General Conference

Wasn’t General Conference good?  I love being taught by our prophets.  They are so inspired as to what they talk about, and I am sure they all are thinking of me when they choose their topics!  Some of my favorites:

*The cafeteria approach to obedience.  We can’t pick and choose the commandments we want to obey.  We have to obey all of them.  For me, that means Visiting Teaching. 

*When we are struggling with trials, sometimes the Lord answers our prayers, not by taking away our trials, but by changing our perspective.  I know that I have experienced that.  Struggling with a heavy burden, and then seeing what someone else is struggling with, and suddenly mine doesn’t seem that heavy.

*The sheep and the lambs.  They lambs will follow the sheep wherever they go.  So it’s up to the sheep (adults) to lead the lambs (children) in the right direction.  That means it’s even more important for us to follow the commandments, attend our meetings, and basically set that example for our children.  And not just our children, but all the children in the ward.  Because sometimes a Young Men’s and Young Women’s leader can have more influence on our children than we can. The children are always watching.

*Visiting and Home Teaching will strengthen our testimonies.  Ahem, yes, I am listening.

*Desires lead to priorities, and priorities lead to actions.

*Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.  That goes back to the sheep and lambs thing, too.

*Tithing.  This has always been a touchy subject for me and I’ll tell you why.  Growing up, my parents struggled financially.  They always paid their tithing, and I always did as well.  But they just had financial problems.  So I would hear talks about tithing and how someone paid their tithing and they got a check in the mail and everything was okay and I would get mad.  Because that didn’t happen for my parents. 

But as I’ve gotten older, I have learned more about the promise of tithing.  The scripture says, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” (Mal. 3:10).

It does not say that you will have all the money you need.  It says you will not have enough room for all the blessings you will receive.  It doesn’t mean that you will be wealthy, but you will not go without the necessities of life.  Even if that means that you have to get help from the Bishop and the welfare program.  But the spiritual blessings will be multiplied over and over and over.  I have a firm testimony of that.

*Neither professions nor possessions should determine our self worth. 

*The gospel is to comfort that afflicted and afflict the comfortable.  I love this one!

Anyway, I am really looking forward to reading and studying these talks when they come out in the Ensign.  And I will get my visiting teaching done!  I promise!