Stake Conference

I've posted this pic before.  But, I love it!  Plus its appropriate for this blog because of the suits they are wearing.

Last year, March 4 was a Friday.  But, since this year is a Sunday I'm going to share a couple of church memories.

For those non-mormon friends of mine, I am going to explain a couple of terms. First of all, mormons attend church on Sunday at a certain time and building depending on their geographic area.  This time and geographic area is considered our "ward". We meet with our "Ward" on Sundays.  Our Bishop (volunteer) is the leader of our ward--kind of like a pastor.  And, a certain number of "Wards"  make up a "Stake" (a larger geographical area encompassing neighboring wards).  Twice a year we meet with our "Stake" and have Stake Conference (a Sunday meeting with lots more people).  Hopefully that made sense.

Last year this weekend was our Stake Conference.  Stake Conference is a two hour meeting.  Normally, Sundays are three hour meetings, but the first hour is the only one the kids are not in their "kid" classes.  So, for Ethan, TWO hours of sitting was a lot.  We arrived at Stake Conference a little early.  It was just me and the kids because Marcus had left on his first weekend out of town (he travels a lot in the Spring).  I decided Ethan needed to get his energy out.  As we were getting seated I told him to go run around the church building (yes, outside the building) 5 times.  He looked at me and asked, "I get to run?"  I said, "Yes, just 5 times and come back and check in."  Ethan was so excited.  He was dressed in his suit and everything, but if he was allowed to run he didn't care what he was dressed in--and frankly, neither did I.  So, out he went.  It took him a little while and I really didn't think it would've taken him this long.  When he got back I asked him what took so long.  He said, "Well, the Bishop saw me and asked what I was doing.  I told him my mom told me to run around the church 5 times."  The Bishop then asked him how many times he had gone around.  Ethan answered he had run his 5 times.  The Bishop then instructed him to run 2 more times before he came in and sat down!  The Bishop knew him well :)
Honestly, Ethan was a bit sweaty, but he sat for the two hours without complaint.  However, around 1 1/2 hours he did get a little restless.

Ethan was not always known for his gospel knowledge and good behavior on Sundays.  Sitting through and learning all of this church stuff did not come easy to him like it did for Parker.  One Sunday he had a visitor in his class.  His Primary (class for kids) teacher's dad was in their with them.  When I went to get Ethan from class this visitor pulled me aside and told me how smart Ethan was and what a good kid he had been.  He couldn't believe how much Ethan knew.  I was so used to getting compliments like this about Parker that this stands out because I believe it was the only time I had one about Ethan.  I guess he WAS learning :)

Ethan, despite how crazy and impatient he was, would not let us leave the house in the morning unless we had done our scripture study.  We try to do this every day, but some days we were rushed.  He was so good at reminding us, that it was easier to be late to where we going than to skip it for the day.  Thanks for all the reminders, bub!

Ethan, keep up the good work!  You're awesome!