Dear San Diego weather, can we take you HOME?

So we headed to San Diego... for a conference (not really for fun in the sun) - but it was an amazing experience. Carl has been involved with the Clinton Global Initiative since 2007. He actually attended the very first CGI-U meeting at Tulane University in Louisiana. He's always encouraged me to apply so we could go together but I wasn't very interested at first. This year, though, I decided I'd check it out.

Clinton Global Initiative 2011, University of California-San Diego

For someone to get into the conference, one should have a commitment for action related to one of CGI's 5 causes. Carl's was poverty alleviation. I decided I wanted to do something about human rights, specifically human trafficking. Our action plans are not yet very solid, but with all the good stuff we learned from CGI-U at University of California-San Diego this year, we'll probably be able to solidify our plans and find a way to make a difference. It was a very enlightening experience, meeting young student leaders and advocates from all across America (and the world) and learning about their advocacies. It personally gave me a lot of insight about working with NGOs and empowering communities and rethinking public policy.

Packing goods at the San Diego Food Bank

Aside from learning all the good stuff, we had some perks too. We met former US President Bill Clinton, who of course, is the founder of CGI. We met and greeted with various experts in the field of urban planning and public policies, and even celebrity advocates like Mandy Moore (Ambassador, Population Service International), Drew Barrymore (Ambassador Against Hunger, UN World Food Programme), and Sean Penn (Founder/CEO, J/P Haitian Relief Organization).

beautiful Sunday sunrise overlooking the San Diego Temple

We stayed at the nearby Sheraton Hotel in La Jolla, which was very close to the San Diego Temple. On our last day in San Diego, Carl and I walked from our hotel to the temple and we felt so good. It was beautiful, magnificent to say the least. The CGI conference was held during the April General Conference weekend, and we were hoping to find time out from the conference to do a session at the Temple... but the conference schedule was so packed - day starts at 7:30 and ends at 8:30 - and we were all shuttled in from the hotel to UCSD. So on Sunday morning, we woke up extra early (like 5:30am) so we could walk to the Temple. It was an amazing sunrise! Of all the good stuff we learned from CGI, I can honestly say that being on holy ground reminded me of all the good things in my life. The temple, more than facts of humanity's need for aid and relief, reminded Carl and I how we could be instruments in the Lord's hands in making a difference in the world.

P.S. And the weather was absolutely gorgeous!!! We heard that while we were soaking lots of sunshine in Southern California, it was snowing like CRAZY in Utah... and so we were extremely glad we were somewhere else that weekend!!!