I Will Be His Hands

This year Easter and General Conference fell on the same day. Initially I was disappointed to hear that. One of the things I love about Easter is seeing all of the beautiful dresses on Sunday and the great Easter lessons/messages in church, the fancy dinner, the family activities, and the spirit of the day. I love Conference because we usually make it a "jammy" day (wearing PJs all day), watch conference from the couch, have a relaxing dinner, hang out just at home, and the spirit of the day. Combining the two didn't make sense in my mind. Boy was I wrong.
Easter was a perfect day. We spent Saturday night at my mom's, kids woke early for baskets, had a big breakfast with everyone, and then Conference began. The girls still wore their Easter dressed and I did their hair during the talks. In between morning and afternoon sessions we did the family activities that have become Easter traditions. Sunday evening we ate dinner, played some games, and talked.
Saturday's sessions seemed to have started the theme of parenting and relationships and Sunday just continued it. So many good talks, and lessons that I needed to be reminded of and have reinforced. I really feel like I will be a better mother because of it. One high light for me was when the tabernacle choir sang "Christ the Lord is Risen Today". It is a beautiful song and one of my favorites.
Dieter F Uchtdorf's talk moved me. He told of a statue of Christ that was destroyed. The towns people tried to have it fixed but His hands were unrepairable. The statue now has a plaque next to it that says, "You Are My Hands". He talked about how members of the church have done many deeds of service and love, but unfortunately not all do, and not always. My sister and her husband have been through a lot in the past couple of years living in the South and when I hear some of her stories, my heart goes out to them. I want so badly to be able to reach out to them and lighten their load. I want to give service and love to them, but I am two thousand miles away. I have prayed often that Christens in her area will do things for them that I can not. Then the spirit bore testimony to me to do the same. I can be someones sister here, I can reach out without judgement and love, I can do more and be more. Hopefully someone can do the same for my sister and her family.

I had a great day on Easter Sunday this year, with new resolve that I can and will be His hands doing good for my family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and strangers. May you do the same. There was just something about the spirit of the day.