General Conference in October is one my favorite times of the year. The older I get, the more excited I am to hear all the talks. Being able to lounge on the coach on a cool autumn morning, snuggled up in sweats will snacking on trail mix, AND watching some of the most powerful spiritual talks of the year is absolutely lovely.
This conference started of with a doozy of an announcement: worthy men as young as 18 and women as young as 19 can now serve missions!!! My friends were freaking out, people on TV were freaking out, and I was DEFINITELY freaking out!! I immediately texted my friends, my baby brother, and called my mom. I mean, there are already memes galore about this announcement. This is some pretty big news, especially for my family. Palmer is 18 at BYU-I and could leave on a mission NOW if he wanted to (and I think he wants to). True, I will be sad to see my brother leave earlier then I anticipated, but I am so excited for him to have this option to serve early. I think lowering the age requirements (especially from 21 to 19 for women) will definitely strengthen the missionary effort. What a glorious announcement and work to go forth!
On to the talks. Can I just say incredible. First off, Holland. All I can say is "Wow". Seriously though, that was so powerful. It was just like, "Do you love God and Christ? Well then, prove it!" I love how he takes the scriptures which can be so distant and hard sounding and apply it to real people full of emotion. I cried, like, 3 separate times during that talk and it wasn't even a sad topic! Seriously, one of my favorite speakers ever and probably my favorite talk. Robert D Hales has a similar talk, one about being a Christian and applying what the disciples of old did to what we need to do today. Apparently, I need to considered myself called as a witness of this church and the divinity.
Another theme of this conference: death. I feel as if EVERYONE has made mention to the frailty of mortality and understanding the saving power which allows us to receive forgiveness and see our loved ones again. It's just so sad and depressing and SCARY! What, is there some sort of war about to happen? We send our young men off to serve missions in time for them to come back and fight in some sort of WWIII? I'm trying to keep a positive outlook but that topic can be so foreboding.
Other topics (and promptings) I noted:
- Missionary Work. Mentioned a lot.
- Pray to receive revelation and answers to prayers.
- Temple Work - I need to go more.
- Ancestory Work - I need to do more of that too.
- CHILDREN and families. Lets make ours strong, happy, and healthy family.
- Positive attitudes are a choice
- Recognize what matters and do those things. Prioritize. Live with no regrets
- Faith. That's some important stuff. We learn by study AND faith.
- Testimony vs Conversion
- Together we can make a difference. Also, honey has all the nutrients to sustain life? That was an interesting statement on nutrition. Gotta ask my professor's about that one.
- Receiving comfort/following the HG
- Serve others - observe and preserve
- I'm a Mormon. I know it, I live it, and I love it.
- Richard G. Scott really misses and LOVES his wife Jeannine. He always mentions her goodness. I hope someday our marriage is that strong. Working on it :)
- Heavenly Father loves us and watches over us
- This gospel IS real and true, and our leaders receive direct revelation from on high.
Perhaps my most favorite thing about conference is the uplifted feeling in my heart and house. I love this church. Now, on to make chicken and dumplings for dinner. Yum, yum.
