General Conference

It was General Conference weekend. That means we had the wonderful opportunity to hear our Prophet and other general authorities speak to us! It also meant 4 two hour sessions for the general audience over Saturday and Sunday! Certainly well worth it!

As we have dance class (and recital only 4 weeks away) on Saturday and I knew I wouldn't get anything out of what was being said with the boys up and around, I waited and watched conference with my girls on Saturday after the boys were in bed! Let's hear it for BYU TV online!

The girls really enjoyed much of conference. Of course, it was long for such little girls. They did really well while listening and putting together puzzles for a while. Then they played other games and managed to listen to all but the last hour of the last session! There were some special remarks to the children in that last hour which we called the kids over to hear and they were especially excited to know they were being spoken directly to! We even listened to that part twice!

Many of the speakers spoke in regards to several of our articles of faith which had particular interest for our girls. Whenever one was recited, one of the girls would excitedly announce that it was an article of faith. And Gabi would tell us right off which number it was!

There was so much to love about conference. I wish I could have shared my thoughts and feelings as it went along! I was deeply touched by all that was said. I especially enjoyed (and was uplifted) by the remarks about family, specifically strengthening family. And, of course, the talk about mothers and their sacred role and how each member of the family and the church can assist mothers in their divine callings! I needed to hear much of that! To feel in my heart someone speaking upon the divine calling, the struggles, the blessings, and how to best be able to fulfill such a divine role!

Many shared their testimonies about the prophetic mantel, prophets, and divine revelation both olden and modern. They spoke of the convincing power of the Holy Ghost to the divine calling of President Thomas S. Monson as our Prophet today.

I cannot do justice to what was said and the power therein. But I wanted to share my own feelings about the concept of sustaining these individuals in their callings! I've always sustained (believed in and accepted) each Prophet to be such. I've done the same for others who have been called of God in various callings throughout the church. And though I knew I was sustaining them, saying that I accepted them because the Lord had chosen them for a time, and was willing to support them (through obedience, through preforming my own callings, through prayer, through faith), I had never really thought about it before.

I was deeply touched by the comments shared regarding the difference in sustaining someone and blind obedience. And it caused me to reflect upon how I had accepted each individual in the past. With our Stake Presidency to be reorganized next weekend, it also caused me to reflect upon how prepared I really was to sustain whomever the Lord would call. I came away with a new understanding and acceptance of what sustaining someone really means.

It's not blind obedience. It's having faith in Christ and in His ability to call someone to the work and then to make that known. In other words, it's having faith that the call comes from God. And then, having faith enough to pray and ask for a confirmation of that calling. It's then having faith enough to pray for the individual so that they can have all the blessings the Lord has for them so they can continue in their calling to thus bless the lives of others. It's also having faith enough to move forward doing what we are called and asked to do, based on confirmation from the Lord.

Blind obedience would lead one to just do, without question, without learning for oneself that something should be. Sustaining someone means moving out of blind obedience in order to receive that confirmation for ourselves. And thus, being able and willing to do what the Lord asks of us. In the case of our leaders, like our Prophet, the Apostles, the seventies, our stake presidency, our bishoprics, and continuing on, it means also accepting what the Lord asks of us through His servants. Always, we are able to, and should ask for, direct confirmation of such things from the Lord through his Holy Spirit.

By asking for and receiving direct confirmation, our conviction to the gospel is enhanced! Our faith is increased. And our lives, and the things we do, take on more significant meaning.

I am so grateful for conference! I can't wait to receive my conference edition of the Ensign in early May! There is much that I want to review and more fully study for greater understanding and ability to put things into practice in my own life! If you did not get a chance to watch conference, BYU TV allows you to go back by date and time to select something they have aired (and they aired conference). Don't wait for the Ensign to come! Watch it! It was so good! Very uplifting and worth seeing and hearing over again!