I loved the Korean primary choir singing "I Love to See the Temple!" I loved seeing members of the worldwide General Young Women's board sitting on the stand, and the combined multi-generational choir from the Salt Lake area. In so many ways, I see women in the church leading the way by example, reflecting and teaching the values and needs of our worldwide sisterhood.
Linda K. Burton, Relief Society General President
President Burton spoke on wise preparation for service and blessings. She quoted Bonnie Oscarson's insightful reversal of a well-known scripture: "Where much is required, much more will be given." This is an answer to a concern that has been weighing on my mind for many days.
Jean A. Stevens, Primary General Presidency
Sister Stevens' recollections of the faith of her mother and other faithful women, and the priority they placed on making and keeping gospel covenants reminded me of my own mother, grandmothers, and other family members.
Video Presentation: Worldwide Sisters Testify of the Temple
For the past eight months, I have served each week in the temple. I testify that what these sisters have said about the blessings of the temple--the peace and power of that place--is true. I am so grateful for the expansive program of temple building that the church has carried out in the past few decades, to bring temples to so many more people throughout the world.
Neill F. Marriott, Young Women General Presidency
Temples bring light and hope to the world--and so do we. Each of the many roles women take on carry moral influence, in our families, communities, and workplaces. It is not only through great acts, but through small acts of love and service that this moral influence is felt. The Savior's call to discipleship is not only to learn of him but to do his works--to heal broken hearts, give gospel light to the spiritually blind, and redeem the dead through temple service.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf, 2nd Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
OK. So President Uchtdorf just called this women's meeting the opening of another general conference. Not an auxiliary or supplement to it. This is the opening meeting of general conference. Is this news to you? It's news to me. Very welcome news! The question is, will these talks now be published in the conference issue of the Ensign? I hope so because this meeting has been filled with spiritual treasure. [Edit: they have been printed in the past, at the back of the conference issue. My memory was faulty.]
"It is good to remember that you are always a child of God.... however, it is also important to remember that being a daughter of heavenly parents is not a distinction that you have earned or that you can ever lose...[but it also] does not guarantee you a divine inheritance...it takes more than a spiritual birth certificate to qualify for [celestial] blessings." It is by walking the path of discipleship and obedience to God's commandments that we qualify to inherit all that God has. Sometimes it's unclear why we have to keep certain commandments. "I think God knows something we don't." God doesn't have blessings locked in a cloud, demanding that we keep his commandments before he will unlock them. Rather, God is constantly raining blessings down upon us, and our disobedience is like an umbrella blocking us from receiving this living water.
You can't see it, but I'm grinning right now because at the end of my temple shift today, I had to scurry through torrential rain, without any umbrella, to get to my car at the far end of the parking lot! I arrived soaking wet, but laughing--as perhaps only residents of arid Arizona can fully appreciate. Little did I know that as I drove home from the temple soaking wet, I was drenched in blessings.
Image: "Rain" by Navaneeth Ashok. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
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The talks from the Relief Society and Young Women general meetings have previously been published in the conference Ensigns, and the talks from the first General Women's Meeting last March were published in the last conference Ensign. They are always in the back of the magazine. Since President Uctdorf called it the opening session of conference, maybe they should start publishing them at the beginning of the magazine, instead of at the end.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your comments and am looking forward to more General Conference next week!
Thanks for the correction, Janice! It's been a long time since I ordered a printed Ensign; I usually download the talks to my smartphone, from the "conference" section. I didn't remember seeing the women's meeting talks in the Ensign. I guess I should have checked first. I do think it would be cool if they printed them at the beginning--though I hope that most people will also watch them and not just read them, because the video presentations were so wonderful!
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