Conference in a nutshell – version 3

(Note: this doesn’t include notes from most of the Saturday Morning Session, since at the time I was in a bus with a radio that didn’t work.)

Yet again, lessons from the LDS General Conference, this one from Apr. 2008, which was the first conference presided over by President Thomas S. Monson:

• New first presidency: Thomas S. Monson, Henry B. Eyring, and Dieter F. Uchtdorf
• New apostle: D. Todd Christofferson
• Be grateful for being a member
• Keep the commandments. . .better!
• Sustain leaders and Church through service
• Retention, retention, retention!
• Every member a missionary! Still applies!
• Don’t give up on wayward children. God doesn’t.
• Testimony not a sermon, travelogue, or “thankamony,” but expression of gospel truths personally known
• Three different kinds of knowledge: scientific (It’s cold outside), personal & subjective (I love my wife), and spiritual (God is my Father)
• Natural man can’t know anything obtained by method three above
• Testimony not scientific, but can be as sure as any scientific fact
• Get a testimony by:

1. Wanting to know
2. Earnest prayer (and possibly fasting)
3. Bearing the testimony you have
4. Taking the sacrament

• Clarify the restored gospel and Mormonism wherever it is misrepresented, but in mildness and meekness
• Sustaining is not a vote, but a personal commitment
• God the Father commands us to hear His Beloved Son
• Open your hearts to the Holy Spirit
• Christ can’t help us if we don’t trust and serve Him.
• The First Presidency is a quorum of three presidents, not a president and two vice-presidents
• Seek help, both from temporal and divine sources, in abuse cases (on both sides, abuser and abused)
• Eternal life is like a nice cake. To make a great cake, you’ve got to get all the right ingredients and mix ‘em just right.
• You can’t embrace the gospel or the Church without embracing Christ
• Follow the prophet, especially in small things.
• Love all the prophets equally
• President Monson was prepared to be the prophet
• There was a lot of Church response to natural disasters in 2007
• Also a lot of humanitarian aid. . .and donuts!
• Do you know who you are?

1. A son of God
2. A subject of the plan of happiness
3. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

• Act like it!
• Deacons have divine potential, even if it’s not readily apparent
• President Dieter F. Uchtdorf was almost as surprised as his wife when he was called to be the Second Counselor in the First Presidency
• The difference between happiness and misery is often an error of only a few degrees
• Don’t fly into mountains!
• Do not delay a course correction. The longer you wait, the more you have to correct.
• Be anxiously engaged! Be proactive!
• Your best friend is the Creator of the universe!
• Get confident!
• Rise to acquire the blessings of the Oath & Covenant of the priesthood
• This brings eternal life! To not claim it would be tragic!
• The fact that God has offered the Oath & Covenant to you shows that He has some trust in you
• Faith in the Oath & Covenant gave the impetus for priesthood holders to serve in humanitarian efforts after a certain recent hurricane
• Study the word of God for yourself, but also to be an emissary
• Priesthood holders can Make a Difference, if their hands are clean and hearts are pure
• We are surrounded by diversions and temptations. Always be qualified to exercise your priesthood.
• The face of sin today often wears a Halloween mask of tolerance. Behind that mask is sorrow.
• Make a stand for right, even if you stand alone.
• Be kind and loving to your family.
• Always be honest!!
• Be an example and influence for good, whate’er your calling or lot in life
• Wiggle your ears to the kid on the front row!
• Never do anything you don’t want your children to emulate.
• Cast off your old life! Begin a life of faith, joy, and hope!
• President Monson climbs stairs even after foot surgery to visit a sick member of the Church.
• He knows how to focus on the one.
• What is the faith of our fathers? Is it simply the religious beliefs of our parents? Or could it be the faith of the Fathers (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob)?
• Or is it the plan and faith of our Heavenly Father?
• True religion shouldn’t come from what pleases men or ancestors, but what pleases God.
• The Seventy are integral in the establishment of the Kingdom of God
• Hearts are changed through faith on Christ’s name
• Man must be born again, and endure to the end
• Being born again is usually a process. But that doesn’t mean you should be casual about it.
• Obedience brings happiness.
• Paying tithing brings happiness.
• Paying tithing makes prayer easier
• Delight in the things of the Lord! Yay!
• Delight in the Savior! The Restored Gospel! The strength of youth (not just the pamphlet)! The fact that you are a child of God! Families!
• Women’s desire to nurture is their nature! A divine responsibility!
• Men need to nurture too.
• Apostles essential to church. Pres. Packer outlines their purpose, influence, and responsibility.
• Apostles are ordinary people with priesthood keys
• Most important criterion for apostleship is a witness of the truth.
• The canon of scripture is not closed!
• Effective prayer requires action!
• Don’t lower your standards to fit in. It’s not worth it!
• You will die. Don’t procrastinate the day of your repentance!
• Mother do way more than you could ever imagine!
• Don’t let Daddy touch the microwave!

As you can see by the picture, I had the opportunity to sing at the Saturday Afternoon Session in the BYU Combined Choirs choir. I don’t have much else to say now, except that dating bites. Au revoir!

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Now playing: No One is Alone – Stephen Sondheim
via FoxyTunes