Three Themes I Heard in General Conference

We just finished the spiritual feast of General Conference, and what a feast it was; the talks, the music, even the prayers!

Listening to, and taking brief notes of each talk I heard three themes repeated over and over.

1. Repent! Sometimes explicitly, often implicitly. 

2. Ministering! For those on both sides of the veil we need to do better, much better.

3. Becoming one in Christ! A Zion people is to be of one heart and one mind, and that heart and mind are Christ's. We are not only to follow Him, but to work constantly to become like Him. A tall order, but necessary for us to be ready to receive Him when He comes again.

Elder Gary E. Stevenson - Celebrate Easter with the same fervor and enthusiasm as Christmas.

Bonnie H. Cordon - Create muscle memory of discipleship.

Elder Carl B. Cook - "Let's do it again sometime!"

Elder Gerrit W. Gong - Our wards (and branches) are a spiritual ecosystem.

Elder Quentin L. Cook - Prepare for gathering to our heavenly home.

Elder Allen D. Haynie - Repent! Begin again to follow the prophet.

Pres. Henry B. Eyring - Seek for the Savior's peace, "I will not leave you comfortless."

Elder Dale G. Renlund - There is power in covenants, and protection from the adversary, when the temple is an important part of our life.

Elder Peter F. Meurs - We have access to the saving, redeeming, healing power of Jesus Christ.

Elder Randall K. Bennett - Patriarchal Blessings!

Elder Craig C. Christensen - We were created to have joy. Repentance is the pathway to joy because it leads us to the Savior.

Elder Evan A. Schmutz - Trust the doctrine of Christ and build your life on the rock!

Elder Benjamin de Hoyos - Temples and Family History!

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf - Daily bread is best prepared and consumed at home.

Elder Mark A. Bragg - Be a good man in a storm, develop spiritual, mental and physical poise.

Milton daRocha Camargo - The Savior solves problems! The more we focus on Jesus Christ, the more sin loses its appeal.

Elder K. Brett Nattress - Do we remember Father in Heaven and love Him?

Elder Juan A. Uceda - The Good, the Beautiful, the Magnificent Shepherd, Jesus Christ. With the Savior's help we can love and minister to each other. (This was one of my favorites!)

Elder D. Todd Christofferson - The only way to be unified is to become like Christ. Bend our efforts to the common cause.

Camille N. Johnson - Jesus Christ is relief!

Elder Ulisses Soares - Hearts knit together in unity and love; cease from contention; clothe ourselves in the bond of charity.

Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita - Patriarchal blessings are personal counsel from the Lord to you.

Elder Neil L. Andersen - Catch hold of the thought of Jesus Christ to be saved and healed.

Elder Kevin R. Duncan - In this mortal life we can never escape the war, but we can escape the adversary through worship in the temple.

President Russell M. Nelson - Be peacemakers now and always! Anger never persuades, contention never builds. Disciples of Christ should be examples of how to treat others. Charity is the antidote to contention. As we follow the Prince of Peace we become His peacemakers on earth.

President Dallin H. Oaks - We believe in Christ!

Elder M. Russell Ballard - Following the promptings of the spirit is one of the things that matters most in our relationships. A testimony of the Savior matters most! Testify often of what you know and believe, not just what you're thankful for.

Elder Ronald A. Rasband - Fill your "bucket list" with the oil of hearing and acting on the Doctrine of Christ.

Elder Vern P. Stanfill - Good enough! Perfectionism vs. Perfected in Christ.

Elder W. Mark Bassett - Learn from the story of Lazarus that there are things that we can and must do, then Christ can do for us what only He can do.

Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt - Learn for yourself the answer to the question "Why did Jesus have to die?" through studying the Plan of Salvation.

Elder David A. Bednar - Abide in and walk with the Son of God. Is the Word in us? Is the tree of Christ growing in us?

President Russell M. Nelson - Come unto the Savior and He can heal you! Jesus is the reason we build temples, they are His houses.

For dessert we had carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

Not So Subtle Anymore

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Priesthood session of the October 2000 conference.

While I was growing up in the 1960's and 1970's (I graduated from high school in 1975 for reference) we were taught in church that Satan was very subtle and we needed the power of discernment to see and understand his wilily ways. Now, several generations later Satan is about as subtle as a foghorn, easily heard and seen.

Bishop Richard C. Edgley, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, titled his talk "Satan's Bag of Snipes". 

. . . there is another 'snipe hunt' going on all around us, and we may be the naive victims. It is not a practical joke, and it will not end with a good laugh and a little warm fellowship. Satan is the great deceiver, liar and enemy to all that is good, including our happiness and our well-being. His great desire is to thwart our Heavenly Father's plan of happiness and make us 'miserable like unto himself' (2 Ne. 2:27). Being the very author and perpetrator of deceit, he in effect would invite us to join him in his snipe hunt, to fill our bags with excitement, fun, popularity, and the so-called 'good life'. But his promises are as illusionary as the nonexistent snipe. What he really offers are lies, misery, spiritual degradation, and loss of self-worth.

 

The latest news from Nashville, Tennessee bears this out. Following Satan's lies brings nothing but misery to the individual as well as many others who are innocent.

We've been given eternal truths by which we can discern Satan's lies in The Family, A Proclamation to the World. We don't have to wonder what is right and wrong. We don't have to go along with what Babylon teaches.

Bishop Edgley concluded with this stirring testimony:

Because of His priesthood, we are empowered. We are royalty. And we have the power to discern between Satan's snipes and God's true principles of happiness. Because we know who we are and because we are endowed with the Holy Spirit and empowered with His priesthood, we have the power to just say no. "No, Satan, I will not be a victim of your deceitful, vicious, and often deadly snipe hunt." I testify that 'wickedness never was happiness' (Alma 41:10) and wickedness never will be happiness. I further testify that happiness and self-worth will come only from living the principles of Him who created the plan of happiness.

 

What a blessing to have modern seers, prophets and revelators to guide us in these latter-days.

Righteous Traditions

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday afternoon session of the October 2000 conference.

When most of our children were teenagers I asked them if they could tell what was most important to me. They answered almost in unison, "The Gospel." (In voices that also said, "Duh, what a dumb question.") I was surprised and pleased at the same time. And I realized that my efforts were working.

Elder Donald L. Hallstrom of the Seventy said

Of all the traditions we should cultivate within ourselves and our families, a "tradition of righteousness" should be preeminent. Hallmarks of this tradition are an unwavering love for God and His Only Begotten Son, respect for prophets and priesthood power, a constant seeking of the Holy Spirit, and the discipline of discipleship which transforms believing into doing. A tradition of righteousness sets a pattern for living which draws children closer to parents, and both to God, and elevates obedience from a burden to a blessing.

While some of our children have strayed from the Gospel Path, I know that they had a strong foundation while growing up, and that they feel loved, accepted, and encouraged in their (righteous) endeavors now. I am hopeful that someday they will feel the pull of the Savior's love and return to the righteous traditions of the Gospel and their family.

Noble (oldest) & Me

Me with (next oldest) Lt. Lehi and his wife Miss Pasta

JET (middle child) and Me

Me and Mr. Movie (fourth in line)

Me and Dandylion (baby of the family)

Some other posts where I share how I taught my children:

Reverence, Family Home Evening, Nineteen Year Training Program

(Yes, I'm the shrimp of the family. I'm 5'7", Noble is 5'9", the boys range from 6'2" to 6'4".)

What Kind of Women Do We Need?

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday morning session of the October 2000 conference.

In less than two months our daughter will graduate (debt free) with a Masters degree in Creative Writing. It's been a delight to have her live with us for the past four years. We regularly discuss books and writing and such. Learning from her as she learns has been tremendous fun. She also teaches a section of "Freshman English" each semester, so we hear about the current state of students too.

A phenomenon in recent years has been the rise of the "strong woman" protagonist in stories, books and films. This strong woman doesn't need a man to rescue her, she is doing the rescuing, battling males with aplomb and leading armies to victory, etc., etc. 

Our daughter grew up with four brothers so she is not entirely drawn in by the myth of the strong woman. She understands that a woman's strength is more in the emotional and spiritual realms rather than the physical. (Although I will say that she and I regularly move furniture and heavy boxes, open jars and doors, and fix things around the house in the absence of any males.)

In this session of conference Sister Margaret D. Nadauld, Young Women General President, spoke of The Joy of Womanhood. She said so many profound things! The best of all was this:

Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.

 

Our daughter, who I call Noble on my blogs, served in the USAF for four years, and has now gone to college for seven. She stills lives up to her name, Noble, because she is the kind of woman Sister Nadauld describes. We need more like her!

Sacrifice Brings Forth the Blessings of Heaven

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday afternoon session of the April 2000 conference.

In our most recent Relief Society meeting an announcement was made about an upcoming Family Search Open House. On the invitation there were three dates at three different buildings in the stake. Everyone wanted to know which was closest and there was some talk about not wanting to drive very far to get there. Which is fairly common in our branch. Few are willing to drive to stake functions because the stake center is about two hours away. Not to toot my own horn, but I have found that there are many blessings awaiting those who go the distance and physically attend stake meetings, rather than just watching the broadcast in the branch building.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke of not forgetting the Lord in our abundance. He recounted many of the early saints and their sacrifices toward building the Kingdom of God. As I listened to the stories I thought of the sisters in Relief Society and wondered if they realized the great blessings they are depriving themselves and their families of by complaining about distances and then not attending meetings or even the temple which is two to three hours away (depending on where you live in the branch boundaries). I know I have had many tender mercies and grand blessings from sacrificing the time and money to travel to meetings held in far off stake centers. 

Elder Holland told the touching story of Brother John R. Moyle walking 22 miles from Alpine to Salt Lake City to work on the temple, including chiseling the declaration "Holiness to the Lord".  A film was made of his story called Only A Stonecutter. 

He concluded, May we do as much with the blessings we have been given as they did out of the deprivations so many of them faced. In such abundance many we never "forget the Lord" nor "go after other gods," but always be "an holy people unto the Lord." If we do so, those that hunger and thirst for the word of the Lord will continue to come "as doves to [our] windows." They will come seeking peace and growth and salvation. I we live our religion they will find all of that and more.