General Conference Weekend

Conference was amazing,

and as usual,

we were all looking forward to it!

Big family breakfasts...

pj's all the live long day...

snugging on the couch...

But most importantly,

listening to living prophets and apostles!

It's a miracle,

and I'm blessed to share this with my family.

Check out the highlights here!

You won't regret it!



April 2011 General Conference

To me, General Conference

is a weekend filled with peace.

To cancel out all calendar events,

and gather the family together at

the feet of the prophets

is a wonderful, and rare, thing.

Elder Richard G. Scott holds a special place in my heart,

and this conference he spoke on the eternal blessings of marriage.

"It is so rewarding to be married.

Marriage is wonderful.

In time you begin to think alike and

have the same ideas and impressions.

You have times when you are extremely happy,

times of testing,

and times of trial,

but the Lord guides you

through all of those growth experiences together."

...

Marriage IS wonderful!

And hard!

But yes, wonderful!

...

This is only one of many, MANY talks meant

for me.

And I'm so grateful for the opportunity to

learn, ponder, and

-the hard part!-

apply these principles!

Conference Sunday Brunch & Learning What Matters Most

When Conference Sunday rolls around,

everyone gets excited.

Yes, it means p.j.'s and a delicious brunch,

but above and beyond that is the opportunity to squish

into the couch with notepads and pen

to listen and learn at the feet of

modern day prophets.

This time around,

I was really struck by President Uchtdorf's remarks

regarding what matters most.

Of Things That Matter Most

As we turn to our Heavenly Father

and seek His wisdom regarding the things that matter most,

we learn over and over again

the importance of four key relationships:

with our God, with our families, with our fellowman, and with ourselves.

As we evaluate our own lives with a willing mind,

we will see where we have drifted from the more excellent way.
The eyes of our understanding will be opened,

and we will recognize what needs to be done

to purify our heart and refocus our life.

-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Second Counselor in the First Presidency
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

His counsel to,

"...slow down a little,

steady the course,

and focus on the essentials

when experiencing adverse conditions..."

Hits the nail on the head.

I like to think I'm level-headed and very "even-keel",

but unfortunately I know

I'm passionate and extremely emotional about

even the tiniest of things!

To say this throws me off-balance occasionally

is a huge understatement!

So what to do?

Take this counsel and run with it! 

Okay, since we're "slowing down",

how about we walk with it?

Try it on for size,

and see

what happens!

The scriptures exhort us to:

...awake, and arise from the dust,

O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments,

O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes

and enlarge thy borders forever,

that thou mayest no more be confounded,

that the covenants of the Eternal Father

which he hath made unto thee,

O house of Israel, may be fulfilled.

Yea, come unto Christ,

and be perfected in him,

and deny yourselves of all ungodliness;

and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness,

and love God with all your might, mind and strength,

then is his grace sufficient for you,

that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ;

and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ,

ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ,

and deny not his power,

then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God,

through the shedding of the blood of Christ,

which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins,

that ye become holy,

without spot.

Moroni 10:31-33

I want to arise,

be strengthened,

perfected,

and certainly without spot!

And it IS possible,

through faith in my Savior, Jesus Christ,

and through following him.

...

If you'd like to check out other Conference highlights,

please visit here!

The One True Key to Happiness...

...is to labor in the service of others.

 

Samuel and I found that this key element was missing in our home!  We found that too often our children were at odds with one another, and that there prevailed all manner of squabbling, quarreling, and-absolutely worst of all-hoarding!

We knew this could not go on, and so we are trying to follow the example of a family spoken of in President Monson's talk,

"What Have I Done For Someone Today?".

He shares the following:

A few years ago I read an article written by Jack McConnell, MD. He grew up in the hills of southwest Virginia in the United States as one of seven children of a Methodist minister and a stay-at-home mother. Their circumstances were very humble. He recounted that during his childhood, every day as the family sat around the dinner table, his father would ask each one in turn, “And what did you do for someone today?” The children were determined to do a good turn every day so they could report to their father that they had helped someone. Dr. McConnell calls this exercise his father’s most valuable legacy, for that expectation and those words inspired him and his siblings to help others throughout their lives. As they grew and matured, their motivation for providing service changed to an inner desire to help others.

As we too have begun to ask this question around our table, we have seen a dramatic change.  Are there still squabbles?  Yes!  But with gentle reminders, there IS a greater desire for every member of our family to think less about ourselves, and think a whole lot more about others!

It truly is the key to happiness.

October General Conference

Our family was so excited for General Conference, and as you can see the troops were ready!

 We were (and continue to be) in need of the spiritual nourishment that comes when you listen to the counsel of modern day prophets and apostles.

It truly is a spiritual feast...

 

...which was not to be outdone by our breakfast feast!

Some of my favorite talks packed a punch, and are listed below.

To Aquire Spiritual Guidance, Elder Richard G. Scott

Repent...That I May Heal You, Elder Neal L. Anderson

I Love Loud Boys, Elder Yoon Hwan Choi

Be Ready, President Henry B. Eyring

Let Virtue Garnish Your Thoughts, Bishop H. David Burton

Safety for the Soul, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Preserving the Heart's Mighty Change, Elder Dale G. Renlund

Moral Discipline, Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Closing Remarks, President Thomas S. Monson

Mind the Gap, Barbara Thompson

For a complete list, visit the church's archives  and prepare to be spiritually fed...

Who loves General Conference?

We do!

It's only been recently that our family took the plunge and subscribed to cable. Prior to that, we listened to conference on-line, and before that, we'd just take the kids to the church and watch it there. Now, we are so grateful to be able to watch all the sessions of conference from the comfort of our home.

A favorite tradition is special Saturday and Sunday breakfasts, with simple picnic lunches for the break, giving everyone a chance to stretch their legs and enjoy the good weather outside.

When it was time for the afternoon session, Owen became a little testy at one point with his stuffed bear, who didn't seem to be behaving reverently at all, leaving Owen no choice but to put him on timeout!

Conference Highlights:

I really enjoyed the talk, "Come Unto Him", by our newly ordained apostle, Elder Neil L. Andersen. My favorite quote from this talk is:
"I know that I am not what I must become."
For me, this isn't a statement of discouragement, but one of inspiration.
I do know what I must become.
I know I'm not there yet.
I will never get there in this lifetime.
But I must always keep trying.

From the Priesthood session, Samuel could not stop talking about, "Man Down!", by President Henry B. Eyring.
"I testify that you were called of God and you are sent to serve His children. He wants that no one be left behind...God will give you inspiration and strength to meet your charge to help His children find their way to the happiness made possible by the Atonement of Jesus Christ."

We love hearing the words of the prophet, the apostles, and other leaders of the church. We know their messages to the world were inspired by God, and that the counsel they provide is what the Lord would share with us if he were on the earth today. How grateful I am to know that the heavens are not closed, and that we in the latter-days are blessed to have the true church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
on the earth today.