Friday Morning in the HFAC

I was blogging.  I was sitting at the wooden desks that surround the stairs.  Women's Chorus had performed a beautiful arrangement of Lord, I Would Follow Thee for the School of Nursing's 60th birthday.  It was relatively quiet until everyone at the conference came out of the De Jong for a break and some snacks.  A little lady came and sat down on the bench beside me.

We didn't talk until she turned to me, and said:
Lady:  Are you going to be here for a little while?
Me:  Yeah, what do you need?
Lady:  I'll be right back, but I need someone to watch my bag for me.  Would you do that?
Me (smiling): I sure can.
Lady:  Thank you very much! ...(with a twinkle in her eye) When I come back, the code is "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah."

And she was off!  I laughed at how cute she was and kept blogging.  A little while later, she came back and whispered "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" before taking her seat again.  We laughed for a little while.  She shook my hand and asked me my name and where I was from.  She wondered how my semester was going and wanted to know about my major.  She shared some stories and I shared others.

She asked me what my favorite part of General Conference was, and we talked about President Uchtdorf's advice to "stop it," and about how parents were advised to let their children make guided decisions.  We had a lovely discussion about some life experiences that proved what we learned from General Conference.  She told me stories of her life, and she was a tip-top story-teller too!

Shortly thereafter, the ushers ushered everyone back into the De Jong for more of the conference, and she shook my hand and said goodbye.  I went smiling back to my blogging, but about three minutes later, she came back, sat by me excitedly, and asked:

Lady: Can I tell you an early Easter joke?
Me:  Haha!  Sure!
Lady:  Did you hear about the pregnant Easter bunny?
Me:  Nope
Lady:  (smiling) She had an in-grown hare!

Hahaha! :D We both cracked up laughing before she left to go to the conference for reals.

She was the kindest, sweetest lady.  I was so happy she sat down to visit with me!  I took note of her name-tag because I didn't want to forget who she was.  Her name was Mary Ellen Edmunds.  Little did I know that she's done a jillion missions and health missions, is popular LDS speaker and author, and was a member of the General Relief Society Board for 11 years.  Someday, I'm going to brighten other peoples' days like she did mine.

I'd better get practicing! :)