spiritually fed

Today we had the wonderful opportunity to spend 4 hours at the branch meetinghouse in Siena and listen to our Prophet and his counselors and other church leaders. The first hour and a half was a re-broadcast of the general relief society meeting. The words that were spoken were so uplifting and comforting. It is so amazing how much love is poured out to the sisters of the church. The relief society blesses and enriches so many lives of not only the women of the church, but others that benefit from the service the LDS sisters give. I loved Pres. Uchtdorf's talk and his words of encouragement. It is so easy sometimes to underestimate ourselves and let that hold us back from accomplishing great things. However, I loved his instruction to use our creativity to beautify the things around us. He defined creating as "bringing to existence something that wasn't in existence before". He also said that "the more you rely on the Spirit the more creativity you will possess". Sometimes I struggle with my lack of "creativity" but Pres. Uchtdorf's words brought to my soul impressions of ways that I can use compassion and creativity to help those around me in ways that are simple but meaningful. Through his words I was able to better understand the spiritual meaning of being "creative" and what that means in relation to my life.
The next 2 hours we were able to watch a live stream of the first session of Conference. In the opening talk given by Pres. Monson it was announced that there will be 5 more temples built, one of which will be in Rome, Italy. The italian members were across the hall watching a translated version of Conference and were ahead of our english session by about 45 seconds. When the announcement was made the quite Senor Fertelli began shouting exclamations of joy and running up and down the halls of the chapel. My ears are not attuned to the emotional outbursts of Italian's yet so I had a hard time deciphering what the racket in the hall was about- at first I thought it sounded like screams of pain or horror, then sadness, then possibly happiness. However, when I heard the announcement in english that there would be a temple built in Italy I instantly knew what was behind the hollers in the hallway. The joy and Spirit that filled the building was unlike anything I have ever experienced. The tears that came instantly to my eyes were from the Spirit overwhelming me and my heart was filled with such a great happiness for the members here. Never before have I had any comprehension of how hard members, outside of strong ward units and mormon communities, sacrifice in order to be faithful church members. The closest temple to the members here is in Switzerland, which from Siena means an expensive travel by a ten hour train ride or some other form of transportation to the neighboring country. I am so excited for the wonderful blessing this will be for all the members here in Italy. I have fallen in love with the people here and know how much the Lord must love them as well. Having a temple here will bring so much happiness to the members here and I am so glad they get to receive this blessing. I take for granted that I live in such close proximity to not only one temple, but to countless temples in my area. This conference experience will be one that I hopefully will never forget. The feelings I experienced today were so rich and special. I am so grateful for the Spirit of the Lord and how wonderfully it communicates to each of us personally. I look forward to the next three sessions we will watch on Sunday and for the words inspired by the Lord, being taught through his servants.