April 2013 General Conference Highlights

Highlights from the 183rd Semiannual General Conference in April 2013:

*I was in awe how dramatic the increase in missionaries was due to the age decrease announced last conference. When the bar was raised several years ago, the numbers slightly dropped and remained stagnant all these years. But now we went up 10,000 in less than six months (since those numbers were from the 2012 report, there are probably a few thousand more by now)!

*In accordance with the above, President Monson asked us all to donate to the General Mission Fund. And Elder Nelson noted that many schools will grant students an 18–30-month deferral to serve a mission.

*Two new temples were announced: Cedar City, Utah, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

*There is a new Young Women Presidency: Sister Bonnie Lee Green Oscarson as president; Sister Carol Louise Foley McConkie, first counselor; and Sister Evelyn Neill Foote Marriott, second counselor.

*For all of you parents who have little hope for your mischievous boys, listen to President Monson's talk from the Sunday morning session. Just goes to show that even prophets were once disobedient little boys who do dumb things!

Favorite talks:

*Sister Elaine S. Dalton on acting well our parts
*President Thomas S. Monson on obedience
*Elder Jeffrey R. Holland on faith and belief (he is always a favorite!)
*Elder Enrique R. Falabella on establishing a righteous home

Favorite quotes:

"Faith is a real power, not just a strong belief . . . there are few things more powerful." ~President Boyd K. Packer

Tomato seed analogy shared by Elder M. Russell Ballard

"Just begin." ~Music & the Spoken Word (talking about tackling large obstacles)

"Paint a missionary tag on your heart." ~Elder Neil L. Andersen

"The words we speak to children should reflect the love Heavenly Father has for His son, Jesus Christ, and the love He has for us." ~Sister Rosemary M. Wixom

Sharing Time: What were your favorite talks and quotes from General Conference?

Comments

DAD said…

each one is the best we ever saw

May 19, 2013 at 10:57 PM

A Few Degrees

"I have learned that the difference between happiness and misery in individuals, in marriages, and families often comes down to an error of only a few degrees," said President Uchtdorf in General Conference April 2008 . To illustrate this point, he explained that if your course flying around the world were just one degree off, by the time you got back around, you would be 500 miles (800 km) off course. It almost seems unfair that a small mistake can have such a negatively dramatic effect on our lives. However, it is not one small error that does this, but many "small errors and minor drifts away from the doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is therefore of critical importance that we become self-disciplined enough to make early and decisive corrections to get back on the right track and not wait or hope that errors will somehow correct themselves. "The longer we delay corrective action, the larger the needed changes become, and the longer it takes to get back ...

Teaching Children Really Does Make a Difference

A talk from stake conference today reminded me of the testimony I gave in September and meant to post here. Here's the gist of it . Sometimes I wonder if teaching the gospel to my children is really making a difference, especially because I don't see the results right away. Scripture study and family home evening require a lot of effort, and most of the time is spent getting them to sit and pay attention and not fight with each other. It reminds me of when Elder Bednar shared similar thoughts in a past conference: Sometimes Sister Bednar and I wondered if our efforts to do these spiritually essential things were worthwhile. Now and then verses of scripture were read amid outbursts such as “He’s touching me!” “Make him stop looking at me!” “Mom, he’s breathing my air!” Sincere prayers occasionally were interrupted with giggling and poking. And with active, rambunctious boys, family home evening lessons did not always produce high levels of edification. At times Sister Bed...

One but Not the Same

Zion --lds.org Moses 7:18 describes a Zion people as being of "one heart and one mind." And Mosiah 18:21 shares that when organizing the church, Alma commanded the people to "look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism." All this talk of oneness leads some people to believe that we are all supposed to be the same in thought and personality. That belief can scare away people from accepting the gospel. President Uchtdorf set the record straight in his talk during the priesthood session of the April 2013 General Conference: But while the Atonement is meant to help us all become more like Christ, it is not meant to make us all the same. Sometimes we confuse differences in personality with sin. We can even make the mistake of thinking that because someone is different from us, it must mean they are not pleasing to God. This line of thinking leads some to believe that the Church wants to create every member from a single mold—that each one...

Brightening My Light

Search This Blog