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.
• Serious nap time between session, which is joyful.
President Henry B. Eyring wants to help us find more happiness. Even a “guaranteed” offer. That offer is sometimes called “The Plan of Happiness.”
“Greater happiness comes from greater holiness. Holiness requires humility, meekness, and patience.”
Spoke of his recollections about the first time he went to the temple – he went without really knowing much about it. (Such was my experience. Glad we talk to people more now before they take on covenants!)
“The Holy Ghost speaks in a still, small, voice. I can hear him when there is spiritual peace in my heart. He brings a feeling of happiness and assurance that I am becoming more holy.”
Looking for happiness in opposition – mentioned Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, and how it taught him patience.
D&C 122:7-9 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good.
The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?
Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.
(I swear President Eyring said Job was from the land Oz, not Uz.) Told about Job being taught patience through his experiences. “Perhaps the greatest blessing for Job was to have increased in holiness through adversity and repentance. He was qualified to have greater happiness in the days he had yet to live.”
(I think his counsel about happiness fits the joy motif of the Conference.)
The strengthening power of DAILY repentance. When we choose to repent we become more like Jesus Christ.
“The holiness we seek is a gift from God, granted over time after all we can do.”
“Whatever our personal circumstance, wherever we may be on the covenant path home, may our prayers for greater holiness be answered. I know that as our petition is granted, our happiness will increase. It may come slowly, but it will come.”
Here comes the Boom! Elder Hans T. Boom. (From Amsterdam)
DAILY repentance – two in a row.
We are all children of a Heavenly Father who loves us, and he did not send us here to fail but to return gloriously to Him.”
“We all know where we can do better. There is no need to repeatedly remind each other but there is a need to love and minister to each other and in doing so provide a climate of willingness to change.”
(Not a lot of notes on this one…)
President M. Russell Ballard spoke to his wife’s death last year. Very touching. Talked about how difficult it was to raise seven kids.
“She was, in a word, magnificent — as a wife, as a mother, as a friend, as a neighbor and as a daughter of God.”
Lovely tribute. He’s killin’ me. When I think about this stuff it really messes me up.
“Brothers and sisters, please do not miss an opportunity to look into the eyes of your family members with love. Children and parents, reach out to each other and express your love and appreciation.” Do it before it is too late.”
“Like me, some of you may wake up one day to discover that the time for such important communication has passed. Live each day together with hearts filled with gratitude, good memories, service and much love.”
“The word that keeps coming to my mind now when I consider the Plan is ‘reunion'”
“How is this battle going with each of you?”
“Am I doing everything I need to do to be reunited with my loved ones?”
“One of the most important things we can learn in this life is how to emphasize our eternal spiritual nature and control our evil desires.” (Natural man is an enemy to God)
“Every person who has ever lived or ever will live on this planet made an essential decision to choose to accept Heavenly Father’s plan for our salvation.”
Man, this talk causes so much introspection, it is almost hard to keep up with what he is teaching.
“You are — first and foremost and always — a spiritual being. And so when one chooses to put our carnal nature ahead of our spiritual nature, we are choosing something that is contrary to our real, true, authentic, spiritual selves.”
“Now is the time to control our bodily appetites, to comply with the spiritual doctrine of Christ. That is why we must not procrastinate the day of our repentance. Repentance becomes an indispensable weapon in ur battle over selves.”
“I believe this regular DAILY repentance helps my spirit remind my body who is in charge of me.” (3rd mention of DAILY repentance this session.)
Sacrament shout-out!
“I encourage you to slow down a bit, and Think about where you are now in subjugating your carnal nature and empowering your divine, spiritual nature.”
Much to digest…
Elder Peter M. Johnson. (Born in Queens, NY as a Baptist, then became Muslim, then converted to the LDS Church after playing basketball for BYU-Hawaii! ASU Grad.)
Deception, Distraction, and Discouragement are the tools Satan uses to keep us from our potential.
Deception, as Satan did with Moses. (Second talk today about Moses vs the Devil – Moses 1, PofGP) “The adversary attempts to deceive by having us forget who we truly are. If we do not understand who we are, then it is difficult to recognize who we can become.”
Distraction: Technology. “Let us be careful and not casual in our use of technology. Continually seek for ways that technology can draw us closer to the Savior and allow us to accomplish his work as we prepare for his Second Coming.”
Discouraged, when we feel like we aren’t living up to what is expected of us.
Beware of comparison: “My dear friends, please do not let anyone steal your happiness. Do not compare yourself to others.”
“Pray unto Heavenly Father every day, every day, every day.”
“Read the Book of Mormon every day, every day, every day.”
“Prayerful take the sacrament evey week, every week, every week.”
Spoke to the importance of the sacrament with a promise that if we do those things listed, “we will have the ability with the strength of the Lord to overcome the distractions of the adversary…”
Man, that was terrific. I love how Elder Johnson has so much sincerity and passion in his delivery.
• This Conference has FLOWN by.
• Really enjoying the singing of the old classic hymns.
Elder Ulisses Soares. (Suddenly curious about what percentage of the speakers this Conference have accents.)
“All those who are willing to follow The Savior must deny themselves and control their appetites and passions and sacrifice everything if necessary.” Similar thoughts to the talk we just heard from President Ballard.
“Our determination to cast off all that is contrary to God’s will and to sacrifice all we are asked will help us to endure in the path of Jesus Christ’s Gospel.”
In speaking to those who have never married, divorced, or facing same-sex attraction challenges: “I want to assure you that there is always hope in God the Father and in his Plan of Happiness.”
To those struggling with addiction: “Please never give up after subsequent failures and consider yourself incapable of abandoning sins and overcoming addiction. You cannot afford to stop trying and thereafter continue in weakness and sin!”
“We cannot repent for other people, but we can forgive them by refusing to be held hostage by those who have harmed us.” Love this.
Take the sacrament each Sunday. (Yet ANOTHER sacrament shout-out today)
“Sometimes we seek for a blessing and set a time limit for the Lord to fulfill it. We cannot condition our faithfulness to him by imposing upon him a deadline for the answers to our desires.” – “Trust the Lord enough to ‘be still and know that He is God’.”
Here is the summary quote for this talk: “Taking upon us our cross and following the Savior requires us to follow His example and strive to become like Him, patiently facing the circumstances of life, denying and despising the appetites of the natural man and waiting on the Lord.”
Elder Neil L. Anderson. A very a-peeling topic: Fruit. (Dad jokes!)
Christ taught using fruit – by their fruits, etc.
Lehi’s vision led to beautiful fruit, representing the Love of God. “This precious fruit symbolizes the wondrous blessings of the Savior’s incomparable Atonement.”
“Partaking of the fruit of the tree also symbolizes that we embrace the ordinances and covenants of the restored gospel — being baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and entering the house of the Lord to be endowed w power from on high.” The fruit is “most JOYOUS to the soul.” (There’s that word again.)
“We continue to face distractions and deceptions, confusion and commotion, enticements and temptations.” (Supporting Elder Johnson’s talk)
The expansion of the Great and Spacious Building has spread across the river and entered into our home. What a GREAT extension of the metaphor.
“The scoffers [in the great and spacious building] wail day and night on their internet megaphones” Ain’t THAT the truth!
“Please don’t allow your questions, the insults of others, faithless friends, or unfortunate mistakes and disappointments, to turn you away from the sweet, pure, and soul-satisfying blessings that come from the precious fruit of the tree.”
Quoting President Nelson: “The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.”
“I promise you that as you look to the Savior ‘in every thought,’ the fruit of the tree will be yours once again, delicious to your taste, joyous to your soul, ‘the greatest of all the gifts of God.”
“I am an eye witness to the power of revelation that rests upon our dear prophet.”
President Nelson wraps things up. (I can’t expect to be as sharp as he is at 95, especially since I’m not that sharp at 58)
“The crowning jewel of the Restoration is the holy temple. Its sacred ordinances and covenants are pivotal to preparing a people who are ready to welcome the Savior at his second coming.”
“All requirements to enter the temple relate to personal holiness.”
Editing the questions for the temple recommend. Here is a graphic:
I recognize a few changes from my memory, but not a lot. Glad to see they took out the line about belonging to organizations that support things contrary to the gospel. If they enforced that, a huge chunk of the Church would have to turn in their recommends.
Spoke about the importance of wearing the holy garment.
Abrupt change of topic from temples to…
“In the springtime of the year 2020, it will be exactly 200 years since Joseph Smith experienced the theophany that we know as the First Vision. God the Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph, a 14-year-old youth.”
Did he just use the word Theophany? Why not! Theophany: A visible manifestation to humankind of God or a god.
“The year 2020 will be designated as a bicentennial year. General conference next April will be different from any previous conference.” Ooooh. That’s a good teaser! I got it! They should have a special guest speaker: Joseph Smith!
“In the next 6 months, I hope that every member and every family will prepare for a unique conference and will commemorate the very foundations of the restored gospel.”
Read the First Vision in the Pearl of Great Price.
• Joy, joy, joy, joy, joy, joy and even more joy.
ª We thank thee, oh God, for a prophet.
• Thanks to those of you who read my notes. I’m not as altruistic as you might think – I do this so that I pay better attention, and it has made my Conference experience infinitely better. If you enjoy them, it is an added bonus for me.
• Have a good Sabbath, and God Bless.
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Ah, I read the bio on Brother Boom that Bro Talbot provided above (Thanks Cary) and it says Brother Boom’s middle name is Theodorus.
My husband Ray noticed the “T” in Brother Boom’s name and wondered if he might be a relative of Corrie Ten Boom, whose book “The Hiding Place” we love to read. Conference gets more amazing each time.
Thank you for sharing your notes and thoughts. I always love reading your instant conference notes. It helps me fill in my notes or if I have missed a session it is quick summary to read I also like your comments and perspectives on the talks. Just so you know, I thought Elder Eyring said “Oz” also in his talk about Job.
I love all of your reflections and quick wit when General Conference rolls around! You are a gifted writer and probably don’t get enough credit for the time it takes to put your thoughts on paper. I always include some of your thoughts in my future study of the talks!
On a side note, Jason Hall was living next door to my sister in law in Boise when he had his accident. I remember that time like it was yesterday because he was just a teenage boy and was such a freak accident. But he was able to push through a very difficult challenge and grew into an even more incredible man. So many good takeaways from all the sessions of conference!
Thanks Tami!
The answer to your question about percentage of speakers with accents is “100% of them have accents.” Everyone speaks with some kind of accent. Those who don’t have foreign accents are speaking with American accents.
Whatever. You know what i meant.
Thanks so much for your thoughts and comments!! I look forward to them every General Conference!!
Maybe, instead of Joseph Smith, one or all of The Three Nephites will speak. Since we know they are around somewhere, it is certainly possible. That would be different.
We watched this session in the visitor center at the Laie Hawaii Temple. The room was full of missionaries. When Elder Peter Johnson said, “every day, every day, every day” the room erupted. Those of us that weren’t in on the private understanding turned and asked the nearest missionary what was going on. Apparently, Elder Johnson used that speaking device (emphasizing by repeating 3 times) a LOT when he spoke here and it touched these missionaries. They reacted each time and then we stood and sang together. The Spirit was potent and we were grateful to be there.
Thanks for the summaries Brad. Great session! Great Conference!
Fun fact: As a missionary in 1989 I was assigned to reopen an area called Breda (Bray-DAH) in the southern part of The Netherlands. There was just a small branch of the Church there at the time that met in a building the Church had purchased from the Red Cross. The Branch President was young – just 25 years old, and his father was both his Counselor in the Branch Presidency and the Branch Mission Leader. That Branch President was Hans T. Boom, now a member of the Seventy who spoke to us today. His bio on the Church’s website is worth the time to read it (https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-05-13/dutch-book-of-mormon-general-authority-2148).
Also, the Jason Hall that Elder Anderson spoke of who recently passed away was the BYUSA President while I was a student at BYU. I remember seeing him tooling around campus in his motorized wheelchair. So amazing that he and his wife were blessed with a son who has obviously learned some important lessons from his parents. What perspective for such a young man!
Finally, Elder Peter Johnson is an amazing individual. He was our Area Seventy here in the deep South before being called as a General Authority Seventy. We miss him but are glad that his sincerity and enthusiasm for the Gospel can now be shared with the whole Church. His conversion story is quite amazing – as many are – but also highly, highly improbable. The Lord knows His sheep!
Great Sabbath!
Awesome stuff!
Thank you so much for all 4 sessions notes. I have read your notes for several years and I again read every word this Conference and add your delightful comments to my notes. I really like the way you have with words.
I too unfollowed the same group you did a while back for the exact same reason. It hurts my heart to hear those things people say when truth is spoken. I love your pix, “jokes” food references and just everything. Again, thank you.
I look forward each session for your review of the speaker’s talks. I missed your comments for the Women’s Conference. Thanks for doing all you do.
My thoughts for the April conference: It could be a similar playbook as the April 1980 conference, with the concluding session (or his address) broadcast live from the Sacred Grove.
I thought of that but he said it would be like never before. They have had a couple of conferences where they gave talks from different places so that wouldn’t be different. Just my thought