Conference Weekend - a week late

I love conference weekend. At first I think ugh - 8 hours of talks. But, as always, I'm left feeling incredibly grateful and completely humbled after listening to our prophet and leaders who have such amazing counsel and instruction. On Sunday, to keep myself busy, and hence awake, I ended up completing a project a year in the making. My sister asked me to paint something on a pink wooden bench for my niece. I finally decided on a pattern and it took me all day to paint (which is why I put it off for so long) but it turned out really, really cute. I'm rather proud of myself - never having attempting anything like it before. I'm going to post a better photo soon since you can't really see it in this photo from my cell phone camera.
My favorite talk was from Elder Wirthlin. He's so cute and I always love his sports analogies. I was rereading his talk today and one paragraph jumped out at me. Part of what he said touched me so deeply that I can't help but feel like the Lord is trying to tell me something today. Which is what I believe happens when something you read or see or think about suddenly smacks you in the forehead, so to speak. Which I really, really, really needed today.

In the talk, "Come What May, and Love It," Elder Wirthlin talks about learning to cope with hard times and adversity. He gave four principles for helping us deal with trials, and one of them was called the principle of compensation. He says,

"The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude."

and then later:

"I know why there must be opposition in all things. Adversity, if handled correctly, can be a blessing in our lives. We can learn to love it. As we look for humor, seek for the eternal perspective, understand the principle of compensation, and draw near to our Heavenly Father, we can endure hardship and trial. We can say . . . “Come what may, and love it.”