General Conference Weekend

I have been eagerly awaiting General Conference this weekend. It is a time to be spiritually fed, directed, to receive counsel, to be uplifted, and to spend time with family. Also to do puzzles. All good things!

On Saturday morning, I did some cleaning in anticipation of the Barri coming over for dinner. As per tradition, we gathered between the Saturday afternoon and evening sessions, had food, talked and laughed, then watched the evening session together. Anna Leesa was in town and we had our YSA cousins come, so it was a lively group. Anna Leesa, Brianne, Ruby, Annie, and Zach lingered quite a while after conference ended and talked and talked some more. It was wonderful to be together.

I didn't realize I cut off Emily who is sitting next to Becca on the right.

Instead, I got a great shot of the folding chair on the left.

Brandt invited Ruth to come listen/watch conference with us.

She came for the afternoon session and helped me work on the puzzle.

We had to put it away to eat, but as soon as we started to watch the evening session, she leaned over to Brandt and said, 

"How soon can we get the puzzle back out?" 

We finished it before the night ended.

Sunday morning, I made crepes. That's our family tradition. We ate and watched conference some more. I had talked to Mikayla and my mom about coming over in between conference and walking over to feed the horses. They both came, bringing Mikayla's children and Bryan's as well. We all walked up and around the corner, including both Moo Moo and Kila. The horses were pleased to see us, ate all the carrots we brought, and then clomped away. We all walked back to the house and had a bit of lunch. I made sandwiches for everyone, with chips and fruit, the kids did swinging in the backyard and running through the house, and then, when it was time to watch the afternoon session, everyone left and the house quieted down again. The little people bring joy and chaos in equal measures. 

After all the activity, I didn't feel like making much by way of dinner, so we had a charcuterie board and green salad. It was a hit. Everyone was happy to casually munch and talk.

I was struck by how many talks were about temple attendance and keeping our covenants. I was pleased that we continue to attend the temple weekly, even though our Provo Temple is now closed. The City Center Temple is busy, and we are busy, but Kent and I make our temple attendance a priority. I always leave feeling spiritually strengthened. President Nelson spoke of the dedicatory prayer offered at the Kirkland Temple and the blessings promised therein. He said, 

That dedicatory prayer, which was received by revelation, teaches that the temple is “a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.” (D&C 109:8)

This list of attributes is much more than a description of a temple. It is a promise about what will happen to those who serve and worship in the house of the Lord. They can expect to receive answers to prayer, personal revelation, greater faith, strength, comfort, increased knowledge, and increased power.

Time in the temple will help you to think celestial and to catch a vision of who you really are, who you can become, and the kind of life you can have forever. Regular temple worship will enhance the way you see yourself and how you fit into God’s magnificent plan. I promise you that.

We are also promised that in the temple we may “receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost.” Imagine what that promise means in terms of having the heavens open for each earnest seeker of eternal truth.

We are instructed that all who worship in the temple will have the power of God and angels having “charge over them.” How much does it increase your confidence to know that, as an endowed woman or man armed with the power of God, you do not have to face life alone? What courage does it give you to know that angels really will help you?

Finally, we are promised that “no combination of wickedness” will prevail over those who worship in the house of the Lord. Understanding the spiritual privileges made possible in the temple is vital to each of us today.

My dear brothers and sisters, here is my promise. Nothing will help you more to hold fast to the iron rod than worshipping in the temple as regularly as your circumstances permit. Nothing will protect you more as you encounter the world’s mists of darkness. Nothing will bolster your testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement or help you understand God’s magnificent plan more. Nothing will soothe your spirit more during times of pain. Nothing will open the heavens more. Nothing!

We had a poll of how many temples President Nelson was going to announce. I guessed 32, but he only announced fifteen. Only. New temples coming in North and South America, one in Ediburgh, Scotland, and one in Lehi. Considering all the temples we have in Utah County, the Springville/Mapleton/Spanish Fork area must be feeling left out. They are the only area that doesn't have a temple. They must not be living right.

I was also moved by Elder Patrick Kearon's talk. I know Elder Kearon from London when I was on study abroad. He was a relatively new member of the Church, had only been baptized a couple of years, and was smashing to be with. I traveled with him for a few days in southern France. When Elder Ballard died, both my mother and I said, "Patrick Kearon will be the next apostle." We were right. I loved his talk, both the humor and way he made God's effort to bring about our salvation so personal. He said,

My friends, my fellow disciples on the road of mortal life, our Father’s beautiful plan, even His “fabulous” plan, is designed to bring you home, not to keep you out. No one has built a roadblock and stationed someone there to turn you around and send you away. In fact, it is the exact opposite. God is in relentless pursuit of you. He “wants all of His children to choose to return to Him,” and He employs every possible measure to bring you back.

Our loving Father oversaw the Creation of this very earth for the express purpose of providing an opportunity for you and for me to have the stretching and refining experiences of mortality, the chance to use our God-given moral agency to choose Him, to learn and grow, to make mistakes, to repent, to love God and our neighbour, and to one day return home to Him.

He sent His precious Beloved Son to this fallen world to live the full range of the human experience, to provide an example for the rest of His children to follow, and to atone and redeem. Christ’s great atoning gift removes every roadblock of physical and spiritual death that would separate us from our eternal home.

Everything about the Father’s plan for His beloved children is designed to bring everyone home.

What do God’s messengers, His prophets, call this plan in Restoration scripture? They call it the plan of redemption, the plan of mercy, the great plan of happiness, and the plan of salvation, which is unto all, “through the blood of mine Only Begotten.”

The intent of the Father’s great plan of happiness is your happiness, right here, right now, and in the eternities. It is not to prevent your happiness and cause you instead worry and fear.

The intent of the Father’s plan of redemption is in fact your redemption, your being rescued through the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ, freed from the captivity of sin and death. It is not to leave you as you are.

The intent of the Father’s plan of mercy is to extend mercy as you turn back to Him and honour your covenant of fidelity to Him. It is not to deny mercy and inflict pain and sorrow.

The intent of the Father’s plan of salvation is in fact your salvation in the celestial kingdom of glory as you receive “the testimony of Jesus” and offer your whole soul to Him. It is not to keep you out.

It was a wonderful conference weekend and I look forward to relistening and reading the messages that were shared.