Rumor has it that all of the Brethren will be in the Tabernacle for the Saturday Afternoon Session so that President Hinckley can RE-dedicate the remodeled Tabernacle... and all of those folks with Saturday Afternoon tickets will just be watching conference on the big screens in the conference center.... interesting.
I'm staying in the desert for this conference.
__________________
no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing... the truth of God will go forth till it has penetrated every website, sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done
So they'll talk more about a "3 months" supply... they'll rededicate the tabernacle... what else will make this conference an historic one?
__________________
no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing... the truth of God will go forth till it has penetrated every website, sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done
I think they'll come out even more strongly against such evils as homosexuality and internet porn (well, any porn for that matter).
__________________
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
I am really looking forward to this General Conference. I am getting big feelings about this one (Not that I haven't for previous ones).
I was just on a tour in the Conference Center on my student wards family home evening activity. The construction of the Conference Center is amazing! The tour guide spent quite the amount of time talking about the Tabernacle being rededicated, and yes I heard the same rumor from him.
Cat Herder wrote: I don't know what will be talked about. I'm sure the things that I need to work on will be addressed, as well as the things that I'm doing okay with.
That just about covers everything they will go over doesn't it!?!
no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing... the truth of God will go forth till it has penetrated every website, sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done
I enjoyed Pres. Holland's talk too. I commented on it in my thread about having optimism for the future... a thread you avoided... ahem-hem...
I don't think you should be down on yourself. We're all grown-ups. Let's just be mindful of our words, and try our best to be uplifting and positive when we can.
There are still many challenges and difficulties in this world, but the way we approach them... I think that was the point. It doesn't mean we're perfect yet... were it so easy, the talk wouldn't be necessary.
Keep on keeping on!!
--Ray
__________________
I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
Roper wrote: Elder Holland, thank you. Maybe we should add part of his address to our charter
I have this feeling that I should have spoken differently on a lot of my posts here and at Nauvoo.
Too late to change the past. Press on with the new light and knowledge.
Ok, Roper, you have homework to find the link to that talk and we'll link to it. I agree that we should all be kinder to each other. I can think of examples in my own behavior.
__________________
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
mirkwood wrote: "Hit me again I can still hear you talking."
That was hillarious. But it is in line with what I've often heard, that God has a sense of humor.
__________________
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
What a great rest him for the 'new' old Tabernacle... "How Firm a Foundation"
m
__________________
no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing... the truth of God will go forth till it has penetrated every website, sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done
We missed the first session today. Had a family outing to a local natural science museum. No need to think poorly of us for it. We haven't done anything together as a family for a long while, and this was more in line with what our family needed than two hours of sitting in front of the TV watching conference. Besides, we caught the second session, I'll be heading to the Priesthood session, and satellite transmission not going out, we'll be catching the two sessions tomorrow.
I do look forward to reading the addresses from the first session, though! Seemed like the audio from the second session was having problems from time to time. I especially liked how President Hinckley indicated that the tabernacle would be available for generations to come and that strong leadership for the church would grow up in the coming generations to help the work move forward.
__________________
It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
So... after a tasty breakfast of home-cut hash browns, skin-on with a little onion, season salt and parsley, cheesy scrambled eggs (except for MrCoco who's thing is over easy), crispy bacon, whole wheat toast and Mango juice, we enjoyed the first session. Loved Pres. Faust's talk on forgiveness. I remember that Amish shooting incident. There were things in that talk that I'm going to have to read in the Ensign. (Just my learning style, but when something really needs to sink in, I need to read it in print - yay for the scriptures!) I enjoyed it. And Elder Oaks's talk on divorce I thought was VERY good. Some things are worse than divorce, indeed. I thought he handled the topic very well and agreed with what he had to say. Coco's parents' favorite talk was Elder Ballard on the Bible... "much needed" they thought.
Only one more session. Has it gone by that fast?
__________________
Life is tough but it's tougher if you're stupid. -John Wayne
I love General Conference! What's really weird is that I always seem to have a horrible week right before Conference...it was like nothing could go right and no matter how hard I tried, it was never enough, and never good enough. Too bad for the test I took...
But, because I had such a hard week I was so open to change and am so grateful for that. Elder Holland's talk really hit me because all week I was thinking about how stupid I am and how I'll never make it through my schooling...and maybe I'm not smart enough to be a mechanical engineer. So the main theme I got this semester was that the Lord really did suffer beneath it all, and that because He did, He can raise us up to be better than we can ever be without His help. We just need to have the faith and let Him help us.
I also loved that Elder Oaks talk on Divorce and keeping a Celestial Marriage was right after President Faust's talk on forgiveness. My fiance pointed that out to me...I definitely think that's a good sign.
I also loved the stats that I was told from the Priesthood session. The number of Temples built since President Hinckley was called as Prophet, the number of missionaries out of the total number was like 40%. Also the numbers of convert baptisms. I know there were more, but I was thinking about it during his last talk and realized that he's been prophet just over half of my life, and I have been alive and an active member of the church each of those years. I guess I still count as part fo the rising generation and I guess it just kept hitting me that there is so much preparation that needs to be done before the Second Coming, and I need to make sure that I keep on progressing myself. I guess it's a little like what the quote from President Hinckley on food storage was: if you store up a day's food at a time, pretty soon you'll have a week, and then a month. It's not that overwhelming really...we just need to work on it a day at a time, and make sure we aren't letting anything get eaten as we are working on building up our storage. We also have to remember what Elder Eyring said a few Conferences ago that "Faith has a short shelf-life" and we need to still work on the things and follow the things that we have once mastered.
I used to go to Conference just to go because I was supposed to. Then I started going to take notes for seminary. Now I choose to go to all the sessions I can, and I've tried to make sure that each time I go, I go with a purpose. Sometimes it was for comfort, sometimes for help getting rid of pain, and it always seemed to be along that track. This time I went with a different perspective: I'm starting a new stage of life, and I want to make sure that I don't get stagnant or complacent in my progression, so now I have a lot more motivation and am so excited to get started. I'm also anxiously awaiting my Conference Ensign so I can reread the talks. They are usually posted online by Thursday too.
__________________
Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.
— Oscar Wilde
I didn't hear any mention of homosexuality at all in conference. They did mention pornography, but not in the stinging detail that prior sessions have had.
I thought the crowning talks for me were ...
Elder Hollands on Words, Elder Fausts Forgiveness, Elder Oaks on Divorce, Elder Eyring on Procrastination...
--Ray
__________________
I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
Elder Eyring repeated the idea of "someday" -- like "someday" you'll do this or that... You shouldn't put off things, and probably ESPECIALLY repentance.
__________________
Life is tough but it's tougher if you're stupid. -John Wayne
What stuck out to me were the repentance talks and what really I kept hearing was to prepare for the Coming of Christ. I kind of got the sense that we have been told about the temporal preparedness and other things about porn, and such issues, but that it was more directed to the spiritual preparedness we need for the Coming of the Saviour.
__________________
Lo, there I see my mother, my sisters, my brothers Lo, there I see the line of my people back to the beginning Lo, they call to me, they bid me take my place among them In the halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live...forever
You know, I kind of got that impression, too. Almost like they were peeling back another layer and asking, "WHY aren't the people following the previous counsel? Let's address that."
__________________
Life is tough but it's tougher if you're stupid. -John Wayne
I don't know that I would say they were "peeling back another layer". I think it was more "Here are the small, simple, basic things we all need to be focusing on." Living the Gospel is not about a myriad of programs or processes or activities.
Living the Gospel and following The Savior is about faith, repentance, forgiveness, service, and love of one another and our self in the same mannor as He loves us, utilizing the time each of us individually have been alotted so that we are ready to meet our Father when our individual time is done.
This is the essence of all we do or should do, and if it isn't, then we have been directly reminded of where we need to focus our energy and faith.
__________________
It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
Cat hit what I was going to say right on the nail. Being a ward missionary I have had the opportunity to return to the basics as I teach new members the discussions, or even attend the discussions of investigators. Best of all is Gospel Essentials class. Really, each of the principles I am teaching are principles that I really need to work on. And General Conference hits on those same principles...every single time. The gospel really is simple. I love it! As we work on those seemingly small and simple things, great things will be able to come to pass.
__________________
Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.
— Oscar Wilde
Just came back from my student wards Family Home Evening activity. It was a testimony meeting / what we thought about General Conference. Elder Holland, President Faust, President Hickley & Elder Wirthlin were mentioned the most.
We then had smores.
I also got the impression about returning to basics, more emphasis on being true christians, and the rededication of the Tabernacle, from the conference.
Old? I was thinking he was young but I do imagine he's closing in on 75.
Bednar must feel like a young buck with that crew.
__________________
no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing... the truth of God will go forth till it has penetrated every website, sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done
