I'm sure most that read this blog are not LDS and probably don't know a lot about the church so I will fill you in a bit on General Conference. This meeting is when leaders of the church give talks on things we should focus on as church members. The leaders are prophets and apostles. They are as close to talking to God as most of us are ever going to get in this life. Their talks are things they feel impressed, through the Spirit, to bring out to the church members. Things that we as people need to focus on right now. If you believe these guys and gals are prophets and inspired leaders, then this is some very serious stuff. It is direction from the Lord.
The sessions are about two hours in length. Tickets are free and distributed all over the world to various stakes of the church. Anyone is able to go, but finding a ticket can be hard to find when the Conference Center holds 21,000 people and there are nearly 16 million members in the church. Those that do score tickets must get to the session early and be seated before it begins. You don't have a specified seat, but fill in the rows in order of arrival. After the ticketed people are seated, extras are brought in to fill the rest of the seats. We hoped to be one of those extras. Sometimes there are several thousand extras taken in, other times there are none.
People heading toward the conference center for the Saturday Morning Session
photo by Deseret News
I was excited to go. I mean, who doesn't want to hear a prophet of God speak? I really wanted to see President Thomas S. Monson. He has not been in great health recently. Any session could be his last. I also was curious to see the protesters. They come out for conference to protest against the church and it's leaders for various reasons. I wanted to hear what some of those reasons were.
It drizzled rain as we hopped the train into downtown and continued to mist on us as we lined up near the Tabernacle. The line seemed to be way too long to ever dream about getting a ticket. They seated us in the Tabernacle as we waited for the number of extra seats to be counted. I couldn't believe the line ahead of us fit into the building, but it did. By the time we got there, I was willing to give up my place to some of those around us. There were people from all over the world that had flown here hoping to get into conference. I felt like my 2,000-mile distance from home, and only showing up because we happened to be in the area, was nothing compared to the commitment these other people had shown.
As the first session started, word came over of extra seats. They took over large groups and then recounted. We were taken over in the third group. We made it! We had to walk through the protesters, which were fewer than I expected, maybe due to the rain. They had their signs, but otherwise were just chatting it up with the police that were patrolling the area. We were rushed inside and quickly to our seats. We missed the first half of the first talk, but we were in now. President Monson was not in attendance, due to his ailing health, but we did get to see President Uchtdorf and President Eyring. The closing speaker was Elder Holland, who is quite the crowd favorite. There was giddy excitement in the crowd when his name was announced. He is a pretty intense guy sometimes, but he tells it like it is. Whether it is something you want to hear or not, he isn't afraid to say it because he knows you need to hear it.
First time I have been in the Conference Center when it was full. Those are organ pipes sticking up in the background behind the stage, with the choir seated in front of the pipes.
photo by Deseret News
It was amazing just to sit back and take in this massive building filled with church members. It's like giant church. It's also amazing how quiet 21,000 people can be. I now know why the stairs are carpeted. You can't hear the footsteps of people getting up to go to the bathroom. Small children are not allowed in these sessions, so no babies crying or other distractions either.
The filled Conference Center. We were sitting somewhere in the top deck near the center of this picture.
photo by Deseret News
President Uchtdorf was speaking when we walked in.
photo by Deseret News
After it was over, we exited back to the street and by the protesters. They were more animated now that there were more people coming by them. I wanted to stop and talk to one, but they looked like they wanted to start a fight rather than have a conversation. One guy had a sign that said "The highway to Hell is the Mormon way." I was just curious as to why he thought that. I would love to hear his perspective because obviously he feels very strongly because he takes the time to come out and protest directly against the church at the biggest meeting the church has. But I guess I'll have to wait a little longer before getting to have a chat with someone like that. I've heard similar things from members of other churches where we live. They usually say it is because we don't believe in Jesus Christ and practice polygamy, neither of which is true. Jesus Christ is the center of the church (it's called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), and the church outlawed polygamy in 1890. I just wanted to hear if he had some other reason than that for his dislike of the church.
We got back to Gma's in time to catch the afternoon session on TV, then went out for dinner. We enjoyed our final night with family and then said our goodbyes on Sunday morning. Amber got up extra early just to see us off. I always love coming to visit Gma and Amber and I thank them greatly for hosting us yet again. They really are too good to us. See you two again soon!
Amber also gave us photos of two kids we were able to help out earlier this year. She went on a mission trip to Cambodia where she was able to assist in construction of a school building and a program that helps kids get bicycles. She knew that would be perfect for us, so we adopted two kids through the program and helped them to get their bikes. She took a picture of us with her so they could see who we were and they sent pictures back.
Two kids in Cambodia who now have bikes!
It was a cold rain as we hit the road out of West Jordan. We were heading for southern Utah to take in Bryce Canyon and Capital Reef National Parks. The drive south took us down to Payson, where we stopped by the Payson Utah Temple for a few moments in the pouring rain.
Payson Utah Temple
We then drove through Nebo Loop Rd up to Mt. Nebo. It was 40 degrees and raining as we started up the mountain. The road got narrower as we climbed and the trees changed from desert shrubs of the valley to high-mountain forest. I had hope to ride this road, but the temperature was too low for me to try it in the driving rain. It began to snow as we reached the top of the mountain. Between the thicks clouds, fog and snow, we couldn't see anything from the overlooks.
You should be able to see into the valley from here, but not today.
We made one stop for a quick hike in the snowstorm before we started off the south side of the mountain. It's a short, paved hike from a pull-off to an overlook at Devil's Kitchen, which is a group of red rock formations sticking out of the side of the mountain. It is known as the "Little Bryce Canyon" because it looks like the rocks of Bryce, only in a much smaller area. The snow slacked up just enough for us to the enjoy the view for a minute.
Devil's Kitchen
The snow stopped and the fog began to clear up as we started down the mountain. There were some good overlooks. We could see elk grazing on the side of the mountain from one of the overlooks near the top. I actually thought they were big boulders until I zoomed up with the camera.
The exposed red rock is Devil's Kitchen. Mt Nebo is behind shrouded in a cloud. Mt. Nebo stands at 11,929 feet.
Elk on the mountain
The fall colors of the trees were much more noticeable on the south side. We ran into some free-range cattle as we reached the bottom of the mountain and end of Nebo Loop Rd. Then it was off to driving in nothing for a wile as we headed toward Manti.
Devil's Kitchen in view again as we descended on Nebo Loop Rd.
Awesome view of the arrival of fall in the mountains and a preview of the road to come.
The weather went from rainy and overcast to dry with some sunshine popping through by the time we reached Manti. We stopped at the Manti Utah Temple, which is pretty amazing as it sits perched atop the most prominent hill in town. The landscaping was amazing all over the grounds. The weather changed every two to three minutes while we were there so we got a variety of pictures of the temple. The clouds were moving crazy fast so one minute there was a big black storm cloud as the backdrop, then the next it was blue sky. It was a very cool few minutes we spent there.
Coming into Manti with the temple sticking up in the distance
The grounds were super clean and well-kept
Flowers and color everywhere
Colorful ornamental kale in the landscaping
This was taken about five minutes after the shot above with the dark clouds behind the temple. This picture looks like a different day.
After Manti, we drove further south across the desert, making our way to the Dixie National Forest in the late afternoon. We had reservations for camping starting on Monday night near Bryce Canyon, but we needed a place to land for Sunday night. We stopped in the Red Canyon Campground and managed to get one of the last spots remaining. It was a perfect location because there was some mountain biking nearby and we were just 15 minutes from Bryce.
We set up the tent with enough time to spare for me to go out for a ride. The campground is right on the paved Red Canyon Bike Trail. You can ride the paved trail east along scenic UT-12, which goes through many red rocks within Dixie National Forest.
Ready to head out for some bike time
Red Canyon Bike Trail in Dixie National Forest
Bigger views as you move east on Red Canyon Bike Trail
Looking toward Bryce Canyon
After a few miles, there is a dirt road you can hit to take you to the Coyote Hollow Trailhead, which is where one of the most popular mountain bike trails in southern Utah begins. The trail is called Thunder Mountain. While it doesn't climb up a mountain, it is tough and the views are amazing. You begin by rolling in and out of small canyons with forested hills with equal climbing and descending.
On the Thunder Mountain Trail
About halfway through, the landscape begins to change away from forest to rocks. There are sections of white rock, followed by an entire valley of red rock. There is a big climb to kick off the second half, but after you top that and see some amazing red rock views, it's mostly downhill to the end of the singletrack. Some of it is quite exposed on rock ridges. One place is very steep with some technical switchbacks. Rocks are plentiful along all parts of the trail.
I took my time for the most part, enjoying the views and the amazing weather compared to what we encountered earlier in the day. I crashed in the last section while sightseeing. There was a bank of loose rock to my right and I drifted up into it and the front wheel slid out on me. The loose rocks on the bank were not very forgiving and ate up my right side, but fortunately I was ok other than some loss of skin.I barely got out of the trail by dark and couldn't see much as I finished my loop by riding the western end of the Red Canyon Bike Trail back to the campground.
Some exposure near the end of the trail
In the bottom of the canyon by the end of Thunder Mountain
I came back to hit the trail again the following morning before we moved closer to Bryce. More on that in the next post.
No comments:
Post a Comment