function block_load($plugin_id, $conf = array()) {
  try {
    $block = plugin()->getPluginInstance('core', 'block', array('config' => $plugin_id));
  }
  catch (Drupal\Core\Plugin\MapperException $e) {
    // @TODO: Write a custom verified storage class that can have the conf
    // array passed to it so that we can generate one off blocks from pure php
    // array as configuration.
  }
  return $block;
}