Tag: General Conference

Strengthening and Defending the Family (Highlights from the April 2015 General Women’s Session)

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The April 2015 General Women’s Session was such an inspiring meeting. As a wife and mother, I especially appreciated the focus on strengthening and defending the family, since this is something I think about and pray about everyday. After re-reading the talks, here are the quotes that stood out to me.

Cheryl A. Esplin “Filling Our Homes with Light and Truth”.

“When filled with the Spirit and with gospel truth, we have the power to withstand the outside forces of the world that surround and push against us.”

“Families are the Lord’s workshop on earth to help us learn and live the gospel. We come into our families with a sacred duty to help strengthen each other spiritually. Strong eternal families and Spirit-filled homes do not just happen. They take great effort, they take time, and they take each member of the family doing his or her part.”

“The answers to our prayers may not come dramatically, but we must find quiet moments to seek greater light and truth.”

Carole M. Stephens, “The Family is of God”.

“As we use our time in mortality to study and apply the Savior’s teachings, we become more like Him. We come to understand that He is the way—the only way—we can overcome mortal challenges, be healed, and return back to our heavenly home.”

Bonnie L. Oscarson, “Defenders of the Family Proclamation.”

“The proclamation on the family has become our benchmark for judging the philosophies of the world”.

“We need to boldly defend the Lord’s revealed doctrines describing marriage, families, the divine roles of men and women, and the importance of homes as sacred places…If it is the Lord’s plan, it should also be our plan!”

“We eagerly teach our children to aim high in this life. We want to make sure that our daughters know that they have the potential to achieve and be whatever they can imagine…Do we also teach our sons and daughters there is no greater honor, no more elevated title, and no more important role in this life than that of mother or father?”

“We need to take a term which is sometimes spoken of with derision and elevate it. It is the term homemaker. All of us—women, men, youth, and children, single or married—can work at being homemakers. We should “make our homes” places of order, refuge, holiness, and safety. Our homes should be places where the Spirit of the Lord is felt in rich abundance and where the scriptures and the gospel are studied, taught, and lived. What a difference it would make in the world if all people would see themselves as makers of righteous homes. Let us defend the home as a place which is second only to the temple in holiness.”

President Monson (from the video):”The home is the basis of a righteous life.”

April 2015 General Conference Summary

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General Conference was wonderful. The messages shared were inspiring and great reminders of the essential elements of the gospel. I am thankful to have living prophets and apostles on the earth today to give us God’s word. The next step is: what will we do with what we have heard? As Elder Nelson asked, “Because of what I have heard and felt during this conference, how will I change?”

As I watched the sessions I specifically listened for the following (and encouraged my children to do the same):

1) the key message of each talk (summed up in just a few words, or one quote)

2) scripture references that stood out to me

3) any references to our 2015 family scripture, Helaman 5:12, or the idea of foundation (I was thrilled when my 5-year old was the first to notice President Packer’s mention of foundation).

President Eyring: the law of the Fast

President Packer: marriage and family life, testimony of the atonement, foundation

Sister Burton: husbands and wives, “thee lift me and I’ll lift thee, and we’ll ascend together”

Elder Oaks: the parable of the sower, “spiritual food is needed for spiritual survival”

Elder Clayton: choose to believe in him, Alma 32:27

Elder Perry: marriage and families, “Family is the center of life. It is the key to eternal happiness”.

Elder Bednar: Godly fear, Helaman 5:12, Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Elder Christofferson: marriage and families

Elder Nielsen: parable of the prodigal son

Elder Holland: the fall and the atonement

President Uchtdorf: grace of God, “God loves us deeply, perfectly, and everlastingly”, 2 Nephi 25: 23, parable of the debtor

Elder Hales: religious freedom and liberty, “How we live our religion is more important than what we say about it.”

Elder Cook: parable of the wheat and the tares, family, Psalm 27

President Monson: temples, peace, John 14:27

Sister Wixom: believe in God, Mosiah 4:9, Helaman 5:12

Elder Teixeira: have joy

Elder Pearson: 6 principles to endure to the end, “Search the Book of Mormon and the words of the living prophets everyday, everyday, everyday!”

Elder Andersen: can you see the hand of God in your life and the world around you?

Elder Sitati: be fruitful and multiply

Elder Nelson: how will I change because of what I have heard this conference? Sabbath day-is it a delight?, teach children the gospel, “No other work transcends that of righteous, intentional parenting!”

One of the great things about a General Conference weekend and hearing so many inspired messages at once is the ability to see patterns and themes. Did you notice how many talks were about marriage and families (especially including the General Women’s session)? And how each speaker bore witness of our Savior, Jesus Christ? I noticed a number of speakers referred to parables taught by the Savior, so add that to my spiritual study list. And Elder Pearson’s comment is a clear exhortation to study the Book of Mormon and the words of the living prophets EVERDAY.

I am looking forward to studying these messages in depth and applying their teachings to my life!

Preparing myself for General Conference

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Earlier this week I shared some of the plans I have to help my family prepare for General Conference. I have also been preparing myself spiritually by thinking and pondering about the answers and guidance I most need in my life right now.

The following articles/talks are great reads to help put anyone in the right frame of mind leading into a conference weekend.

Elder Robert D. Hales, “General Conference: Strengthening Faith and Testimony”. October 2013 General Conference.

Elder Neil L. Anderson, “Teaching Our Children to Love the Prophets”. April 1996 Ensign.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “General Conference-No Ordinay Blessing”. September 2011 Ensign.

General Conference: A Paradigm Shift -Remember not to spend the weekend “shushing” the children. Make it a positive experience for all (and whatever I miss, I can read later!).

Preparing Yourself for General Conference

Preparing our Family for General Conference (including FHE plans)

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General Conference is a twice-annual event that is very important to me. The opportunity to hear living prophets and apostles speak the word of the Lord is a special blessing, and I am grateful for it. I want my children to recognize what a blessing General Conference is, so we do a number of things to prepare our family for it.

Recognizing the Apostles

We have had a lot of success teaching our children the names of the First Presidency and Apostles by singing their last names to the tune of “10 Little Indians”. Monson, Eyring, Uchtdorf, Packer, Perry…etc. All of my children (age 10, 7, and 5 know the song well now).  The next step is to match the right name with the right person. This month I ordered the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles picture set available from store.lds.org. We can use the 8×10 photos in many ways for many years!

FHE before Conference

Our FHE the week before conference is always focused on conference preparation. Here is our plan for tonight:

1) Using our new picture packet, review the names and faces of the prophet and apostles. Can we put them in the correct order?

2) Review the importance of General Conference by discussing the following quotes from Elder Hales.

“To the young members of the Church, I promise that if you will listen, you will feel the Spirit well up within you. The Lord will tell you what He wants you to do with your life.”

“Wherever we are in this world…I testify that we are gathered at His conference.”

“In conferences we can receive the word of the Lord meant just for us…This is possible because the Holy Ghost carries the word of the Lord unto our hearts in terms we can understand.”

General-Conference-Quotes-2We will hang these printable posters from the Red Headed Hostess on our wall and keep them up all week.

3)Plan for General Conference weekend: There are tons of resources available online to help keep children occupied during General Conference (sometimes it is a little overwhelming). We have done many activity packets and coloring in the past, but this year I want to find out what they are most interested in doing, so we aren’t scrambling at the last minute. We will pick our favorites from the ideas below.

IMG_1250-2Remove the poster from the most recent conference Ensign. Hang it on the wall, and then the children get to put a sticker on the picture of whoever is speaking.

Scan10261My children have always enjoyed coloring the General Authority ties. I can’t find the link on Sugardoodle anymore, but I did find a version here or here.

I picked up a post-it-note pad for each person in our family. I will hang the pictures on the wall, and we can use the post-it-notes to jot down key topics and quotes and hang them on the wall. For my beginning readers and spellers, I printed and laminated these headband cards to use as reference cards.

One of our family goals this year has been to memorize scriptures (almost weekly). We can also use the post-it-notes to quickly record scriptures that are mentioned. We will also listen close to see if our scripture of the year is quoted.

As usual there are a number of packets and great ideas available on Sugardoodle.

We Talk of Christ, We Rejoice in Christ has a fabulous list of ideas and resources. We have had success with the concept of reverence stations in the past.

This time around I would like to try Smash Booklets. The children will have the freedom to write and draw and decorate their pages as they please.

And since it is Easter weekend, it would be fun to combine Easter eggs and apostles.

This Conference I Spy worksheet would be fun, along with homemade spy glasses made from toilet paper rolls.

On the menu

General Conference at our house means crepes for breakfast on Saturday, and cinnamon rolls on Sunday! Yummy!

What General Conference plans and traditions do you have?

“Ponder the path of thy feet” (Highlights from President Monson-Oct 2014)

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President Monson’s most recent General Conference talk comes from this scripture in Proverbs 4:26 “Ponder the path of thy feet”. This is an excellent talk and made for a great FHE lesson. I had the children each trace an outline of their foot while we discussed the highlighted quotes below. 

“As we look to Jesus as our Exemplar and as we follow in His footsteps, we can return safely to our Heavenly Father to live with Him forever.”

“Physically walking where Jesus walked is less important than walking as He walked.”

Walking-as-He-Walked-Quote2image via Simple As That

Like Jesus, we can walk the path of: obedience, service, and prayer.

Read the scriptures to find instructions given to us by the Savior: be merciful, be humble, be righteous, be pure in heart, be peacemakers, stand up for beliefs, let our lights shine, be morally clean, love and serve our neighbors, improve our talents, rescue others.

“As we strive to place Christ at the center of our lives by learning His words, by following His teachings, and by walking in His path, He has promised to share with us the eternal life that He died to gain.”

“Nothing else, no other choice we make, can make of us what He can.”

President Thomas S. Monson, “Ponder the Path of Thy Feet”. October 2014 General Conference.

Be a disciple of Christ (Highlights from Elder Rasband-April 2014)

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“Jesus Christ continues to extend the call “Come and follow me.”5 He walked His homeland with His followers in a selfless manner. He continues to walk with us, stand by us, and lead us. To follow His perfect example is to recognize and honor the Savior, who has borne all of our burdens through His sacred and saving Atonement, the ultimate act of service. What He asks of each one of us is to be able and willing to take up the joyful “burden” of discipleship.”

“Focusing on serving our brothers and sisters can guide us to make divine decisions in our daily lives and prepares us to value and love what the Lord loves. In so doing, we witness by our very lives that we are His disciples. When we are engaged in His work, we feel His Spirit with us. We grow in testimony, faith, trust, and love.”

Elder Ronald A. Rasband, “The Joyful Burden of Discipleship”. April 2014 General Conference.

The Atonement helps us to bear the load (Highlights from Elder Bednar-April 2014)

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“Each of us also carries a load. Our individual load is comprised of demands and opportunities, obligations and privileges, afflictions and blessings, and options and constraints. Two guiding questions can be helpful as we periodically and prayerfully assess our load: “Is the load I am carrying producing the spiritual traction that will enable me to press forward with faith in Christ on the strait and narrow path and avoid getting stuck? Is the load I am carrying creating sufficient spiritual traction so I ultimately can return home to Heavenly Father?”

“Bearing a load is a necessary and essential part of the plan of happiness.”

“Not only does the Atonement of Jesus Christ overcome the effects of the Fall of Adam and make possible the remission of our individual sins and transgressions, but His Atonement also enables us to do good and become better in ways that stretch far beyond our mortal capacities. Most of us know that when we do things wrong and need help to overcome the effects of sin in our lives, the Savior has made it possible for us to become clean through His redeeming power. But do we also understand that the Atonement is for faithful men and women who are obedient, worthy, and conscientious and who are striving to become better and serve more faithfully? I wonder if we fail to fully acknowledge this strengthening aspect of the Atonement in our lives and mistakenly believe we must carry our load all alone—through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline and with our obviously limited capacities.”

“As we are yoked with Him through sacred covenants and receive the enabling power of His Atonement in our lives, we increasingly will seek to understand and live according to His will. We also will pray for the strength to learn from, change, or accept our circumstances rather than praying relentlessly for God to change our circumstances according to our will. We will become agents who act rather than objects that are acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:14). We will be blessed with spiritual traction.”

Elder David A. Bednar, “Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease”. April 2014 General Conference.

Christlike Obedience (Highlights from Elder Hales-April 2014)

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“Jesus taught us to obey in simple language that is easy to understand: “If ye love me, keep my commandments,”5 and “Come, follow me.”

“Using our agency to obey means choosing to “do what is right [and letting] the consequence follow.”11 It requires self-mastery and brings confidence, eternal happiness, and a sense of fulfillment to us and, by example, to those around us; and it always includes a deep personal commitment to sustain priesthood leaders and follow their teachings and counsel.”

“As disciples of Christ, we have a sacred obligation to uphold His laws and commandments and the covenants which we take upon ourselves.”

“Obedience is taught by example. By how we live, we teach our children, “Learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God.”

Elder Robert D. Hales, “If Ye Love Me, Keep My Commandments”.  April 2014 General Conference.

Christlike love can change the world (Highlights from Elder Holland-April 2014)

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“Christlike love is the greatest need we have on this planet…”meme-holland-love-1240450-gallery

“Pure Christlike love flowing from true righteousness can change the world.”

“Be strong. Live the gospel faithfully even if others around you don’t live it at all. Defend your beliefs with courtesy and with compassion, but defend them.”

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Cost–and Blessings–of Discipleship”. April 2014 General Conference.

Jesus Christ is the greatest example (Highlights from Elder Scott-April 2014)

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meme-scott-example-1240483-gallery“God’s purpose is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”2 That is fundamental to all we do. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in things that we find fascinating or become so consumed by mundane responsibilities that we lose sight of God’s objectives. As you consistently focus your life on the most basic principles, you will gain an understanding of what you are to do, and you will produce more fruit for the Lord and more happiness for yourself.”

“Remember, loving them is the powerful foundation for influencing those you want to help.”

“There is no doctrine more fundamental to our work than the Atonement of Jesus Christ. At every appropriate opportunity, testify of the Savior and of the power of His Atoning sacrifice. Use scriptures that teach of Him and why He is the perfect pattern for everyone in life.4 You will need to study diligently. Do not become so absorbed with trivial things that you miss learning the doctrine and teachings of the Lord. With a solid, personal doctrinal foundation, you will be a powerful source for sharing vital truths with others who desperately need them.”

Elder Richard G. Scott, “I Have Given You an Example”. April 2014 General Conference.