Wow,
I’m just about speechless. What a wonderful conference. It was such a special experience to sustain such a humble man of God in President Thomas S. Monson, Prophet, Seer, and Revelator. This was the first Solemn Assembly that I’d witnessed given that I’d joined The Church a couple months before President Hinckley became Prophet. I was preparing to get married during the last one.
I’d have to say that thing that stood out the most in my mind though was President Uchtdorf. Wow, what an awe inspiring man. His English skills as the Solemn Assembly was taking place, and as he called other General Authorities and Auxilaries of The Church. He just rolled those names off his tongue without much difficulty. I really love to hear him speak.
The other talks were great too, and I was so glad to hear Elder Scott tackle an issue that definitely needs to be discussed.
What things stood out to you?
Here are some quotes from the talk:
To abusers: “You likely have deceived yourself in the false, temporary security that you have successfully hidden your transgression from the civil or church authorities. But know that the Lord Jesus Christ is completely aware of your sins. Know that sometime, some way, your abusive actions will be made public.”
He urged those who have abused others to “recognize that you need help with your addiction or it will destroy you. You will not overcome it by yourself. You likely need specialized professional help. I plead with you to be rescued now,” he said, with a recognition that forgiveness is possible with complete repentance through Christ’s atonement.
Apostle Richard G. Scott tackled the day’s most sensitive topic: sexual abuse.
Though this “vicious, abominable sin” is pervasive in the world, Scott said, “faith in Jesus Christ and in his power to heal provides the abused with the means to overcome the terrible consequences of another’s unrighteous acts.”
Healing may begin with a “thoughtful bishop or stake president or a wise professional counselor,” Scott said. “You should leave punishment for diabolic acts of abuse to civil and church authorities.”
He had harsh words for perpetrators, saying that they could conceal their actions from some people but not from God, who sees all.
Read More at the Following Source:
Mormon Times
I was looking for a talk on comfort this evening, and there was something about this talk that really drew me in so I opened it. I can definitely say that I am better for doing so. What a powerful talk, and reading it made me miss President Hinckley that much more. What a dear man he was, and goodly man. In the end it gave me the comfort that I so needed, we are so fortunate as Latter-day Saints to have Prophets, Seers, and Revelators. How blessed we are.
Get ready to be inspired, because this one is going to do it. I especially liked the beginning of the talk as he discussed a conversation he had with a young man in South America.
Personal Peace and Freedom
I recall a very troubling conversation I had years ago with a young man in a South American airport, where we were both delayed by late planes.
His hair was long and his face bearded, his glasses large and round. Sandals were on his feet, and his clothing such as to give the appearance of total indifference to any standard of style.
He was earnest and evidently sincere. He was educated and thoughtful, a graduate of a great North American university. Without employment and sustained by his father, he was traveling through South America.
What was he after in life? I asked. “Peace—and freedom” was his immediate response. Did he use drugs? Yes, they were one of his means to obtain the peace and freedom he sought. Discussion of drugs led to discussion of morals. He talked matter-of-factly about the new morality that gave so much more freedom than any previous generation had ever known.
He had learned in our opening introductions that I was a churchman; and he let me know, in something of a condescending way, that the morality of my generation was a joke. Then with earnestness he asked how I could honestly defend personal virtue and moral chastity. I shocked him a little when I declared that his freedom was a delusion, that his peace was a fraud, and that I would tell him why. …
Can there be peace in the heart of any person, can there be freedom in the life of one who has been left only misery as the bitter fruit of indulgence?
Can anything be more false or dishonest than gratification of passion without acceptance of responsibility? …
No family can have peace, no life can be free from the storms of adversity unless that family and that home are built on foundations of morality, fidelity, and mutual respect. There cannot be peace where there is not trust; there cannot be freedom where there is not loyalty. The warm sunlight of love will not rise out of a swamp of immorality. …
Is there a valid case for virtue in our world? It is the only way to freedom from regret. The peace of conscience which flows therefrom is the only personal peace that is not counterfeit. 1
Peace and WarWe are people of peace. We are followers of the Christ who was and is the Prince of Peace. But there are times when we must stand up for right and decency, for freedom and civilization, just as Moroni rallied his people in his day to the defense of their wives, their children, and the cause of liberty (see Alma 48:10). …
We must do our duty, whatever that duty might be. Peace may be denied for a season. Some of our liberties may be curtailed. We may be inconvenienced. We may even be called on to suffer in one way or another. But God our Eternal Father will watch over this nation and all … who look to Him. He has declared, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Ps. 33:12). Our safety lies in repentance. Our strength comes of obedience to the commandments of God. …
Are these perilous times? They are. But there is no need to fear. We can have peace in our hearts and peace in our homes. We can be an influence for good in this world, every one of us. 2
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only element that will destroy the hatred that exists among people. If they will bring this gospel into their lives and recognize the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man and the effects of the Atonement of Christ, there will be a far greater measure of peace in the world. We will not have peace until that happens more generally. That is why you and I are here, brothers and sisters. That is the objective of our work—to teach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and touch the hearts of people so that they can look upon one another as brothers and sisters, as children of our Father in Heaven. 3
Peace and DeathThe pain of death is swallowed up in the peace of eternal life. …
Whenever the cold hand of death strikes, there shines through the gloom and the darkness of that hour the triumphant figure of the Lord Jesus Christ, He, the Son of God, who by His matchless and eternal power overcame death. He is the Redeemer of the world. He gave His life for each of us. He took it up again and became the firstfruits of them that slept. He, as King of kings, stands triumphant above all other kings. He, as the Omnipotent One, stands above all rulers. He is our comfort, our only true comfort, when the dark shroud of earthly night closes about us as the spirit departs the human form.
Towering above all mankind stands Jesus the Christ, the King of glory, the unblemished Messiah, the Lord Emmanuel. In the hour of deepest sorrow we draw hope and peace and certitude from the words of the angel that Easter morning, “He is not here: for he is risen, as he said” (Matt. 28:6). We draw strength from the words of Paul, “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ … all [are] made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22). … 4
Peace and the TempleTake advantage of the blessings of the house of the Lord. What a privilege. Every man or woman who goes to the temple comes out of that building a better man or woman than he or she was when entering into it. That’s something that’s remarkable that happens with all of us. Is life filled with cares for you? Do you have problems and concerns and worries? Do you want for peace in your heart and an opportunity to commune with the Lord and meditate upon His way? Go to the house of the Lord and there feel of His Spirit and commune with Him and you will know a peace that you will find nowhere else. Take advantage of it. What a great and wonderful blessing it is. 5
Peace and the Holy SpiritWhile there may be thorns and disappointments, while there may be heartache, even heartbreak, there can be peace and comfort and strength from the Lord for those who follow Him. For it is the Lord Himself who has said:
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matt. 11:28–29).
It is the Lord who has said that if we keep the commandments “the Holy Ghost shall be [our] constant companion” (D&C 121:46) to buoy us up, to teach us, lead us, comfort us, and sustain us. To obtain this companionship, we need to ask for it, to live for it, to be loyal to the Lord.
I think Mormon knew very well from his own experience the truth of his words that the “Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God” (Moro. 8:26). Though we may sometimes be alone while among those of the world, we need not be lonely, for the Lord has given us the Holy Ghost to be our companion to walk with us. …
Though discipleship with the Lord requires times of standing humbly and courageously apart, the Lord will not forsake us. He also gives us the association of others who can edify and strengthen us as we go about our work of blessing others in the world. And if we are prayerful and loyal to Him and His commandments, the Lord’s promise can be applicable to us: “I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up” (D&C 84:88).
This is a promise from the Lord. I believe it. I bear testimony to you of its truth. May the Lord bless all who step out of the darkness of the world into the light of the everlasting gospel. May He bless us all to walk humbly and courageously and to know in our hearts that peace which comes from squaring one’s life with principles.
Notes
1. From Ensign, Aug. 1989, 2, 5–6.
2. From Ensign, Nov. 2001, 72, 74.
3. From Ensign, Apr. 1996, 73.
4. From Ensign, May 1996, 67.
5. From Ensign, Apr. 1996, 72.
6. From Ensign, Sept. 2001, 5.
Text Credit: LDS.org
I know that I’m not perfect in all the respects of the talk, and I know that I need to work harder to be more of a “Mother Who Knows” but I wanted to present this talk for others with the hopes that we all can strive to be the best Mother that Knows.
This talk was taken from the following link:
Mothers Who Know off of LDS.org
Julie B. Beck
Relief Society General PresidentThere is eternal influence and power in motherhood.
In the Book of Mormon we read about 2,000 exemplary young men who were exceedingly valiant, courageous, and strong. “Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him” (Alma 53:21). These faithful young men paid tribute to their mothers. They said, “Our mothers knew it” (Alma 56:48). I would suspect that the mothers of Captain Moroni, Mosiah, Mormon, and other great leaders also knew.
The responsibility mothers have today has never required more vigilance. More than at any time in the history of the world, we need mothers who know. Children are being born into a world where they “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).1 However, mothers need not fear. When mothers know who they are and who God is and have made covenants with Him, they will have great power and influence for good on their children.
Mothers Who Know Bear Children
Mothers who know desire to bear children. Whereas in many cultures in the world children are “becoming less valued,”2 in the culture of the gospel we still believe in having children. Prophets, seers, and revelators who were sustained at this conference have declared that “God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force.”3 President Ezra Taft Benson taught that young couples should not postpone having children and that “in the eternal perspective, children—not possessions, not position, not prestige—are our greatest jewels.”4
Faithful daughters of God desire children. In the scriptures we read of Eve (see Moses 4:26), Sarah (see Genesis 17:16), Rebekah (see Genesis 24:60), and Mary (see 1 Nephi 11:13–20), who were foreordained to be mothers before children were born to them. Some women are not given the responsibility of bearing children in mortality, but just as Hannah of the Old Testament prayed fervently for her child (see 1 Samuel 1:11), the value women place on motherhood in this life and the attributes of motherhood they attain here will rise with them in the Resurrection (see D&C 130:18). Women who desire and work toward that blessing in this life are promised they will receive it for all eternity, and eternity is much, much longer than mortality. There is eternal influence and power in motherhood.
Mothers Who Know Honor Sacred Ordinances and Covenants
Mothers who know honor sacred ordinances and covenants. I have visited sacrament meetings in some of the poorest places on the earth where mothers have dressed with great care in their Sunday best despite walking for miles on dusty streets and using worn-out public transportation. They bring daughters in clean and ironed dresses with hair brushed to perfection; their sons wear white shirts and ties and have missionary haircuts. These mothers know they are going to sacrament meeting, where covenants are renewed. These mothers have made and honor temple covenants. They know that if they are not pointing their children to the temple, they are not pointing them toward desired eternal goals. These mothers have influence and power.
Mothers Who Know Are Nurturers
Mothers who know are nurturers. This is their special assignment and role under the plan of happiness.5 To nurture means to cultivate, care for, and make grow. Therefore, mothers who know create a climate for spiritual and temporal growth in their homes. Another word for nurturing is homemaking. Homemaking includes cooking, washing clothes and dishes, and keeping an orderly home. Home is where women have the most power and influence; therefore, Latter-day Saint women should be the best homemakers in the world. Working beside children in homemaking tasks creates opportunities to teach and model qualities children should emulate. Nurturing mothers are knowledgeable, but all the education women attain will avail them nothing if they do not have the skill to make a home that creates a climate for spiritual growth. Growth happens best in a “house of order,” and women should pattern their homes after the Lord’s house (see D&C 109). Nurturing requires organization, patience, love, and work. Helping growth occur through nurturing is truly a powerful and influential role bestowed on women.
Mothers Who Know Are Leaders
Mothers who know are leaders. In equal partnership with their husbands, they lead a great and eternal organization. These mothers plan for the future of their organization. They plan for missions, temple marriages, and education. They plan for prayer, scripture study, and family home evening. Mothers who know build children into future leaders and are the primary examples of what leaders look like. They do not abandon their plan by succumbing to social pressure and worldly models of parenting. These wise mothers who know are selective about their own activities and involvement to conserve their limited strength in order to maximize their influence where it matters most.
Mothers Who Know Are Teachers
Mothers who know are always teachers. Since they are not babysitters, they are never off duty. A well-taught friend told me that he did not learn anything at church that he had not already learned at home. His parents used family scripture study, prayer, family home evening, mealtimes, and other gatherings to teach. Think of the power of our future missionary force if mothers considered their homes as a pre–missionary training center. Then the doctrines of the gospel taught in the MTC would be a review and not a revelation. That is influence; that is power.
Mothers Who Know Do Less
Mothers who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all. Their goal is to prepare a rising generation of children who will take the gospel of Jesus Christ into the entire world. Their goal is to prepare future fathers and mothers who will be builders of the Lord’s kingdom for the next 50 years. That is influence; that is power.
Mothers Who Know Stand Strong and Immovable
Who will prepare this righteous generation of sons and daughters? Latter-day Saint women will do this—women who know and love the Lord and bear testimony of Him, women who are strong and immovable and who do not give up during difficult and discouraging times. We are led by an inspired prophet of God who has called upon the women of the Church to “stand strong and immovable for that which is correct and proper under the plan of the Lord.”6 He has asked us to “begin in [our] own homes”7 to teach children the ways of truth.
Latter-day Saint women should be the very best in the world at upholding, nurturing, and protecting families. I have every confidence that our women will do this and will come to be known as mothers who “knew” (Alma 56:48). In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
NOTES
1. See Gordon B. Hinckley, “Standing Strong and Immovable,” Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, Jan. 10, 2004, 21.
2. James E. Faust, “Challenges Facing the Family,” Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, Jan. 10, 2004, 2.
3. “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Liahona, Oct. 2004, 49; Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102.
4. To the Mothers in Zion (pamphlet, 1987), 3.
5. See “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.”
6. Gordon B. Hinckley, Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, Jan. 10, 2004, 20.
7. Gordon B. Hinckley, Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, Jan. 10, 2004, 20.
Photo Credit: LDS Newsroom
Given the fact that General Conference will be here before we know it, I figured I’d link to several articles about, or written by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf the newly called 2nd Counselor in The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have really enjoyed getting to know President Uchtdorf, what a life he’s lead thusfar, and what a life he has to come.
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf: On to New Horizons
Special Witness: Getting to Know Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
See the End from the Beginning
Visiting Teaching Message: Become an Instrument in the Hands of God by Practicing Holiness
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “Developing Christlike attributes in our lives is not an easy task. … The reality check comes when Christlike attributes need to become visible in our lives—as husband or wife, as father or mother, as son or daughter, in our friendships, in our employment, in our business, and in our recreation. We can recognize our growth, as can those around us, as we gradually increase our capacity to ‘act in all holiness before [Him]’ (D&C 43:9)” (“Christlike Attributes—the Wind beneath Our Wings,” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2005, 102).
Friend to Friend - Side Note, not that they aren’t all good. But, this one is really special from The Friend Magazine
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
“The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real; it brings immortality to all and opens the door to eternal life. The gospel of Jesus Christ is again on the earth. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true and living” (“The Opportunity to Testify,” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2004, 76).
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Presidency of the Seventy: I have no ancestors among the 19th-century pioneers. However, since the first days of my Church membership, I have felt a close kinship to those early pioneers who crossed the plains. They are my spiritual ancestry, as they are for each and every member of the Church, regardless of nationality, language, or culture. They have established not only a safe place in the West but also a spiritual foundation for the building of the kingdom of God in all the nations of the world.
They Spoke to Us: Making Conference Part of Our Lives - See the End from the Beginning
Called to Serve - From The Friend Magazine
Book Reviews - From The Friend Magazine
Sister Eternal, by Dieter F. Uchtdorf, illustrated by Ben Sowards. Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shares a story from his childhood. As his family embarks on a journey through war-torn Germany, they encounter danger and fear. But with the help of one elderly woman, they come to find peace and truth.
Sharing Time: The Light of Christ
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of Presidency of the Seventy said that when he was growing up, his “chapel had a stained-glass window of Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove. Whenever the sun shone on it, I felt that the story it illustrated and what I had learned in Primary about the First Vision were true” (Liahona, Apr. 1999, F3).
Event Description
The 178th Annual General Conference of the Church will convene in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday and Sunday, April 5-6, 2008. The Saturday general sessions will be held at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.; Sunday sessions will be held at 9:30 a.m. (which includes Music and the Spoken Word) and 2:00 p.m. The general priesthood meeting will be held in the Conference Center on Saturday, April 5, 2008, at 6:00 p.m. Click Here for more information.
Please leave your comments on The 178th Annual General Conference here!
Text Credit: LDS.org
Photo Credit: DesignTeam.
I’ve been reading many of the talks from last weekends General Conference since I haven’t been able to watch them yet off the DVR due to a very busy schedule this week.
I’m going to share a few of those that touched me in particular…over time I’ll add more in additional posts.
Enduring Together - Bishop Richard C. Edgley
Mrs. Patton—the Story Continues - President Thomas S. Monson
Strengthen Home and Family - Mary N. Cook
Do It Now - Elder Donald L. Hallstrom
Unless President Hinckley is inspired to choose someone from The 70 this weekend, we’ll be sustaining a new Quorum of the 12 Apostle, and a new member of The First Presidency (filling the place of recently deceased President James E. Faust) at General Conference this weekend. General Conference is always an exciting time for those of us who are LDS (Latter-day Saints) in that we are spiritually filled and uplifted by talks given by inspired men and women of God. As the weekend progresses I will be discussing some of the talks, and share insight. I hope that all of you will come and read 
Happy General Conference Weekend to all!
Since I’m not well enough to attend church today, I decided to find something uplifting and this is what I found. With a title like “How to Live Well amid Increasing Evil”, I’m sure you’re asking how can that be uplifting. But, read on and you’ll see how.
From Richard G. Scott, “How to Live Well amid Increasing Evil,” Liahona, May 2004, 100–102
As you continue to center your mind and heart in [the Lord], He will help you have a rich and full life no matter what happens in the world around you.
— Richard G. ScottExcellent suggestions to combat the deteriorating world environment have been given in this conference. As a prophet of God, President Gordon B. Hinckley put world conditions and our opportunities into crystal clear perspective. Two of his recent comments to priesthood and auxiliary leaders illustrate that prophetic vision. First, regarding the challenge we face:
“The traditional family is under heavy attack. I do not know that things were worse in the times of Sodom and Gomorrah. … We see similar conditions today. They prevail all across the world. I think our Father must weep as He looks down upon His wayward sons and daughters.” 1
Now concerning our extraordinary opportunities:
“Who in the earlier days could have dreamed of this season of opportunity in which we live? … The Church is in wonderful condition. … It will grow and strengthen. … It is our opportunity and our challenge to continue in this great undertaking, the future of which we can scarcely imagine.” 2
You have a choice. You can wring your hands and be consumed with concern for the future or choose to use the counsel the Lord has given to live with peace and happiness in a world awash with evil. If you choose to concentrate on the dark side, this is what you will see. Much of the world is being engulfed in a rising river of degenerate filth, with the abandonment of virtue, righteousness, personal integrity, traditional marriage, and family life. Sodom and Gomorrah was the epitome of unholy life in the Old Testament. It was isolated then; now that condition is spread over the world. Satan skillfully manipulates the power of all types of media and communication. His success has greatly increased the extent and availability of such degrading and destructive influences worldwide. In the past some effort was required to seek out such evil. Now it saturates significant portions of virtually every corner of the world. We cannot dry up the mounting river of evil influences, for they result from the exercise of moral agency divinely granted by our Father. But we can and must, with clarity, warn of the consequences of getting close to its enticing, destructive current.
Now the brighter side. Despite pockets of evil, the world overall is majestically beautiful, filled with many good and sincere people. God has provided a way to live in this world and not be contaminated by the degrading pressures evil agents spread throughout it. You can live a virtuous, productive, righteous life by following the plan of protection created by your Father in Heaven: His plan of happiness. It is contained in the scriptures and in the inspired declarations of His prophets. He clothed your intelligence with spirit and made it possible for you to enjoy the wonder of a physical body. When you use that body in the way He has decreed, you will grow in strength and capacity, avoid transgression, and be abundantly blessed.
When God, our Eternal Father, and His Beloved Son appeared to Joseph Smith in that sublime vision in the Sacred Grove, They began to place on earth again that plan of happiness and all required to sustain it. Part of that restoration included additional sacred scriptures to complement the treasured record of the Bible. These precious scriptures are contained in the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Our Father knew of our day. He prepared the scriptures and provided continuing divine guidance to sustain us. That help will assure that you can live with peace and happiness amid increasing evil.
Consider these verses:
Read the rest of this entry »
- Social Web