Looking back

My sister makes me laugh. That is why I call her. I have more than one and they all make me laugh. Since I shared a few college years in close proximity with one sister, I am focusing on her this time. We talk on the phone often and when we start running out of things to say, conversations like this start to come up:

"Well, I guess we're done now."

"Yup, guess so."

"I can tell you are doing something else."

"No, I really am listening."

I listened to a talk this morning given at the most recent worldwide general conference for our church. The talk I am referring to is: http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/more-than-conquerors-through-him-that-loved-us?lang=eng. Elder Johnson (I refer to him this way as a title in the church leadership hierarchy) talked about trials and referenced a hike in the Logan, UT canyon called "Crimson Trail". He referred to the hike's difficulty increasing near the top, but once the top is reached, the views are magnificent and definitely worth the climb.

Besides loving the whole tone of his talk and feeling as though I have had a pep talk like, "Keep on going" (I loved his reference to gold being refined: The furnace of affliction helps purify even the very best of Saints by burning away the dross in their lives and leaving behind pure gold. ⁶ Even very rich ore needs refining to remove impurities. Being good is not enough.) The burning sensation is a pretty great metaphor isn't it?

I am getting off track. I wanted to share the reference to the Crimson Trail hike with my sister. I just love that hike and want to do it again. I've done that one at midnight with only the moon (and maybe some flashlights) to guide us). It was awesome. Maybe I wasn't with my sister on this date, but we laughed and reminisced over some of the names of "fellows" that came over to the Prov House where we lived. What fun memories, some of the best times.