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.
Right off the bat, President Thomas S. Monson introduced five new temples:
- Brasilia, Brazil
- the greater Manila, Philippines, area
- Nairobi, Kenya
- Pocatello, Idaho (Known to some as “Poki.”
- Saratoga Springs, Utah. (Somebody from Saratoga Springs was pretty excited, as they let out a whoop.)
Best summary for his talk is this: “If you are not reading the Book of Mormon each day, please do so.”
“The importance of having a firm and sure testimony of the Book of Mormon cannot be overstated.”
Thought: President Monson knew he had limited time to speak. He chose ONE idea: Read the Book of Mormon. You think it might be important?
Sister Joy D. Jones: Raising a Sin-Resistant Generation. (First Sister to speak this weekend)
Teaching children to keep simple promises when they are young will empower them to keep holy covenants later in life.”
How to help our kids become sin-resistant…
- Help them understand their divine identity
- Help them understand the doctrine of repentance
- Begin early teaching doctrine and gospel habits
- Help them make and keep simple processes
“Being sin-resistant doesn’t mean being sinless, but it does imply being continually repentant, vigilant, and valiant.” I’m glad she said this, because none of us can be perfect on our own.
“But if not…” Keeping promises even if we are not delivered. “Keeping covenants is always independent of our situation.”
“Children are great imitators, so give them something great to imitate.”
Elder Yoon Hwan Choi told his story, including awesome pictures. And some great charts that looked like a spiritual MLM.
“All of us are in the middle of an eternal family.”
“Never permit yourself to be the weak link in your eternal family.” (Hinckley)
“It is never too late to look up to Jesus Christ. Is arms are always open to us.”
Nice talk!
• I wonder why they stopped letting people speak in their native languages. I liked it!
Elder Ronald A. Rasband always brings it. Curious to know where he is heading today.
Oh, good! “Learning how to recognize the Spirit in our lives.” (This is important stuff)
“As we pursue the journey of life let us learn the language of the Spirit.”
1) Strive to live with the Spirit. “We have the sacred responsibility to learn to recognize his influence in our lives, and respond.”
2) Be willing to receive the Spirit. “If we are casual or complacent in our worship, we are diminished in our ability to feel the voice of the Spirit.”
3) Recognize the Spirit when it comes. “The Spirit speaks words that we feel. These feelings are gentle, a nudge to act, to do something, to say something.”
4) Act on the first prompting. “First promptings are pure inspiration from heaven.” “We need to recognize them for what they are and never let them slip past.” “When we begin to second-guess, even third-guess our feelings — and we all have — we are dismissing the Spirit.”
We should strive to become spiritual “First Responders.”
Great talk on learning how the Holy Ghost works, and our responsibilities. Good stories mingled throughout.
Elder L. Whitney Clayton started by telling the story of Christ turning water to wine at the Cana wedding, but then brought a different angle.
Mary’s words are to all of us: “Whatsoever He saith unto you, so it.”
Simple acts of faith – daily prayer and scripture study, etc. “Over time, simple habits of belief lead to miraculous results.”
When people struggle with things like”Word of Wisdom, employment pornography or gaining peace about a church policy or historical question they didn’t understand,” we need to get back to the simple things.
Those that are deliberate about doing the small and simple things… are blessed with faith strength that goes far beyond the actual acts of obedience themselves, and in fact, may seem totally unrelated to them.
We need to draw a link between the simple, daily things and the big things. (He said it lots of really good ways.)
“God shores up our weaknesses, increases our joys, and causes ‘all things to work together for our good.”
Told the story of Namaan, one of my favorites.
Told of Adam offering sacrifice, even though he didn’t know what he was doing. “God doesn’t show us the whole picture from the outset. That is where faith and hope come in.”
We shouldn’t expect easy answers.
Not blind obedience, but confidence and trust in God.
• Both Elder Rasband and Elder Clayton gave serious, in-depth talks on how to increase our spiritual strength and testimonies.
• Elder Clayton looks a little like Stanley Tucci.
• Wishing we had our own soda fountain about now.
Elder Dallin Oaks.
See “Gospel Principles”
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
“I am pretty sure that church sleep is among the healthiest of all sleeps.” PERFECT joke after Elder Oak’s talk. Somewhere, my friend Steve is smiling along with High Priests everywhere.
Fear can have a powerful influence, but it tends to be temporary and shallow: “People who are fearful may say and do things that are right, but they do not feel the right things.”
“It grieves me to hear of church leaders who exercise unrighteous dominion, whether at church, in their home, or in everyday interactions”
D&C 121 references flow throughout the whole talk. (Was yesterday, too)
Galatians 5:22-23 quoted, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.”
“He wants to change more than just our behaviors. He wants to change our very natures. He wants to change our hearts.”
How does God motivate us in this day? He sent His son to show us the right way.
I got caught up and stopped taking notes. What I took away is that we live in a terrible, messed up world, but he would still rather live in this time than at any other time in history. We don’t need to be afraid.
“Rather than dwelling on the enormity of our challenges, would it not be greater to focus on the infinite power of our God…and trusting Him?”
“As his covenant people we need not be paralyzed by fear because bad things might happen. Instead, we can move forward with faith, courage determination and trusting God as we approach the challenges and opportunities ahead.”
“For perfect love casteth out all fear.” (Moroni 8:16)
Great talk for our times – there are a lot of people freaking out in today’s world.
• I went into this Conference worried about the direction the world is going – instead of dealing with that, I am taught how to become stronger and told to not be afraid. Sometimes we get what we need, without expecting it.
• Only one more session to go…
Every single talk REALLY touched me (or maybe I was paying closer attention than normal 🙂 ) . Elder Choi’s talk touched me deeply. l was thinking, as I was listening to each speaker, how blessed we are to have these words of counsel given with such obvious love.
Our nickname is actually “Poky.” But we’re all thrilled with the announcement.
I know, but Poki is funnier.
Oh…when is the next Hug a Comvert day, cuz the guy who I mentioned who translates conference into Arabic, and has Elder Holland on his speeddial, needs to tell his story abt his conversion in Jordan. Where we dont proselyte. And where he baptised his oldest son in the Jirdan River 2 wks ago.
It will be the first Sunday in June. I’d be grateful if you can make it happen!
So you need articles by when? I will pass it on, he is currently living and working in Saudi.
Early May would be lovely.
Abt letting people talk in their own language…I have some insight. I have a friend who translates conference into Arabic.There is already an army translating from English to over 100 languages (At least 2 or 3 translators for each). If they have a Chinese speaker, they would need to have people to translate from Chinese to all those languages OR translate them to English, then to another language. In order to have the least number of steps, therefore insuring accurate translations, it is simpler to have them speak in English, unless they speak no English at all, which Im sure is the case sometimes.
I wonder if they stopped having speakers use their native language because it could cause problems with interpreters that are working on translating English to all the other languages.
Here’s what I learned from a friend: I work on the Audiovisual staff at the Conference Center. We stopped adding the English words to the hymns because there is only one video feed that is sent out to every country, with 90-some separate language feeds. That means every country sees the English words no matter what they speak. We are an increasingly worldwide church with more members outside the US than within so that was the reasoning. If you turn closed captioning on your TV you can still see the words or just grab a hymn book or the LDS music app.
Thank you so much for taking notes for me!
Poki, the city where my mother grew up, and my daughter served her mission. No really, she was called there when we lived in Utah. After being raised in 6 states & 2 foreign countries, she was called to the land of her father!
President Uchdorf. Wow. That talk needs to be posted up there beside the Proclamation on the Family.
It’s been a great conference so far. Love reading your quick recaps. LOVE drinking from the fire hydrant of truth during general conference.
I have a bad cold and so my notes from yesterdays sessions leave a lot to be desired. Today I’m simply making a copy of your notes for my journal. I really appreciate your comments and hope this doesn’t put too much pressure on you for the last session.
Great recap. So many talks to re-read and ponder.
Those of us in Saratoga Springs, New York were really excited until he added Utah! (Okay we’re still excited for Utah but not as excited as we would have been for New York.)
Those of us in Saratoga Springs, Utah were plenty excited, believe me! 🙂 All through our neighborhood, you could hear the neighbors shouting for joy!!
Love reading your recaps and side notes, Always a great part of GC.
Thanks! (Would this be a good place to confess that I do it so that I am forced to pay really close attention?)