General Conference - Saturday

Well - I'm not sure I want to publicly admit this, but the first two sessions of this conference didn't have the same "manna from heaven" affect as the last conference did. My initial reaction was concern that I hadn't properly prepared myself to hear the words of counsel from our leaders. I have since determined that I was personally prepared, and don't get me wrong, I DID glean insight and direction in areas I need to focus on. I think the reason that there was such a difference between today and last conference - was that right now I am doing fairly well. I am feeling pretty good about life, I am doing better at living and doing the "basics," and I am not living in such a state of (election) fear and despair like I was last October. I am in a much better place today than I was last October, so I guess I didn't need to hear message after message after message of hope and comfort and peace.


I did need to be reminded to be mindful of what I "can afford," and necessity of being honest with myself in regard to my NEEDS and my WANTS; and the reminder to be more generous in caring for those less fortunate than I.

I needed to be reminded to remember the cycle that repeats itself over and over in scriptural as well as the world's historical records - the cycle of righteousness, prosperity, pride, wickedness, then the despair and destruction that follows wickedness.

I needed the reminder that I am taking the temple for granted and not attending it as often as I need to. (and I will be taking OFF my watch the next time I attend...)

I was reminded of the importance of obedience, exact obedience - both to increase my personal faith and to be the "strong Christian" that the Lord needs me to be in these, the last days.

I received some promptings on how to help increase reverence in our primary and the comment that "harshness does not beget reverence; it brings resentment" was a gentle reminder of how I need to be teaching my children -- with patience, love, and proper example; not harshness.

We will be having a Family Home Evening soon on the "6 Destructive D's." I loved how Elder Pearson said that while these are tools of Satan, they are also bad habits. To me that said that while Satan may introduce them as tools to destroy me, I am the one who allowed them to become MY bad habits. Each one leads to the next if not checked. They are: Doubt, Discouragement, Distraction, (lack of) Diligence, Disobedience, and Disbelief.

There were several talks on adversity - the purpose of, learning from, overcoming, etc... Again, these weren't talks I was in desperate need of at this time in my life, but know they are true doctrine and will be ones I will need to review in the future.

All in all, it was a great way to spend the day. I look forward to more spiritual feasting tomorrow.