Dieter F. Uchtdorf is conducting. You gotta love him. I wonder if my brother gets fed and gets to have a nap between sessions...I will have to ask him. :) Woohoo! Just saw Josh in the first hymn. haha, the kids always love to play "Spot Josh" during conference.
This is not from conference but can you "Spot Josh"?
Good times, good times....
Awesome - zeroed in right on Josh!!! Woot, woot!
L. Tom Perry
spoke of Scott - a young man (could be relative) with a great conviction - (reminds me a little bit of Nephi - courageous and wonders why everyone does not have the same conviction.)
May we have the boldness of Scott - (or nephi)
Tender Mercies - How the Book of Mormon delivers us by teaching a pure and most correct way, the doctrine of Christ
There are many stories of deliverance throughout the BofM
Mosiah 20 King Limhi - nephites are in bondage to lamanites
21:15 the Lords response to the cries of the Nephites
The Lord was slow to hear their cries because of their iniquities
The people of Alma - peaceful, more righteous, humbled themselves even before tribulations - they were delivered quickly.
What can we learn from the difference?
The atonement gives us an escape from physical death and spiritual death if we utilize it.
The world is challenging the long standing beliefs and writings of the gospel. They say that these things are out of date.
Why is it important for the world to have the bible and the book of mormon?
1 Nephi 13 - the plain and precious things will be made know to all kindred, tongues and people
We need both to teach and learn the doctrine of Christ - one does not diminish the other but provides another witness
When used together they confound false doctrine
How will we position our tent in life?
King Benjamin instructs his people to position their tent towards the temple. (My kids got excited over this as they sat in their home-made conference tent)
M. Russell Ballad
liahona - modern day device of curious workmanship - feels the same about GPS
We have a tool that is better than any GPS - we all lose our way, and the Holy Ghost can guide us back and the atonement can put us on the right path
Happiness = Family
there is no service greater than that which promotes family life
There is a growing disregard for Marriage - births occur more than 50% outside of marriage and nearly half that get married get divorced
prosperity and education have a higher likelihood of having a family
we know that as families are strengthened they are blessed.
If we devote ourselves to our families we will improve in all other aspects of our lives.
This is not easy in a world where hearts are going in so many different directions.
Things shift and move - wrong as right/right as wrong - evil becomes deceptive and subtle.
We may be small in number but we can reach across the gaps - we know the power of Christ centered service - that brings people together.
The Lord uses the church to bring his children together to the protecting power of the gospel.
The hearts of the fathers to the children and reverse.
The church is an example of heart turning - those who are active, temple married the divorce rate is less than that of the world.
Life is better and much happier as hearts turn towards family.
What can we do to not become lost?
Prioritize - put outside things after inside priorities - no other success can compensate for failure in the home. Prayer, scripture and family activity are priorities!
Do things in the right order - marriage and then family! Do not lose sight of the responsibility of raising a family.
Husbands and wives should be equal partners in marriage - read the proclamation on the family - know our duties.
Learn at home to love God and ask him for the help that we need.
Use the family resources of the church - draw upon the help of the ward. Take full advantage of the youth and family programs
The church is the scaffolding in which we build eternal families
Correct your course if you have lost your way!
Jesus wants us to know that none of us will ever be so lost that we cannot find a way back.
You will have a spiritual GPS to tell you where you are and where you are going.
O. Vincent Haleck
Member of the Seventy
Sent him to America to go to school - away from his parents in Samoa. His mother and father fasted and prayed weekly for their children who were away at school.
How do we do those things that bring us closer to the Savior?
We need a vision of ourselves as the Savior sees us.
Scriptures have examples of those that "caught the vision" of the gospel.
Service is our responsibility - as we are God's hands here on the earth.
The Holy Ghost will power and motivate us to do the things that we are taught by our leaders.
Study the things we are learning and see if you can "catch the vision" of the message that is being presented, ask, and then act on inspiration that you receive.
Be careful not to let things diminish the vision!
The Savior has a vision of who we can become.
When we study the life of the Savior and his teachings - he is lifting up others - take this vision and do more good in your life. This type of life will bless you.
As we act on the vision we will be blessed. We are a people of vision - know that you can be blessed with the vision and courage to act. The savior invites us - we must take the potential that the Savior sees that we may act!
Larry Y. Wilson
of the seventy
Wife was speeding, he was being a backseat driver. She questioned what right he had to question her driving....he said because he was the husband and held the priesthood. He did not make that mistake again.
Only upon the principles of righteousness is the priesthood rightly ordained. Control over another person in an unrighteous dominion is unrighteous. We cannot force others to do the right thing! This is not God's way!
It is the nature of all men to exercise unrighteous dominion - it is an easy trap to fall in, especially for men.
Parents need to make sure they do not limit the growth of their children. We need to give the children the ability to make moral decisions on their own. Wise parents prepare children to get along without them. And yes, children will make mistakes and learn from them!
story of daughter playing soccer and had a championship game on sunday - they left the decision to her - she decided to play the game. After the game she said it felt awful and that she never wanted to play on Sunday again.
Helping children to exercise their agency is key - they need to learn - and help them establish their own connection to heaven
The duty of seeking the Lord is our key to opening the path of communication with the Lord.
The promise is that those that take the Holy Ghost as their guide are not deceived!
Demanding parents can make it hard for children to feel the love of Heaven - we must act only by persuasion, love unfeigned.
Of all the help we can give young people is to let them feel our confidence - they are on the path home and they CAN make it!
Compliment our children! Help them to feel love and know that they are loved by us and the Lord!
David F. Evans
of the Seventy
our most important work is within the family
we are to teach our children the gospel
to have faith in Jesus Christ
within our homes we should follow the pattern of Nephi "we talk of Christ, we preach of Christ"
we labor diligently by going to church, reading scriptures, praying, accepting callings with our families - so that they know our love of the gospel and of our children
Letters of home provide something tangible that can be cherished - write something meaningful
Help our children know that as they strive to repent they will be forgiven
We need to share the gospel - some have never heard and some need to be reminded - the worth of souls, whatever their condition, is great in His sight
Our missionary experiences need to be current - to be fulfilled you have to continue to naturally and normally share the gospel.
Spoke of a young man that was fellowshipped although not a member. He eventually was baptized. So, was it worth it? Was the effort worth one having one person baptized? It is never just one person - a family is saved and their posterity.
Sometimes the spirit works with several people to help one person.
We never know the effect that our actions can have.
To all those that are questioning and haven't taken the step of baptism - Pray to know whether or not the church is true.
If we will pray and ask who we can help and promise to act on the promptings - we will become instruments in the hand of the Lord.
Act upon any promptings that you have - invite them, tell them you love them. Never delay a prompting. A miracle can come forth from this action!
Paul B. Pieper
of the Seventy
servants of the Lord - moses, alma, joseph smith - encounters with the divine - strengthened them to overcome difficult trials
Our encounters may not be as dramatic - but we must remember and hold sacred the things that we receive from above! Our encounters will mostly involve the Holy Ghost - let him teach and guide us, he will testify of Christ and light our minds with heavens view.
The feeling and impressions that we get may be subtle but we need to be in tune to hear them, record them so that we can save them for our use and that of our posterity.
Remember that which cometh from above is sacred - light and knowledge is sacred because heaven is its source
When we designate things as sacred we must treat them with care and reverence - that which is sacred to God only becomes sacred to us through agency. He invites us to receive things from heaven as sacred. Satan works against this - the world competes for our attention!
The battle for priority in our hearts between sacred and secular - we need to have faith to trust the sacred to have priority over the secular.
Tree of Life - sacred, partaking of the fruit vs. secular, spacious building
Secular view is growing - at times we may feel vunerable to these things. Remember times that we have had witnesses from God - these things, when we are challenged - will serve as spiritual anchors to keep us grounded in the truth.
That which is of God is light - he that holds this will receive more
We will have the strength to overcome the trials of our day
Neil L. Andersen
Does my life reflect the life of Christ?
What thinks Christ of Me?
Our world is moving away from things that are spiritual. There is a disbelief and disregard for Jesus Christ. Being a disciple in these days will be a great honor in the next life.
Come Follow Me is not a competition but an invitation to all - this is a lifelong migration toward a more celestial world.
You are on the right road - the road toward eternal life. Strengthen those along the way, let us have faith in the Savior that declared "All things are possible"
We can learn so much from the discipleship of President Monson - he often asks, "What would Jesus Do?"
Miracles are not always immediate - as we trust in the Savior promised miracles will appear. Be of Good Cheer!
As you love, trust, believe and follow the Savior you will know that you are his disciple, by His grace he will do for you those things that you cannot do for yourself.
Jesus Christ IS the savior of the world. He suffered and died for us. On his return we will not be asking whether others see us as Christians but rather "What think He of me?"
Thomas S. Monson
His heart is full, the conference center is full, we have enjoyed beautiful music, wonderful messages and the spirit that has carried through the conference. (I love how grateful he is in the blessing of this conference) Tells those released he will miss them, welcomes those that have newly been called.
How blessed we are to have the restored gospel in our lives and in our hearts. It provides purpose and hope to our lives. The Lord is mindful of the troubles we face - may we call upon Him in prayer! May our homes be filled with love and courtesy and the spirit of the Lord. Settle problems and contentions in the home NOW! Such things should be done away. King Benjamin - I have not commanded you to think I am more than a mortal man yet I have been chosen by the Lord to serve you with all the might, mind and strength that the Lord has granted unto me. He invokes the blessings of heaven upon each of us (waves his finger around to "invoke" this on everyone - so cute!)
Such a great conference!!!!!!! I need to go back and listen to the talks from the Saturday sessions as I was not at home and could not get the internet necessary to listen. :( But I strive to listen to those this week and post some notes! We are so blessed to have a prophet of the Lord to guide us. I don't have to be in Utah to feel this, to see this, to hear this. I feel so blessed to have been able to spend time with my family and listen to conference. I can't wait to get the kids reactions and see what struck them as important!
No comments:
Post a Comment