General Conference

[Tuly]

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland - An Ensign to the Nations - October 2011 General Conference

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/ ... s?lang=eng

Brothers and sisters, this general conference and the other annual and semiannual versions of it are the continuation of that early declaration to the world. I testify that the proceedings of the past two days are yet one more evidence that, as our hymn says, “Lo, Zion’s standard is unfurled”—and surely the dual meaning of the word standard is intentional. It is not happenstance that one English publication of our general conference messages is in a magazine simply titled the Ensign.

[Tuly]

I am so excited and ready for General Conference. I will be quoting from this manual that I just finished reading (I plan to get this manual for each family). -
Teachings of the Living Prophets Student Manual - https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of ... n?lang=eng

I took this course at BYU many years ago. Read the 1982 updated manual and finished reading this 2010 manual. It should be required reading for all families.

President James E. Faust (1920–2007) of the First Presidency explained the role of prophets and the need for the revelation they receive:

“The prophets, seers, and revelators have had and still have the responsibility and privilege of receiving and declaring the word of God for the world. …

“… These are the prophetic oracles who have tuned in over the centuries to the ‘celestial transmitting station,’ with a responsibility to relay the Lord’s word to others. …


“This Church constantly needs the guidance of its head, the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This was well taught by President George Q. Cannon, [while serving in] the First Presidency: ‘We have the Bible, the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants; but all these books, without the living oracles and a constant stream of revelation from the Lord, would not lead any people into the Celestial Kingdom of God’ [Gospel Truth: Discourses and Writings of President George Q. Cannon, 2 vols., sel. Jerreld L. Newquist (1974), 1:323]. …

“Revelation was required to establish this Church. Revelation has brought it from its humble beginnings to its present course. Revelation has come like flowing, living water. Continuing revelation will lead it forward to the windup scene. But as President [J. Reuben] Clark told us, we do not need more or different prophets. We need more people with ‘a listening ear’ (in Conference Report, Oct. 1948, 82)” (“Continuing Revelation,” Ensign, Aug. 1996, 2, 4, 6–7).

[Tuly]

I am grateful for General Conference because it reminds me of the great need for constant revelation.

[quote]The final gospel dispensation began with the calling of a prophet—Joseph Smith. As in past dispensations, God’s will is given to His children through the process of revelation. President James E. Faust (1920–2007) of the First Presidency discussed the necessity for constant revelation: “Much revelation received, in this time as well as anciently, has been doctrinal. Some of it has been operational and tactical. Much of it is not spectacular. President John Taylor reminds us: ‘Adam’s revelation did not instruct Noah to build his ark; nor did Noah’s revelation tell Lot to forsake Sodom; nor did either of these speak of the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt. These all had revelations for themselves’ (Millennial Star, 1 Nov. 1847, 323)” (“Continuing Revelation,” Ensign, Aug. 1996, 5; emphasis added).[/quote]

[Tuly]

This change should be interesting. Dad would love to hear President Uchtdorf talk in German in General Conference.

Church spokesman Dale Jones announced that speakers "whose primary language is not English now have the choice to deliever their talks in their native tongue." He went on to explain that English subtitles will be shown on screens in the Conference Center and a live English interpretation will be provided for all other English-language broadcasts including satellite, cable, television, and the internet."

[Tuly]

Did I miss the Church Statistical Report at this General Conference? or is it only given at the April General Conference?
Great General Conference!!

[Tuly]

General Women's Session was a breath of fresh air as usual. Here are some highlights of the session thanks to lds.org.

General Women's Session


Filling Our Homes with Light and Truth
Cheryl A. Esplin
Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency
When filled with the Spirit and with gospel truth, we have the power to withstand the outside forces of the world that surround and push against us. However, if we are not filled spiritually, we don’t have the inner strength to resist the outside pressures and can collapse when forces push against us.

Satan knows that in order for us and our families to withstand the pressures of the world, we must be filled with light and gospel truth. So he does everything in his power to dilute, distort, and destroy the truth of the gospel and to keep us separated from that truth. …

One place where we best seek to be filled with light and truth is in our own homes. …

Strong eternal families and Spirit-filled homes do not just happen. They take great effort, they take time, and they take each member of the family doing his or her part. Every home is different, but every home where even one individual seeks for truth can make a difference. …

… As we fill our hearts and homes with the Savior’s light and truth, we will have the inner strength to withstand in every circumstance.



The Family Is of God
Carole M. Stephens
First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency
We each belong to and are needed in the family of God. Earthly families all look different. And while we do the best we can to create strong traditional families, membership in the family of God is not contingent upon any kind of status—marital status, parental status, financial status, social status, or even the kind of status we post on social media. …

Our opportunity as covenant-keeping daughters of God is not just to learn from our own challenges; it is to unite in empathy and compassion as we support other members of the family of God in their struggles, as we have covenanted to do. …

… God wants us to be one. God needs us to be one—covenant-keeping daughters united in the diversities of our individual lives who desire to learn all that is needed to be back in His presence, sealed to Him as part of His eternal family.

… The ordinances we receive and the covenants we make at baptism and in holy temples connect the family of God on both sides of the veil—connecting us to our Father through His Son.



Defenders of the Proclamation
Bonnie L. Oscarson
Young Women General President
There are three principles taught in the [family] proclamation which I think are especially in need of steadfast defenders. The first is marriage between a man and a woman. … For anyone to attain the fulness of priesthood blessings, there must be a husband and a wife sealed in the house of the Lord, working together in righteousness and remaining faithful to their covenants. This is the Lord’s plan for His children, and no amount of public discourse or criticism will change what the Lord has declared. …

The next principle which calls for our defending voices is elevating the divine roles of mothers and fathers. We eagerly teach our children to aim high in this life. … Do we also teach our sons and daughters there is no greater honor, no more elevated titles, and no more important roles in this life than that of mother and father? …

The last principle we need to stand and defend is the sanctity of the home. We need to take a term which is sometimes spoken of with derision and elevate it. It is the term homemaker. All of us—women, men, youth, and children, single or married—can work at being homemakers. We should “make our homes” places of order, refuge, holiness, and safety. Our homes should be places where the Spirit of the Lord is felt in rich abundance and where the scriptures and the gospel are studied, taught, and lived.



The Comforter
Henry B. Eyring
First Counselor in the First Presidency
Many are praying to Heavenly Father for relief, for help in carrying their burdens of grief, loneliness, and fear. Heavenly Father hears those prayers and understands their needs. He and His Beloved Son, the resurrected Jesus Christ, have promised help [see Matthew 11:28–30]. …

The Savior described the way He helps lighten loads and gives strength to carry them when He was about to be crucified. He knew that His disciples would grieve. He knew that they would fear for their future. He knew they would feel uncertain of their capacity to move forward.

So He gave them the promise that He makes to us and to all His true disciples:

“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; …

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:16, 27).

In just the past few weeks I have seen that promise of sending the Holy Ghost fulfilled in the lives of children of God who were pleading in prayer that their burdens would be lightened. The miracle of the loads being lightened came in a way the Lord promised. He and Heavenly Father sent the Holy Ghost as the Comforter to His disciples to help.

[Lily]

The father of the young boy who passed away, in the experience shared in President Eyring's talk, was an elder in my mtc district and mission.

I especially enjoyed Sister Oscarson's talk in this session.

[Tuly]

Agreed Lily, I really appreciated Sister Oscarson's talk on defending marriage, our homes and parenthood.

[Tuly]

I can't begin to tell you how much I'm looking forward to conference. I have been praying for a while now and hoping to receive answers to some of my concerns. We just got back from the temple and the temple was pretty busy, the temple is great preparation for general conference. This is from lds.org - I love the idea of turning General Conference into a celebration.

“The important thing is that we share the joy of it and not just the duty of it,” Brother Anderson said. “Little kids aren’t going to sit still for eight hours of general conference, and I don’t think we can expect such a thing. But we try to make it fun, to make it a celebration. Then afterwards we talk about it and process it.”

Be realistic, Brother Anderson advised. “A child’s attention span is about one minute longer than their age. Sometimes you have to change activities and do things differently. A lot of the time it helps to review things afterwards.”

Eventually, it pays off. “My children just love conference now and do even better things with their families,” Brother Anderson said.

Ultimately, the purpose of all the preparations is to allow Heavenly Father to bless you, said Brother Anderson.

[Tuly]

Indeed my prayers have been answered very clearly by President Uchtdorf's Saturday morning talk as well as Elder Holland's talk on my concerns. I'm so excited by Elder Rasband, Elder Stevenson and Elder Renlund, I loved getting to know them more at the press conference. Looking forward to seeing those General Conference titles by this coming Tuesday. Also I love that we can now all watch the General Priesthood session. Looking forward to more feasting from the words of our general authorities. We are not left to deal with our trials by ourselves we have clear direction from our leaders. When we follow the directions and instructions from our prophets, seers and revelators we are following Christ no question about it.

[Steve]

When we sustain the President of the Church by our uplifted hand, it not only signifies that we acknowledge before God that he is the rightful possessor of all the priesthood keys; it also means that we covenant with God that we will abide by the direction and the counsel that come through His prophet. It is a solemn covenant.

(Elder David B. Haight, Solemn Assemblies, October 1994 General Conference) ↗

For us to sustain those who have been called today, we must examine our lives, repent as necessary, pledge to keep the Lord’s commandments, and follow His servants. The Lord warns us that if we do not do those things, the Holy Ghost will be withdrawn, we will lose the light which we have received, and we will not be able to keep the pledge we have made today to sustain the Lord’s servants in His true Church.

(President Henry B. Eyring, The True and Living Church, April 2008 General Conference) ↗

Decide now to make general conference a priority in your life. Decide to listen carefully and follow the teachings that are given. Listen to or read the talks more than once to better understand and follow the counsel. As you do these things, the gates of hell will not prevail against you, the powers of darkness will be dispersed from before you, and the heavens will shake for your good.

(Elder Paul V. Johnson, The Blessings of General Conference, October 2005 General Conference) ↗

In a few days there opens another general conference of the Church. The servants of the Lord will counsel us. You may listen with anxious ears and hearts, or you may turn that counsel aside. As in these devotionals, what you shall gain will depend not so much upon their preparation of the messages as upon your preparation for them.

Remember the verse from the Doctrine and Covenants 1:38–39 [D&C 1:38–39]:

“What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.”

Returning again to Karl G. Maeser, on one occasion he was leading a party of young missionaries across the Alps. As they slowly ascended the steep slope, he looked back and saw a row of sticks thrust into the glacial snow to mark the one safe path across the otherwise treacherous mountains.

Something about those sticks impressed him, and halting the company of missionaries he gestured toward them and said, “Brethren, there stands the priesthood. They are just common sticks like the rest of us—some of them may even seem to be a little crooked, but the position they hold makes them what they are. If we step aside from the path they mark, we are lost.”

I bear witness, my brethren and sisters, fellow students, that in this Church men are as they indeed must be—called of God by prophecy. May we learn in our youth this lesson; it will see us faithful through all of the challenges of our lives. May we learn to follow the brethren, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

(Boyd K. Packer, Follow the Brethren, March 1965) ↗

President Harold B. Lee taught: “The only safety we have as members of this church is to … give heed to the words and commandments that the Lord shall give through His prophet. There will be some things that take patience and faith. You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church. It may contradict your [personal] views. It may contradict your social views. It may interfere with some of your social life. But if you listen to these things, as if from the mouth of the Lord Himself, with patience and faith, the promise is that ‘the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; … and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory’ (D&C 21:6).”

(Elder Robert D. Hales, General Conference: Strengthening Faith and Testimony, October 2013 General Conference) ↗

When a prophet speaks, those with little faith may think that they hear only a wise man giving good advice. Then if his counsel seems comfortable and reasonable, squaring with what they want to do, they take it. If it does not, they consider it either faulty advice or they see their circumstances as justifying their being an exception to the counsel.
...
Another fallacy is to believe that the choice to accept or not accept the counsel of prophets is no more than deciding whether to accept good advice and gain its benefits or to stay where we are. But the choice not to take prophetic counsel changes the very ground upon which we stand. It becomes more dangerous. The failure to take prophetic counsel lessens our power to take inspired counsel in the future.
...
Every time in my life when I have chosen to delay following inspired counsel or decided that I was an exception, I came to know that I had put myself in harm’s way. Every time that I have listened to the counsel of prophets, felt it confirmed in prayer, and then followed it, I have found that I moved toward safety.
...
Sometimes we will receive counsel that we cannot understand or that seems not to apply to us, even after careful prayer and thought. Don’t discard the counsel, but hold it close. If someone you trusted handed you what appeared to be nothing more than sand with the promise that it contained gold, you might wisely hold it in your hand awhile, shaking it gently. Every time I have done that with counsel from a prophet, after a time the gold flakes have begun to appear and I have been grateful.

(Elder Henry B. Eyring, Finding Safety in Counsel, April 1997 General Conference) ↗

I also highly recommend reading Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet by President Ezra Taft Benson.

[Betsy]

The leaders of the Church are honest but imperfect men. Remember the words of Moroni: “Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father … ; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been.”21

Joseph Smith said, “I never told you I was perfect; but there is no error in the revelations.”22 The miracle of God’s hand in the history and destiny of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is understood only through the lens of spiritual inquiry. President Ezra Taft Benson said, “Every [person] eventually is backed up to the wall of faith, and there … must make his stand.”23 Don’t be surprised when it happens to you!

Elder Niel L. Anderson

Not every statement made by a Church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. A single statement made by a single leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, but is not meant to be officially binding for the whole Church. With divine inspiration, the First Presidency (the prophet and his two counselors) and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (the second-highest governing body of the Church) counsel together to establish doctrine that is consistently proclaimed in official Church publications. This doctrine resides in the four “standard works” of scripture (the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price), official declarations and proclamations, and the Articles of Faith. Isolated statements are often taken out of context, leaving their original meaning distorted.

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/a ... n-doctrine

[Steve]

A single statement made by a single leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, but is not meant to be officially binding for the whole Church.

Isolated statements are often taken out of context, leaving their original meaning distorted.

True, true. So how do we reconcile what we know when dozens and dozens of statements by a variety of prophets exist, all condemning something we think is okay. Are they all mistaken? You mentioned the Holy Ghost in the other thread, which I agree as being paramount in confirming truth. Are you saying that the Holy Ghost told you that all those prophets were wrong about socialism? When you were "backed up to the wall of faith," your final response was that the prophets were all wrong in this regard?

[Betsy]

Heh. I am saying that we should not take everything the Prophets say literally. The Holy Ghost told me it was ok to accept Medicaid. Do not be so anxious to get a prophets' advice on every single decision you make in life. This can lead to a sort of spiritual OCD. God does not want us to obsess over the doctrine. "O be wise, what can I say more?" Not everything has to be black and white. Things can be different for different people. It's going to be okay. Really!

[Ian]

steve, thanks. betsy, you could not be more wrong on this.