Elder Ballard and us

Yesterday we watched General Conference, like many of you. I’d been feeling a little discouraged at how little I was able to listen because of Lego—he was constantly asking for us to play with him or rebuild his train tracks, climbing on and off us, needing food or drink, demanding that we read books, and generally distracting us. I remember hearing President Monson say in his talk—on my way to change a diaper, mind you—that the morning session had been particularly uplifting, and no one in attendance could have missed the Spirit during that session. Or something to that effect. I grumpily thought that maybe, if I had been able to pay more attention, I too would have been able to experience that Spirit.

I don’t remember anything of the talk right before Elder Ballard’s. I was too busy with Lego. When Elder Ballard began speaking and said he was gearing his talk toward young mothers, I made sure to pay extra attention. I laughed when he described trying to keep six kids quiet in sacrament meeting. Boy, have we ever been there! Well, not six kids, but I can imagine.

Then he came to the part about when he had to manage all the kids himself while his wife was on the stand. At the exact moment when he mentioned having had puppets going on both hands, Jon Boy and I looked down at our hands. I had nine puppets on my fingers, and he had five on his.

And that is how Elder Ballard gave us the best laugh we’ve had in a few days at least.