Twice a year The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds a general conference. During this conference we get to hear from a prophet of God and His apostles. It's always such a rejuvenating experience for me.
Like last time, we went with the over-the-door activity holder and it was a huge success again. In between sessions we made pumpkin people, went swimming, updated our 72-hour emergency kits, played Mouse Trap and just enjoyed uninterrupted family time.
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| Some of the activities/treats. |
SATURDAY MORNING
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| David wanted to wear his Sunday clothes while watching conference. (Ironically, he didn't wear them on Sunday, but only on Saturday...) |
Boyd K. Packer said, “A seventy does not represent the people to the prophet, but the prophet to the people. Don’t forget which direction you face.”
“When others demand approval in defiance of God’s commandments, may we always remember whose disciples we are, and which way we face.”
When one tries to save face with men, they can unwittingly lose face with God.
The scornful often accuse prophets of not living in the 21st century or of being bigoted. They attempt to persuade and even pressure the Church into lowering God’s standards to the level of their own inappropriate behavior. Lowering the Lord’s standards to those of the world is apostasy.
What are some ways misguided members try to influence a bishop to lower his standards? In temple recommends, school endorsements or missionary applications.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson
God will not make us into something we do not choose by our actions to become.
Resenting the law of gravity will not keep a person from falling if he steps off a cliff. The same applies to eternal laws.
Take responsibility and go to work so there is something for God to help us with.
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| Swimming goggles make conference viewing so much more interesting. |
“The Everlasting and Almighty God, the Creator of this vast universe, will speak to those who approach Him with a sincere heart and real intent. He will speak to them in dreams, visions, thoughts and feelings.”
God cares about you. He will listen and we will answer your personal questions. The answers to your prayers will come in His own way and in His own time and, therefore, you need to learn to listen to His voice. God wants you to find your way back to Him, and the Savior is the way.
You can’t gain an understanding of spiritual truth with instruments that are unable to detect it.
- Search the word of God
- Consider, ponder and fearlessly strive to believe
- Ask Heavenly Father in the name of Christ to manifest the truth
- “If any man will do God’s will, he shall know of the doctrine…” (John 7:17)
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| 72-our kits |
Elder Dallin H. Oaks (favorite!!)
The father of contention is the devil. The Savior is the Prince of Peace.
“Where vital, our side of these differences should not be denied or abandoned, but followers of Christ should learn to live peacefully with others who do not share their values or accept the teachings upon which they are based.
We should love all people, be good listeners, and show concern for their sincere beliefs. Though we may disagree, we should not be disagreeable. Our stands and communications on controversial topics should not be contentious.”
Elder Neil L. Anderson
“Each believer needs a spiritual confirmation of the divine mission and character of the Prophet Joseph Smith.”
Asking a dissenter about Joseph Smith is like asking Judas about the Savior.
Defectors always tell us more about themselves than about that from which they have defected.
To questions about Joseph’s character, we might share the words of thousands who knew him personally and who gave their lives for the work he helped establish. We might remind the sincere inquirer that Internet information does not have a ‘truth’ filter. Some information, no matter how convincing, is simply not true.
It is important to recognize that some information about Joseph, while true, might be presented completely out of context to the day and situation. A sincere inquirer should see the spreading of the restored gospel as the fruit of the Lord’s work through the Prophet, the apostle taught.
- Find scriptures in the Book of Mormon that you know are true.
- Share them with family and friends durig FHE, seminary, YM/YW.
- Read the testimony of Joseph Smith as found in the Pearl of Great Price.
- Consider recording it and relistening to it in your own voice.
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| Puzzles! |
Story about the kid that scored a zero and grew to be the head of John’s Hopkins medical center because his mother made her sons turn off the t.v. and start to read.
Do our children get our best efforts or our leftover efforts.
Elder Jörg Klebingat (favorite)
If the Savior were to come in one hour, how would you rate your readiness to see him?
Lies of the adversary:
- Heavenly Father is disappointed in you
- The Atonement is beyond your reach
- There is no point in ever trying
- Everybody else is better than you
- You are unworthy
- Take responsibility for your own spiritual well being.
- Take responsibility for your own physical well being.
- Embrace voluntary, whole-hearted obedience as part of your life. (You can’t love God unless you love his commandments. Choosing something bad over something worse is still wrong.) Do the right things for the right reasons.
- Become really, really good at repenting thoroughly and quickly.
- Become really, really good at forgiving. Forgive everyone, everything, all the time. Don’t hold grudges, don’t be easily offended, forgive and forget quickly.
- Accept trials, setbacks and surprises as part of your mortal experience. Acknowledge and accept your weaknesses but don’t be immobilized by them, because some of them will be your companions until you depart this earth life.
“We obtain a remission of our sins by pleading to God who compassionately responds … But we retain a remission of our sins by compassionately responding to the poor who plead to us.”
We should not withhold our material wealth from the poor in thinking that they have brought it upon themselves.
President Monson gave away all his clothes and the very shoes off his feet to the poor in Germany.
Elder Quentin L. Cook
“Even worthwhile endeavors need evaluation in order to determine if they have become distractions from the best goals.”
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Judging ourselves differently from how we judge others. “In these simple words, ‘Lord is it I?’ lies the beginning of wisdom and the pathway to personal conversion and lasting change.”
President Thomas S. Monson
“Like the vital rudder of a ship, brethren, we have been provided a way to determine the direction we travel. The lighthouse of the Lord beckons to all as we sail the seas of life. Our purpose is to steer an undeviating course toward our desired goal – even the Celestial Kingdom of God. A man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder, never likely to reach home port. To us comes the signal: Chart your course, set your sail, position your rudder and proceed.”
SUNDAY MORNING
Elder Henry B. Eyring
“Don't take lightly the feeling you get of love for the prophet of God…That is far more than hero worship or the feelings we sometimes have of admiring heroic figures. It is a gift from God. With it you will receive more easily the gift of confirming revelation when he speaks in his office as the Lord's prophet. The love you feel is the love the Lord has for whomever is His spokesman. That is not easy to feel continually because the Lord often asks His prophets to give counsel that is hard for people to accept. The enemy of our souls will try to lead us to take offense and to doubt the prophet's calling from God.”
Elder Russell M. Nelson
“But sustaining the prophet is more than just raising one’s hand — it means standing behind the prophet, praying for him, defending his good name and striving to carry out the instructions he gives as directed by the Lord.”
“If the Restoration did anything, it shattered the age-old myth that God had stopped talking to His children.”
Sister Carrol F. McConkie
“In a world threatened by famine of righteousness and spiritual starvation, we have been commanded to sustain the prophet. As we give heed to, uphold and affirm prophetic word, we witness that we have the faith to humbly submit to the will, the wisdom and the timing of the Lord.”
“We heed prophetic word even when it may seem unreasonable, inconvenient and uncomfortable. According to the world’s standards, following the prophet may be unpopular, politically incorrect or socially unacceptable. But following the prophet is always right.”
The words of the prophet are like manna to our souls. When we partake, we are filled. We are protected.
Elder James J. Hamula
“The fundamental question facing all of us is not whether we will live, but with whom we will live after we die.”
President Thomas S. Monson
“Physically walking where Jesus walked is less important than walking as He walked. Emulating His actions and following His example are far more important than trying to retrace the remnants of the trails he traversed in mortality.”
“There is no higher end than this, that we should choose to accept His discipline and become His disciples, and do His work throughout our lives. Nothing else, no other choice we make, can make of us what He can. ...”
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
Elder M. Russell Ballard
Beware of personal apostasy
“If any one of you have fallen out of the boat, we will seek you, find you, and minister to you and pull you safely back onto the Old Ship Zion, where God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are at the helm and will guide us right.”
Elder Richard G. Scott
Tools
- Prayer
- Study the word of God through the scriptures
- Hold regular family home evening
- Go to the temple
Elder Carlos A. Godoy
If you continue to live as you are currently living, will the promises of your patriarchal blessing be fulfilled?
Principles to help make the best decisions possible
- Consider our options with the end in mind. Understanding who we are and why we are here provide us with the broader vision we may need.
- We need to be prepared for the challenges that will come. The best paths in life are rarely the easiest; often, it is exactly the opposite.
- We need to share this vision with the people we love.
“Like partaking of the sacrament, attending meetings, reading the scriptures and personal prayers, family history and temple work should be a part of our personal worship.”
Elder Hugo E. Martinez
“He who serves in some thing is good for something; he who serves in no thing is good for nothing.”
Elder David A. Bednar
To those not of our faith:
“The invitations we extend to you to learn about and test our message grow out of the positive effects the gospel of Jesus Christ has had in our lives. Sometimes we may be awkward or abrupt or relentless in our attempts. Our simple desire is to share with you the truths that are of greatest worth to us.”
President Thomas S. Monson
“May we return to our homes with a resolve in our hearts to be a little better than we have been in the past. May we be a little kinder and more thoughtful. May we reach out in helpfulness, not only to our fellow members but also to those who are not of our faith. As we associate with them, may we show our respect for them.”
“May we be people of honesty and integrity, trying to do the right thing at all times and in all circumstances. May we be faithful followers of Christ, examples of righteousness, thus becoming “lights in the world.”
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