Yon Kippur versus General Conference

I went to Jewish New Year last night. I'm kinda wishing I could be Mormon and Jewish at the same time...just a wee little bit. The Jewish worship is so fascinatingly ancient and ritualistic. They have a cantor singing the verses of scripture periodically throughout the ceremony. So, I'd be about to get bored (it's an hour and a half long) but then the cantor would start singing I'd become entranced with the music and his beautiful tenor (or was it bass?) voice. But, then he'd be singing for several minutes and I'd be about to lose interest again (I'm a tad bit ADD), but then the Rabbi would speak in Hebrew and the congregation would read from prayer books, that started at the back and you read right to left. Very interesting. All of it.

The women dressed in normal church clothes and the men did too, minus their prayer shawls and yamikas, which were beautifully decorated with bright, bold colors. The rabbi knew his audience and had the art of attention grabbing down. He began his little schpiel at the beginning by saying, "It has been a hard, difficult week....(pause).....The Cubs lost.....(pause)......The Sox lost.....(Silence from the audience).....but we can continue....because there is hope.......The Hope of Israel." He had my attention.

This past weekend I was able to attend General Conference in Salt Lake City. I loved it. All of it. From Elder Perry's talk to the Prophet speaking on change. It was a whole eight hours all together. You would think I'd be bored with it if I usually can't pay attention to something for more then three minutes without zoning out. But, such was not the case. The gospel makes me completely happy and focused.

Coming soon: Pictures from my weekend in Utah. (Not that I took a lot or anything. I never do...what's my problem?)