Stephanie from Diapers & Divinity is doing a General Conference meme again. I just love Steph’s love for General Conference! The week leading up to it she had some wonderful posts about preparing ourselves to hear the word of God from the prophet, apostles, and other church leaders. I decided participating in this meme was a good way of summarizing my first initial thoughts and feelings from General Conference.
1. Who were your three favorite speakers?
Elder Neil L. Andersen’s talk about having children was wonderful. He not only reiterated God’s first commandment to “multiply and replenish the earth” but also taught that how a couple fulfills that commandment (i.e. how many and when to have children) is between them and the Lord. We should not be judgmental towards one another in this matter.
How powerful was Sister Elaine S. Dalton’s talk to fathers about raising righteous daughters? She counseled fathers to be there for their daughters, teach them about modesty, share testimony with them, spend time with them, BE their guardians. LOVED it!
Elder Richard G. Scott’s admonition to read, study and memorize scriptures was another favorite. He was so animated as he shared some of his favorite stories from the Old Testament, New Testament, and Book of Mormon.
2. Which talk spoke to you the most?
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| Elder Ian S. Ardern |
You would think the talk that resonated with me most would have been listed under my favorites but it was during the talk by Elder Ian S. Ardern, who spoke of giving our time and talents to the Lord, prioritizing our choices and identifying wasteful distractions, that I wrote the most ‘applications for my life’ statements. His Aussie Kiwi accent was also fun to listen to!
3. What was your favorite Hymn and why did it move you?
Praise to the Man has always been a favorite song. Having it sung by and with a children’s choir, and listening to my own children belt out the words was priceless.
4. Which speaker was the best dressed? (Come on, we can have a little fun.)
I didn’t pay attention to how anyone was dressed!
5. Were there any topics that you felt like were repeated often? Any conference “themes”?
Standing as a witness of Christ, sharing the gospel, the importance of children and youth (so many talks were directed to the youth this time!) are some topics I noticed right off the bat.
6. Share a few of your favorite quotes from any of the talks (paraphrasing is fine).
Memorized scriptures can be a friend in times of need ~ Elder Scott
Scripture can calm an agitated soul ~ Elder Scott
To the Youth: You are being raised in enemy territory ~ Pres. Packer
The Lord does not measure on the same scale as the world ~ Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Time is never for sale ~ Elder Ardern
Identify time-wasting distractions you can figuratively “grind into dust.” ~ Elder Ardern
It’s always better to LOOK UP ~ Elder Carl B. Cook quoting Pres. Monson
Morality is not passe ~ Pres. Monson
Our code of conduct is definitive. It is not negotiable. ~ Pres. Monson
Celestial Marriage is the covenant of exaltation. ~ Elder Nelson
The greatest compliment to be known is this life is that of a covenant keeper ~ Elder Nelson
Where is our ultimate allegiance? ~ Elder Oaks
7. Name something(s) that made you smile or laugh during conference.
Pres. Monson was great with all his expressions in telling the story of when he was little and almost losing his five dollar bill. Too bad he didn’t wiggle his ears!
Watching the Primary children sing was entertaining too. Boys playing with their ties, girls standing on their tiptoes and flat on their feet over and over again, watching their reactions when they realized they were on the big screen.
8. Was there any evidence that your children paid attention?
Our General Conference wall is covered in notes from the oldest down to the just turned seven year old.
9. What doctrine did you learn as you listened to the choir(s) sing?
Listening to I Feel My Savior’s Love, I am a Child of God, and Consider the Lilies help me remember not one of us is forgotten of the Lord. He shows us His love daily!
10. Did the music enhance your General Conference experience? How?
Uplifting music always brings the spirit!
11. What are some of your post-conference goals?
Try harder with the goal we had already set at the beginning of the school year to memorize scriptures together as a family.
Recognize and follow promptings from the Spirit.
Look for more opportunities to serve
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Oh yes, the counsel to memorize more hit hard here too. We already do a weekly verse, but two things came to mind. First, personally, memorization is very easy for me. I need to do more personally, not just the verse each week with my family. Second, my husband and I decided it is time for our family to memorize The Family: A Proclamation to the World. We memorized a lot of The Living Christ in the spring, and considered finishing that off, but we really feel that the Proclamation is what we need to focus on.
So now I’m hunting the internet for ideas and helps for all our ages to memorize the Proclamation. I may end up making our own, but I’m not too graphics friendly – I have no programs to do anything nice on. We’ll see.
Those are all great thoughts! I want to memorize more scriptures too as I can’t even remember the scripture mastery ones anymore. ) :
This was a great wrap-up! Thanks for sharing. I really appreciated your thoughts.
Oh, I love reading your thoughts! 🙂 I also loved Elder Ardern’s talk. What a wonderful weekend! I always feel so rejuvenated and ready to take on the rest of the year after Conference. ♥
LOVED this conference.
And Ian Ardern is from New Zealand. 🙂 Totally different accent.
Elaine’s talk FLOORED me, which was kind of shocking, since I wasn’t her target audience. I thought a lot about my dad, and how he treated my mother and realized that rubbed off on me in my spouse selection. And boy, am I GLAD! My dad was a stellar father and my husband is, too.
Love your summary. And it looks so snazzy with your pictures too. Thanks for being a part of the sharing.
we holed up at the cabin for the weekend and thus missed out on all the expressions during Pres. Monson’s talk – but conference as a whole was aMAZing – and being far away from all other distractions is always helpful for me 🙂
G.C. was so wonderful!!! I am going to do Stephanie’s meme too. I just have to figure out my favorites. 🙂
Great wrap-up! And thanks Stephanie for putting this together!
I’d love to hear more about your GC wall. Pictures?
I am always looking for a visual way to remind me and the family of what we believe and need to work on. Sounds interesting.