define who we are and what we will become. The talk has certainly helped provide the spiritual guidance for many choices that we were considering at the time. I am so grateful that we got to go there, that the kids could feel of the spirit in that room and hear the words of a living prophet so directly (and not just over a computer screen like we watch General Conference). It was an experience to be remembered and pondered upon. I am grateful and glad that we could all experience it together. The prophet even looked right at us and smiled. Or maybe he was looking only at our general area, but even still it was awesome. So blessed.
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