watching the rain

I like to watch the rain. Sometimes its almost hypnotic. Friday I ended up with a little bit of time between appointments so I parked the car in a small park on a quiet street and watched the rain for a while. I like how after a minute or two the rain gets the windsheild wet enough that the drops don't splatter on it any more. It sheets over and flows down, gentlly. It wasn't a heavy rain. What they call around here a good "soaking" rain. Once the water begins sheeting you can actually see thru it pretty good, just a bit of distortion because the water is flowing over the glass in a thin layer. Drops land in it and make little circles that begin flowing toward the bottom. Fun to watch.

Conference Weekend

Well, it hasn't turned out entirely like we'd planned. We ended up helping a friend move and missed all the Saturday sessions. But today we've been able to listen and it has been so good. Reminds me why I like General Conference. Got to listen to Pres Monson this morning and the newest Apostle, Elder Christopherson. Elder Holland spoke earlier on continuing revelation. It is a bold doctrine but what I find amazing is that so many Christians reject it. How can they love the Savior and not want to hear from him today? How can it be enough to just read what he said thousands of years ago? Modern Christianity is such a mystery to me some times. I get the impression Pres Monson has been trying to let the church see a little more of the personal side of him. That seems like a good thing to me. His concluding story of his wife's recent injury was touching. Sometimes we see such a limited side of our leaders, especially those of us outside the intermountain west. Its nice to see they do have a humorous side, and be reminded that they also have their life's moments. Elder Packer has said a number time recently that they are just normal people with extraordinary callings (my words). They have lives, too. To me, that makes exaltation seem a little more within reach.