Note: These are the instant, mildly-filtered things that ran through my brain and heart as I watched this session of General Conference. If you are looking for deep, spiritual analysis, this is not the place. Drive on. Please check back later for that, after I have had some time to process.
• The choir starts us of with “We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet.” You betcha!
• Either they are letting younger and younger people join the choir, or I am getting….nah. Must be younger people.
• President Eyring explained how this session is a “Solemn Assembly, and called on us to stand. Very cool. Then we went through by organization and voted for the new First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve.
drumroll please…
• The new apostles are: Gerrit Walter Gong and Ulisses Soares. Both brethren are from foreign lands: Elder Shares is from Brazil, and Elder Gong was born in California.
• Even more unique than being from Brazil is that Elder Soares doesn’t have an Apostolic middle initial.
• I loved standing and raising my hand in a sustaining vote for our leaders. (This would probably not be a good time to mention that a piece of donut fell off my shirt when I stood up.)
• President M. Russell Ballard. “In an orderly way, we have begun a new chapter in our church history.” The transfer of power in this church is a remarkable thing.
He made it a point to remind us that even though the Lord does his work through humans, those humans are not perfect.
Sabbath Day, Sacrament, Service to others. We need to find time to unplug, so we can listen to the voice of the Spirit. “Now there is nothing wrong with taking advantage of the advances in the technologies inspired by the Lord, but we must be wise in their use.”
“Partaking of the sacrament must never become routine”. Only 70 minutes in a week…
“We should love God and our neighbors as ourselves. Service opens a window that helps us understand God.” It is good to run for office, and we should vote.
“We must keep Christ as the center of our lives at all times & in all places.”
• Elder Bryan K. Taylor spoke about being children of God. “Knowing that I am a child of God is the most powerful knowledge I possess”
In speaking to young mothers he said, “To mothers, especially young mothers, who often feel overwhelmed and underwater while striving to raise a ‘sin-resistant generation,’ never underestimate your central role in God’s plan.”
“When you feel hurt, lost, scared, upset, sad, hungry, or hopelessly abandoned in ‘life’s extremities’ – open the Book of Mormon and you will learn that God will never desert us.”
• The on-screen text has been the Optima font for as long as I can remember. It is different today. I’ll sustain it, but I don’t understand it.
• Elder Larry Echo Hawk spoke about Easter and what Christ did for us, with an emphasis on forgiveness.
Back in 1984 his little brother, Tommy, and sister-in-law were killed by a drunk driver. At the court hearing Elder Hawk’s parents showed their family reached out to the family of the drunk driver with kindness and forgiveness.
“My heart will always miss Tommy and Joan, but forgiveness now allows me to remember them with unfettered joy. And I know we will be together again as a family.”
Quoted D&C 64:9-10: “Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.”
“As sons and daughters of God we follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, we are to be forgiving even when it seems others may not warrant our forgiveness.”
Forgive others, forgive ourselves.
• Elder Gary Stevenson. (Something is weird with our stream – the audio is dropping out about every 8th word. Should make for interesting notes.)
Spoke of the process of calling and sustaining of new prophets.
The time between the passing of a prophet and the calling of a new prophet is called an apostolic interregnum.
Whoa! That’s a new word for me. (interregnum: a period when normal government is suspended, especially between successive reigns or regimes.)
Quoted President Kimball: ““Even when a powerful leader dies, not for a single instant is the Church without leadership, thanks to the kind Providence who gave his kingdom continuity.”
“President Nelson has been profoundly prepared and specifically tutored by the Lord to lead us at this time. It is a great blessing to now have dear President Russell M. Nelson as our loving and devoted prophet.”
“All that know him feel that they are his favorite.” What a great trait to aspire to.
As a successful heart surgeon, one thing I thought was cool was that President Nelson was known for having operating rooms that were peaceful, calm and dignified. Even residents were treated with respect, yet they were still held to very high expectations. (If you ever watch TV shows set in hospitals, you know how opposite this is to the normal portrayal.)
• Elder Lynn G. Robbins started out by talking about mistakes, so I know I’m going to like this talk.
Asked the question: Why does the Lord let us flounder and fail on our first attempts?
“If to err is human nature, how many failures will it take us until our nature is no longer human, but divine? Thousands? More likely a million.”
“Repentance isn’t His backup plan in the event we might fail. Repentance is His plan knowing that we will.”
Christ taught we should forgive “70 x 7” or in essence, stop counting. if you hit 491, “there is no heavenly auditor that says “your repentance card has just expired”.
“Success is not going from failure to failure but rather, growing from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm.”
BKP shout-out: “Things that don’t change remain the same. And when we are through changing— we’re through.” President Boyd K. Packer
“Only with time-lapsed photography or growth charts can we discern our physical growth. Likewise, our spiritual growth is usually imperceptible, except through the rearview lens of time.”
• Elder Neil A. Andersen to finish up the session speaking of prophets and President Nelson.
(This talk required a lot of pausing, rewinding, and getting the quotes just right – because they are powerful.)
Testified about the calling of President Nelson: “”I, too, confirm that the power of heaven was with us in the upper room of the temple as we prayerfully encircled President Nelson and felt the undeniable approval of the Lord upon him.” Boom.
Talked of how prophets are “watchmen on the tower” and showed a picture of Carcassonne, France. Now there is another place I want to visit.
I highly recommend this, if you haven’t already knocked it out: “We have privilege to receive personal witness that President Nelson is called of God..”
Talked about how there are a million voices out there calling to us. “Seemingly endless array of information and opinion,” and how they can get in the way. He alluded to Paul saying,
“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” (Eph 4:14)
“The Lord’s voice often comes without explanation.” Something to chew on.
“The prophet’s voice, while spoken kindly, will often be a voice asking us to change, to repent, and return to the Lord. Don’t delay, and don’t be alarmed when the prophet’s warning counters popular opinions of the day.”
“The surrender of our will to God’s will is not, in fact, a surrender at all but the beginning of a glorious victory.”
I love how he delved into the touchy subject of when we split hairs by saying he is speaking as a man, or as a prophet.
“Don’t be alarmed when the prophet’s warning voice counters popular opinions of the day. The mocking fireballs of annoyed disbelievers are always hurled the moment the prophet begins to speak.” Accompanied by this image:
“My philosophy is to stop putting question marks behind the prophet’s statements and put exclamation points instead.” – President Nelson
“A prophet does not stand between you and the Savior. Rather, he stands beside you and points the way to the Savior.”
• I enjoyed the procession line after the closing prayer and watching the new Apostles get big hugs from the others. I would love to hear what they were saying.
Great start to April Conference. Two hours to get some stuff done. Back soon!
The Spirit literally poured over me at the very beginning of the solemn assembly and my heart rejoiced through the whole of it. Wonderful session of conference, and I really appreciate your recap, too. Can’t wait to devour each talk over again. We are so blessed! (So many more thoughts…but I don’t need to write a book here.)
I was so overcome as I stood by myself in my living room to sustain the prophet…the Spirit was so strong! I could imagine people all over the world standing to sustain him as well and I knew that not only was I not alone, but that the angels of heaven were seeing my raised hand and were rejoicing with me. And then Elder Stevens (I think) mentioned that very thing…that the angels were recording our votes in the Book of Life. Wow! I will not soon forget that moment! Great, great start to Conference. L*O*V*E every minute!!
Cool! You finished one… feels like it’s been a while.
They are all finished… you just don’t have access.
Thank you, thank you!!!!
Everyone here loved being able to stand in (virtually) their own quorums or auxiliaries, being reminded that each member is equally important to the Lord and His church. One person said “It reminds me that there’s not many different priesthoods, but only one – and that house has many rooms for everyone.”
I loved Elder Anderson comment about how they are trying to restrain President Nelson from going skiing.
Elder Taylor was president of the Dallas mission not too long ago. I wondered why he looked so familiar. (His wife is also a gifted speaker.)
Very nice, thank you for summing up. Even though I watch these talks, the general message doesn’t always quickly “click” for me. I appreciate your recap. Ditto to your thoughts on the font change!
Per usual, great recap of the first session.