Today is Saturday and the first day of conference. There have been whisperings of some big changes happening to organization and things so I have been looking forward to Conference. It has been a while since I have been able to sit and watch conference live on Saturday. Usually we record it and watch it later. It was going to be a pretty busy day with a baseball tournament and football game, but we had a big storm system with lots of rain move in and settle here for awhile so the activities have all been cancelled and our day opened up. It has been a great day so far.
We have a few traditions for watching conference. The kids like to get 5 or 6 bowls with a different treat in each one, and each bowl has a word they might hear in conference like prayer, temple, Savior, ministering, etc. Then when you hear the word that goes with the bowl you can take a treat out of that bowl. I print out conference activity pages too for them to take notes on or color or do whatever activity is on the sheet while they listen, or at least sit in the room and be quiet so I can listen.
*President Nelson.
NOTES: Home centered church supported plan. We are responsible for our own spiritual growth. Parents are responsible for children.
*Elder Cook-Deepen Your Conversion
NOTES: The purpose of the meeting adjustments is to deepen personal conversation to the Savior and faith in Christ, allow more time for home focus curriculum, and continue to honor the sabbath day, do family history work, study the gospel and have FHE or family councils. New ‘Come Follow Me’ curriculum coming out, with a home study gospel plan too. Deepen personal study and testimonies and conversion, be more purposeful with our time. Family religious observance needs to be more powerful. Want to balance church and home experience. If desired you can study informally in groups together. Make homes place of spiritual strength. New curriculum hopes to help families progress from reading scriptures to studying scriptures. Deep and lasting conversion.
The thing that stood out to me the most in his talk is how many times he said ‘deepen your conversion’. I think/worry about this a lot with my kids. I want them to have their own strong personal testimony. I am really excited about the new curriculum, it sounds like it will be really awesome. I love that everything will coordinate and work together with family study, FHE, and church classes.
*Elder Borough- We have to do hard things.
NOTES: Sometimes we are asked to do hard things, or our choices or others choices cause hard things that we have to do (ex: Nephi and his brothers). Face hard things first by forgiving others, and second by turning our hearts to the Lord. We can and should find joy when we face hard things.
I love this. Sometimes you don’t need to be coerced, begged, rewarded, convinced, told, asked, or want to do things. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and do it. Life isn’t about the easiest way and we will be better and stronger by challenging ourselves.
*Elder Bangerter- Use traditions to make a strong foundation.
NOTES: We should make strong sure foundations for our lives and beliefs in CHRIST. We need to so small and simple things, they WILL make our homes sanctuaries of faith-scriptures, prayers, church, learn together, etc. Have consistent wholesome family traditions that strengthen families and build testimonies. Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he shall not depart from it. The things we talk, teach and preach will become us. It isn’t so important to focus on if they are ‘getting it’ in the moment as much as that it is consistently being done.
I have a lot of faith in the ‘Train up a child…” quote. Whenever we are doing something whether it is loading the dishwasher or having FHE, or sitting reverently in church and it blows up like a nuclear explosion I lean on this quote. I hope somewhere along the way we are instilling a habit or thought or something that will sink into their little heads and start growing. I like the way he said to make things we do that strengthen families and testimonies a tradition. Sometimes I get caught up in the ‘check list’ of things that we need to get done. Thinking of family prayer, or reading scriptures, or brushing teeth all together, or whatever it is that ‘has to be done’ as a family tradition is a more pleasant way to look at it. It makes it seem more doable to me.
*Elder Rasband- Overcoming Fear
NOTES: Following the prophet will relieve our fear. The promises made to us for obeying what we are told will be answered. Stand in holy places. Gods love is in his holy places (church, homes, temples) and perfect love casteth out all fear. Be of good cheer and be not troubled. Remember those that believe and follow Him on this earth and the other side of the veil are more powerful than wickedness. Trust the Lord in his promises. All promises to us will be fulfilled if we are righteous.
My fears are manifested as anxiety most of the time. I remember hearing adults say things like they wish the second coming would just come, or it will be nice when it finally happens, and it gave me a lot of anxiety because of all the unknowns involved with that. I like my life, and it is weird and nerve racking to think of not having things the way I have always known them to be. I do believe that everything will work out and be okay in the end. It is the stuff that has to happen before he comes that is nerve racking. As far as the world going down the toilet, at this point in my life I worry sometimes but don’t focus on it to much. It is sad and I worry about the influences on my kids but the fact that it is happening is less alarming to me, more a matter of fact or sign of what we are told will happen then when I was younger. Some might think this is naive but if we keep doing what we are supposed to do and following the gospel I really do believe it will all work out like Elder Rasband said-all promises will be fulfilled.
*Elder Bednar- Individual strings put together make a strong rope
NOTES: Gospel of Jesus Christ offers the greatest perspective of truth and blessings. Shortened meeting schedule is making it available for us to enhance our Sunday study. It is to allow us to love and serve more completely. Don’t get caught up in ‘checking off the list’. Our lives are like a tapestry. As we learn and strengthen conversion, the tapestry becomes more clear and more detailed. Exercising faith in Christ is trusting and relying and following and pressing forward in him-through repentance, baptism, gift of the holy ghost (fourth article of faith). Each of those things are like individual strands, when put together they make a strong rope. Promised us increased perspective, power and understanding by following and embracing these new changes.
It requires a lot of focus for me to follow him when he speaks because of his vocabulary. The way he speaks is…poetic and visual. I like the perspective he gave of all the changes that have happened over the last few decades. They aren’t random, it is all a plan to continue to move the gospel and how we understand and live it further along in His plan. I think this new change will help us be better at teaching and learning more in our homes in case it ever comes to the point we can’t meet for some reason or other.
*Elder Oaks- Eternal Truths.
NOTES: Be cautious of motivation and source of truths. Religious truth should come from prayer, revelation from holy ghost, scriptures, and modern revelation. Science without religion is ignoring part of truth. God is real and the father of everyone. Gender is eternal. The family is ordained of God. Celestial life or exaltation is ONLY possible through a temple marriage of a man and a woman. All people have been given the right to exercise their free agency. Mortal life is sacred- we oppose abortion and euthanasia. Men and women relationships, identities and functions are essential to gods plan. Nurturing children is an important responsibility of a mother and father. Opposition to these beliefs is expected but will not change them. Don’t try and change the church to your beliefs. Hold fast to what you know and wait for what you don’t know. What we know always trumps what we don’t.
Bam! This talk will be in my top favorites for the weekend I think. I loved it. As we have been reading the scriptures lately, similarities of the pride cycle and people turning their focus from the gospel seem obviously parallel to more and more of the way things are now. This seems especially true within the church itself. Granted it could have been like this when I was younger I just didn’t notice because I was young and less aware, but it seems like there are so many more people in the church diverting off on their own little path and trying to match the world more. I love that he said, ‘Opposition in our beliefs is expected but will not change them.’ Nothing in his talk was new information really but it clarified, emphasized, reminded, and reinforced that the gospel is ETERNAL and all the grumblings and wishing, hoping, whining, complaining, reinventing or flat out ignoring those truths does not and will not change them.
*Elder Christofferson- Live a gospel centered life
NOTES: Prophet Elijah tells people to choose if they believe in the Savior or not and worship Him correctly if they do. He challenges worshipers of Baal to build an alter and see who’s god would light the fire. We need to decide if the Savior is real, if the Book of Mormon is true, etc, and if it is follow the Savior and His teachings. The gospel shouldn’t be one of many influences in our lives, it should be the defining focus of our lives.
There is no more time for playing both sides. We have to decide and know what we believe then DO IT.
*Elder Davies- Follow the prophet
President Nelson is a prophet of God and he is leading His church. If we listen and follow the prophet we will have direction and purpose and peace in our lives.
A while back a friend and I were talking about a lot of the ‘hot topics’ going on at the time. I don’t remember which topic we were talking about specifically but we came to the conclusion together that a huge block in our foundation is whether or not we believe that the Prophet is called of God. If he is then when something isn’t quite clear or you are unsure you can fall on your testimony that if you are following the prophet you are going in the right direction. If you don’t believe the prophet is called of God then you are unsure of your direction. I do believe in the truth that God has a living prophet and he will never lead us astray, so when I’m not sure where to go with something I can always look to him to get my bearings and a heading. I know President Benson, President Hunter, President Hinckley, President Monson and all the other presidents before that were Prophets of God. I know President Nelson is our living prophet right now and that we will always have a living prophet on the earth until the Savior comes again.
There were a few more talks in the afternoon session but the same friend I had the above mentioned conversation with called me to come watch her kids while she went to have a baby at the hospital at 4:30 this morning so I could not keep my eyes open for the rest of the afternoon session, so no ‘live’ notes on those talks. For the Saturday sessions the theme that stuck out to me over and over again was the importance and focus that should be put on families working together to help each individual have a DEEP personal conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I think it is going to become more and more important to be able to KNOW your beliefs and be able to stand on your own in those beliefs if necessary, and having those beliefs will continue to separate us more and more from the world.