Sunday, April 1, 2012

General Conference Sunday Afternoon Session, 4-1-12

4-1-12 General Conference Sunday Afternoon Session

Unedited notes:

Elder Perry

The Book of Mormon is the keystone to our religion. A man can get closer to God by presiding by its precepts. The Book of Mormon is a tender mercy of the Lord in these latter days. It teaches the doctrine of Christ. There are many stories of deliverance. The theme of deliverance is evident throughout the book.

The Lord was slow to hear their cries; yet He did hear them; but he chose not to deliver them immediately. He was slow to hear their cries because of their iniquities.

Lift up your hearts and be of good comfort, because I know of the covenant which you made with me, and I will covenant with you and deliver you.

His atonement provides us with an escape from physical death, and, if we repent, and escape from spiritual death.

1 Nephi 13: These last records shall establish the truth of the first. The Book of Mormon will let the world know the truth of the testimonies of the Apostles of Jesus Christ as found in the Bible. Both books are necessary for us to understand the complete doctrine of Christ. They are important for our salvation and exaltation, and to confound false doctrine. They work harmoniously together.

Abraham’s tent door was most likely facing the altar that he built. They people of Nephi had their doors facing the tower from which King Benjamin spoke.

The Book of Mormon is a great book because of its harmony with the Holy Bible.

Elder Ballard

The Liahona was a ball of curious workmanship. So is a GPS unit. We have available to us a tool even more remarkable than the best GPS. We have the availability of the promptings of the Holy Ghost; and, we have the atonement of the Savior to lead us home.

There is no happiness without service. The home is what needs reforming. (More than half of the births of children of women under 30 are to those not married.) There is a growing gap between rich and poor and between those who are trying to preserve family values and those who are giving up. Prosperity and education seem to be connected to preserving family values. When people make the family and commitment to gospel principles, they do better in everything else.

The most important cause of our lifetime is our families. The spiritual divide gets even wider as the perceptions of right and wrong are distorted. The church is a mooring, an anchor, and a beacon in today’s world. A standard of heart-turning. Life is better and much happier as hearts turn towards families, and as families live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Do things in the right order: marriage first and then family. Remove fear with faith. Trust power of God to guide you. No career can bring you as much fulfillment as rearing a family. Use the family resources of the church. The church is the scaffolding with which we build eternal families. None of us will ever be so lost that we cannot find our way again through the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Elder Haleck

If we are to prosper, rather than perish, we must gain a vision of whom the Savior wants us to become. We come to know how to handle the challenges in our lives through fasting and prayer. Focus our attention on the Savior and on His teachings. We are a people with a history of vision, and courage, and faith to act.

Elder Wilson

What gives you the right to tell me how to drive? Because I am your husband, and I hold the priesthood. That was not the right response. That was the only time I made that mistake. Compulsion builds resentment. Wise parents prepare their children to get along without them. Help our children establish their own connection to heaven. Of all the help we can give young people, they need to feel our confidence in them and their abilities to choose the right.

Elder Evans

Letters from home are not just quick emails. Letters from home are something tangible which can be held. We all have the blessing and responsibility to share the gospel. Our missionary experiences have to be current. We need to naturally and normally share the gospel.

If we pray to know who we can help and how we can help, the Lord will give us the opportunities to help.

Elder Pieper

Let the Holy Spirit Guide. Seek answers from God; the Still Small Voice whispers to our spirit. As we record our spiritual experiences we preserve them for ourselves and our posterity, and we show our gratitude for the gift we’ve received. Struggle between the sacred and secular. Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?

Elder Anderson

Does my life reflect the love and devotion I feel for the Savior? What think ye of Jesus Christ? What thinks Jesus Christ of me? In this turbulent environment, we rejoice in being disciples of Jesus Christ. Discipleship is not a competition at all; it is an invitation to all. If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Let us have faith in the Son of God who said, “All things are possible to him that believeth.” True disciples lift others from sorrow to great, abiding hope.
What would Jesus do? Be not afraid, only believe. Discipleship is believing Him in seasons of peace and in seasons of difficulty. Miracles are not always immediate. As we trust in the Savior, promised miracles will occur. Whether in this life or the next, all will be made right.

President Monson

We are blessed to have the restored gospel in our hearts and in our lives.
Blessing: may your homes be filled with love and courtesy and the Spirit of the Lord. Settle disputations and grievances now. He invoked the blessings of heaven upon all of us.

Endnote:

I’m thankful for the chance to listen to the conference messages and for all the reminders of what I need to be doing. For me, becoming more Christ-like does not mean accepting all that is worldly, but trying to rise above it. It is only through the atonement of Jesus Christ that I will eventually be able to do so.

General Conference Sunday Morning Session, 4-1-12

4-1-12 General Conference Sunday Morning Session

Unedited notes:

President Uchtdorf

A rift had grown between her two children, and the sister wanted a general conference talk addressed to them. She felt that this could heal the relationship. She had faith in the virtue of the word of God.

Strained and broken relationships are as old as human kind itself. Jealousy and hatred has affected all of us, since Cain and Abel. Feelings of contention, resentment, and revenge can be destructive. We all depend on the Savior. Conditions for our repentance comes with conditions: we must repent and we must forgive others. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.

When it comes to our own prejudices and grievances, we too often judge our own motives as righteous and others’ as wrong. Those who pass judgments on others are inexcusable. The minute we pass judgment on others, we condemn ourselves. “I the Lord will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you, it is required to forgive all men.” (including ourselves) STOP IT. Don’t seek revenge. We have to stop judging others and replace bitter feelings with a heart full of love. “Don’t judge me because I sin differently than you.” We are all imperfect and are beggars before God. Because we all depend upon the mercy of God, how can we deny others any measure of mercy that we so desperately need ourselves?

Our change of heart has to come with a pure love of God. We need to open our hearts to the love of God. Christ is our exemplar. It is easy to love those who love us; even the wicked can do that. Jesus gave a higher law. “Love your enemies…” We become kind, tender-hearted and forgive one another. We are flawed and imperfect mortals with potential beyond what any of can imagine.

Do you harbor grudge against someone else? Do you which to cause harm to someone? Let us put down our stones. Let us be kind. Let us forgive. Let us talk peacefully to one another. Return good for evil. Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. In the end, it is the merciful who shall obtain mercy.

Elder Nelson

Aquarium with beautiful fish. He asked attendant if they’d ever thanked her for feeding them. Not yet. Some of us are just as oblivious towards God and the constant blessings. Our degree of gratitude is a measure of our love for Him.

The family is the most important social unit in time and in eternity. God’s work and glory…He so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son…Central to God’s eternal plan is the mission of His Son Jesus Christ. The body renews its own outdated self. The power to reproduce is another manifestation of God’s love for us. A perfect body is not required to achieve one’s divine destiny. Could an explosion in a printing shop produce a dictionary? Mercifully for us, our Creator provided for aging…

Each spirit and body shall be reunited again in perfect form, never to be separated again. The body serves as a tabernacle for one’s eternal spirit. The spirit provides the body with animation and personality. The development of our spirit is of eternal consequence. Love, virtue, compassion, service to others. Spiritual progress include the principles and ordinances of the gospel. The spirit is nurtured by eternal truth. Ours is the responsibility to teach His children and to awaken in them a knowledge of who they are. God is the same every day, but we are not. Each day we can seek and obtain forgiveness.

Elder Rasband

For reasons unknown, some people are born with disabilities. A perfect body is not required to receive a divine destiny. (Nelson) In the resurrection, we can all be perfected. God loves our afflictive ones, and He loves us. Jesus healed all those afflicted when he visited the Americas. He has love and compassion for all of us. “That the works of God be manifest in Him.” (John 9) Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. If you come upon a person drowning, would you ask if he needs help? Though we will face all manner of afflictions, our Savior will always be there for us. We are all enlisted ‘til the conflict is over…Happy are we, happy are we.

Sister Beck

Faith, family, and relief. The Relief Society would prepare them for the blessings and privileges of the priesthood. (Joseph Smith). It is our privilege to go into people’s homes and exchange robes for rags.

Elder Christofferson

Whoso believeth in me and is baptized, the same shall be saved in the kingdom of God. The doctrine that comes from God is pure and easy to understand. Establishing the doctrine of Christ or correcting deviations has to do with revelation. This revelation for the church belongs to those called as apostles, or prophets, seers, and revelators, with the prophet having the final say.

What God has cleansed, that call not thou common. Peter had revealed to him that God was not a respecter of persons, but that they Holy Ghost was also being given to the Gentiles. The Lord modified the practice of the church, and the preaching of the gospel was extended to all mankind.

Peter declared that the Holy Spirit declared that God extended salvation through the gospel of Jesus Christ and not through circumcision. It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us.

Testimony of Jesus.

President Monson

Everywhere people are in a hurry. In this fast-paced life, do we ever pause for moments of inspiration? When tragedy hits, our thoughts become focused and we can differentiate between what is really important and what is trivial. Moments of clarity come to all of us. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

The spirit and the body are the soul of man. The spirit is the offspring of God. The body of our earthly parents. Heaven lies about us in our infancy. Why am I here? Lord fashioned this earth, veil was placed, and we have a time of testing.

Death is not what some people imagine; it is like going into another room. The spirits of all men are taken home to that God who created them. Because of Christ’s resurrection, we all will be resurrected. This is the redemption of the soul.