Reflections on Joyful Journeys - Salt Lake City

December is definitely the month for reflection on the passing year...and though I might be a couple of weeks early, I thought I'd start looking back at some of my joyful journeys!


In April, Mom and I traveled to Salt Lake City. It was an early Mother's Day Trip - a tradition we began last year when we went to Vancouver. (We went earlier this year because she wanted to make sure she'd be home for the arrival of grandbaby #8!) We'd been to Salt Lake many times before, but this was still an exciting trip because it was Mom's first time to attend General Conference live!

The trip was a wonderful experience and we experienced so many blessings! First, a friend emailed me about an amazing seat sale for our flight ($491 total for BOTH our tickets!), then we were able to book tickets at the Plaza at Temple Square (which we later learned was usually booked solid before for Conference!), then we were able to rent a car for less than $50 for the entire trip!

It was so great to be in Salt Lake City again! I love the mountains, Temple Square, the wide streets, and (though some may call me crazy) driving on the freeways!

One of my favorite views of the Salt Lake Temple - from the Joseph Smith Memorial Building!

Another blessing - being able to connect (via Facebook) a couple of months before the trip, with a long-lost friend who'd served a full-time mission here over 20 years ago! She was one of the sisters who had taught one of my Lolas the gospel, which resulted in her baptism! We met B and her husband M at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for a wonderful lunch! The best part was that even though the years had gone by, the bonds of friendship were still strong!

Mom with B & M at our lunch in the JSMB! We had so much fun! It was hard to believe it had been over 20 years since we last saw them!

We attended the Saturday morning session in the Tabernacle - a marvelous work and a wonder of a building! Maybe I was being a bit fanciful, but I thought about the past prophets who'd spoken from that historic pulpit, from Brigham Young to Gordon B. Hinckley...and how the echo of their voices could still be heard resounding there, if one listened hard enough!

We had tickets to the Conference Center for the Saturday afternoon session, and were able to find friends from home to sit with in that amazing throng of people! Oh what an experience to be in that marvelous and wonderful building! To sit in the presence of the Lord's chosen leaders, the prophet and apostles; to listen to their wise and inspired counsel, and to feel the Spirit was such a blessing!

We watched the huge crowds leaving the Conference Center after the Saturday morning session, while eating lunch in our hotel room!

Saturday evening we went for dinner with some friends from home who were also in SLC for Conference! We went to Tucanos Brazilian Grill (highly recommended by P.B.), and found a new reason to love Salt Lake City! It was an amazing restaurant - the Brazilian lemonade, the HUGE salad bar, the 17 different types of rotisserie meats, and of course, the PINEAPPLE! We had such a fun time! I've promised Joc, who'd just gotten her mission call then, that we'd go back to celebrate her mission homecoming!

After another great session in the Tabernacle on Sunday morning, mom and I hit the freeway and headed for Logan! We went to visit the O family! We were able to watch the last session in their home, and have a very nice dinner together. They used to live down the street from us, and are pretty much family, so it was wonderful to spend time together, and hard to say

goodbye!

Then again, I think the best blessing, the JOY that comes from knowing the gospel is knowing that "it's never goodbye" when it comes to friends and family in the church! No matter the physical distances between us, and no matter how long it's been between contacts, we can know that there is always JOY in the reunion!