This is President Russell M. Nelson. He is the current living Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He just turned 100 years old last month and he might just be my favorite prophet.

It was a hard contest between him and President Gordon B. Hinckley, who was the prophet when I decided to make big changes to my life and commit to being a follower of Jesus Christ.

Over the last year or so, I have really learned about President Nelson, reading his books, and learning about what he has shared with us since becoming the prophet.

Every time a prophet dies, and a new prophet is called, we are invited to pray and find out for ourselves whether or not this new prophet is indeed called of God.

When President Nelson was called and sustained as prophet, it was the first time that I had ever prayed to have a confirmation for myself. I did get an answer to that prayer. Maybe that is why I love him so much. I don’t know. He is a pretty loveable guy. I chose the picture above because you can feel his love for you as you look into his eyes. This image was taken from a video message he gave.

“I invite you – just for the next seven days – to turn social media into your own personal gratitude journal,” he said. “Post every day about what you are grateful for, whom you are grateful for, and why you are grateful.” He asked participants to use the hashtag #GiveThanks on their social media posts to flood the platforms with positive messages of gratitude.

This was on Friday November 20, 2020. The first Thanksgiving during the Covid-19 pandemic. There was so much fear and uncertainty at this time. The fear was more abundant than being thankful.

After the seven days were over, he said, “On November 20, I offered a message and prayer of gratitude for the world and everyone in it. I am grateful and humbled that you would join in thanking God for His countless blessings to each of us. I urge you to make expressing gratitude to God a part of your daily life. An attitude of gratitude gives us better perspective and more peace of mind and heart.”

I took this invitation to heart. I got a journal and started to write what I was thankful for every day. It was very simple and basic at first, but over time, my entries would become several pages long. I look back through my writings in this journal every so often and feel God’s love and my importance to Him. It is amazing to see my own spiritual growth as I learned to recognize God’s hand in my life.

What an amazing thing happened from such a simple invitation! I was just invited to be thankful, but it became so much more to me. Not only was I able to see the joy in my life daily, but I was able to come closer to God.

Some of the things that I had written in my journal, I had completely forgotten about. As I read them again, I had a very clear thought come to me. If I hadn’t written it down, I would never remember this tender mercy.

Sometimes, when things are heavy, and the heavens seem closed to us, we forget about the small miracles and instances in our lives where we did feel God’s love clearly. I am so glad that I started my gratitude journal because it is a record; a reminder to me of the big and small miracles that I have been given from God.

This weekend is General Conference weekend. Twice a year, we get to hear from the Prophet, his apostles and other leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. There are five two-hour sessions, three on Saturday and two on Sunday. During this Conference, there are talks given, songs sung, and the Spirit is felt.

You can watch it from your bed if you want. I don’t recommend that, as the peace that you feel while listening can put you to sleep. I try to sit comfortably on my couch with a notebook to take notes and doodle in.

I prepare questions that I want to have answered, and I have always been led to an answer during conference. If it is not directly spoken about, I have the answer come to my mind. It is an amazing opportunity, and I want to invite you to participate.

General Conference weekend can be tricky with little ones. They do not have the attention span to sit for two whole days and watch such boring television. We have made it as exciting as possible for our kids. We have a great spread of food and snacks prepared. I have coloring activity books, and they typically get my kids through the first day. They are not required to watch but it brings a smile to my face as they frequently come into the room and ask questions about talks being given. They are really listening, even if they aren’t even in the same room.

My older kids look forward to General Conference weekend not because of the delicious food but because of the way they feel after Conference is over. There is peace in our hearts and in our home.

I am so excited to share this opportunity with you. I hope you have the most wonderful experience.

Click here for options on how you can watch