General Conference

I was lucky enough to be born into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. So every year for as long as I can remember twice a year, we have general conference. When I was younger and in primary I remember our teachers giving us things to color or to take notes on. My parents were so happy if we agreed to watch at least one of the four sessions.

It wasn't until I was on my mission that I truly felt the importance of general conference and what it meant. I remember my first general conference in the field, I had been out for about five months. I wanted to shout it from the roof tops that today a living prophet of God was going to talk to us, and give us the prophetic counsel that the world so needed. It was then I realized that general conference was like the superbowl for missionaries. We look forward to it, we count down the days, we taught about it, we were excited for about a month prior. Now at times I will admit that I was a little homesick, and the opportunity of seeing home on TV was indescribable, maybe just maybe I would see someone I knew.

This year I found general conference extremely uplifting. Especially the Saturday session. Saturday morning we had the solemn assembly to sustain President Monson as the 16th president of the church. What a historic and sacred thing to be able to participate in.

My favorite talk was probably the one give by Elder Gerald Lund of the quorum of the 70. He spoke on opening our hearts and being able to listen to the spirit. He said, "I say again the condition of our hearts directly affects our sensitivity to spiritual things. Since we are the guardian of our heart, we choose to do so. We choose what we let in or hold out". The holy ghost carries messages UNTO to heart not INTO, it is up to us to have an open heart so the message can be delievered. I loved that thought. I think he said that Pres. Monson pointed it out first. We need to be humble, continue to repent, and serve in order to have an open heart.

This was a great conference, and it gave me the uplift that I needed. I hope that it will last until October. What a long way I have come since the days of primary.