October 2021 General Conference Sunday Morning thoughts
I loved Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s wonderful testimony of Jesus Christ and how he leads his prophets today. And I am grateful for that, because we struggle to walk straight because of increasing uncertainty of what lies ahead. Without those landmarks, we drift off course. I love that the Lord allows repentance and “daily personal restoration” and a steady, consistent flow of heavenly light. If I want to change the shape of my life, I can change the shape of my day. Pretty empowering!
Camille Johnson - I love the idea of our lives as a story. One of the reasons I love connecting with other humans so much is because we all have a story. "The Savior is the author and finisher of our faith. Will you invite him to be the author and finisher of your story?" I love the examples she used of David and Esther from the Old Testament - two amazing examples of letting God prevail!
Dale G. Renlund dropped all kinds of truth bombs for how we have responded to the pandemic, or as he called it - the spiritual stress test for the church and its members…and “results have been mixed”. "When we contend with anger one with another, Satan laughs, and God weeps." The second reference to ’No-“ITES” in this conference. Our love of God and his children should transcend all of the ITES that our world is obsessed with cloning on to. How awesome it is to say, as his wife did - “I see we are not going to agree on this issue. I like you and I respect you. I hope you can offer me the same.” Maybe that attitude could get us a little closer to the Zion that the Lord wants us to have.
“We bring our heritage, culture and experiences to the Church of Jesus Christ. Samuel didn't shy away from his heritage as a Lamanite, nor did Mormon shy away from his as a Nephite. But each put his discipleship of the Savior first.”
Oh, and I’m not sure the placement of “I am a Child of God” after Elder Renlund’s talk was intentional or not. But it should hit differently.
I have always loved watching and listening to Vai SIkahema - as a football player, and then as a broadcaster. And he sure didn’t disappoint as a General Authority Seventy. “If you choose to live your life out of sequence, you will find life more difficult and chaotic.” Faith precedes the miracle and God is a God of order.
Liberty Jail has always been a sacred place for me, so I loved Quentin L. Cook’s use of it to open his talk. "Adversity is not evidence of the Lord's disfavor, nor a withdrawal of His blessings." Personal peace is something we can obtain, despite all the chaos happening around us. "Our peace is greatly enhanced when we follow the Lord's prophet." AMEN!
So cool checking out the foundation of The Salt Lake Temple. "It is now time that we each implement extraordinary measures ... to strengthen our personal spiritual foundations." Unprecedented time call for unprecedented measures. Procedures may change, the covenants and ordinances do not! The Restoration is a process, not an event, the ultimate objective of the gathering of Israel is the blessings of the temple, and the ongoing Restoration needs ongoing revelation.
By the way, it is so funny to watch the crazy Twitter neighborhood - all buzzing and waiting for some “big announcement”, when the reality of it is that President Nelson was giving EXACTLY what he told us to look for - Pure truth, pure doctrine, and pure revelation!