General Conference (Oct '09)

General Conference! What a great weekend of inspirational talks. I always want to be and do so much better after this wonderful weekend. It was also our first conference with Cameron however :) He certainly makes it a lot harder to pay attention. We pulled out all the stops though to keep him quiet and entertained. He took good naps through out as well. What a sweet boy! There seemed to me to be a theme of service and love. Of course that is always the message, but I was really touched this conference. Maybe it is because I need to work on improving my service and love. I always feel like some talks are written just for me. It shows me how inspired these men and women are. Elder Bednar's talk (MORE DILIGENT AND CONCERNED AT HOME) really made me want to make sure I focus my love and service in my own home. I need to say "I love you" more to my sweet husband especially.

Elder Clayton's talk (THAT YOUR BURDENS MAY BE LIGHT) touched me so much I wanted to paste a segment from his talk on our blog:

No matter the burdens we face in life as a consequence of natural conditions, the misconduct of others, or our own mistakes and shortcomings, we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father, who sent us to earth as part of His eternal plan for our growth and progress. Our unique individual experiences can help us prepare to return to Him. The adversity and afflictions that are ours, however difficult to bear, last, from heaven’s perspective, for “but a small moment; and then, if [we] endure it well, God shall exalt [us] on high.” We must do everything we can to bear our burdens “well” for however long our “small moment” carrying them lasts.

Burdens provide opportunities to practice virtues that contribute to eventual perfection. They invite us to yield “to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and [put] off the natural man and [become] a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and [become] as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us], even as a child doth submit to his father.” Thus burdens become blessings, though often such blessings are well disguised and may require time, effort, and faith to accept and understand.

I want to end this post with a quote from President Uchtdorf's talk entitled THE LOVE OF GOD:

Let us be known as a people who love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and who love our neighbor as ourselves. When we understand and practice these two great commandments in our families, in our wards and branches, in our nations, and in our daily lives, we will begin to understand what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus the Christ.