Today's sessions of General Conference were great! I took a ton of notes but it's going to take forever to type them up... so, I probably won't post them until tomorrow. At least. lol
However, I did want to comment on one thing that really struck me. Is it me, or did there seem to be an overwhelming message today? I think sometimes we hear what we need to hear, so maybe it was just me. It seems though, that almost every single talk was either in regards to, or at least mentions directly, the trials, perils, challenges, etc. that we face. There was a lot of emphasis on how to overcome feelings of inadequacy, discouragement, fear, etc. I take notes and as I looked over my notes, out of the thirteen talks (including the opening remarks by President Monson which wasn't really a "talk") at least nine of them specifically mentioned things like: not allowing stress from challenges to get the better of us; how do we make good decisions in the presence of so many unfavorful situations; never give up, never give in, never allow despair to overwhelm you; hope is like a beam of sunlight piercing the darkness with a brilliant dawn; learn from difficult times, become stronger, wiser, happier; it is not a time to fear and tremble, it is a time to be believing; God will never leave us alone or unaided in our challenges.
What I love is that as I listened to those talks, even though they do mention our "perilous times" and the challenges we face, I didn't feel "doom and gloom", I felt inspired and uplifted. It is a scary world that we live in. And it is going to get scarier (is that a word?). But living prophets and apostles taught us today how we can prepare for and overcome all of those things. They taught us how we can be happy, even in the midst of all the chaos, "madness", and sorrow. It sounds like an oxymoron - how to be happy when you feel sorrow... but it's true, you can feel happiness, peace, and joy even when you are facing sorrows, trials, and fears. I'm so grateful for inspired leaders who instruct us in the ways of the Lord.
I hope that everyone took the opportunity to watch/listen. If not, check it out on-line, you can still go back and listen I think. And don't miss tomorrow's sessions! One of the speakers said that not reading the Book of Mormon was like not reading a letter from a loving parent. Well, not watching or listening to conference is just as foolish. How many of us would read a letter if God mailed it to us? How many would pick up the phone if He called? Well, how many would watch a special TV program or movie if He wrote and directed it, just for us? I'm telling you, this is what conference is. He is speaking to us this very weekend, things we need to know right now, living in our times. Are we going to listen? I hope so! :)
I'll get off my soapbox now. I didn't really intend to get on it, but all of a sudden I looked around and sure enough, I was standing on one! lol It's safe to say that I'm passionate about my faith and I'm passionate about the Gospel. I just LOVE General Conference weekend and I can't wait to hear tomorrow's talks! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment