Angels attend them

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Priesthood Session of the April 1988 Conference.

President Faust gave a talk about women to the men in Priesthood Session. I suppose you could see it as one of those "women are great" talks people are always complaining about (not me; I quite like those talks, hee hee)—but it really wasn't that at all. Like Sister Jones in our most recent conference, Elder Faust emphasized the unity of the sexes and the need for men and women to work together. But he also talked about some of women's unique roles, and I liked thinking about them in an aspirational way—since obviously, I still need help developing some of these strengths!

Here is one thing he said about women:

They are the enrichment of humanity.

Isn't that an interesting phrase? I liked thinking about how I can personally "make richer" the lives of those around me. I also liked this:

Surely the secret citadel of women’s inner strength is their spirituality…This inner spiritual sense seems to give them a certain resilience to cope with sorrow, trouble, and uncertainty.

Again, it's something I'm working towards—resilience and staying hopeful even when I feel discouraged. And then, this may have been my favorite line:

I believe angels attend them in their motherly ministry.

I believe it too! At least I want to. Very occasionally, I feel it for sure, but mostly I'm just hoping and trying to trust that it is so; that as I pray for help in caring for my family, help will come in ways I'm not even aware of.

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The Lord Employs the Unlikely

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Afternoon Session of the April 1988 Conference.

I loved and needed this section from Elder Russell M. Nelson's talk. (I seem to always gravitate toward his talks. I did like some others in this session too! But this is just so good):

I feel impressed to counsel those engaged in personal challenges to do right. In particular, my heart reaches out to those who feel discouraged by the magnitude of their struggle. Many shoulder heavy burdens of righteous responsibility which, on occasion, seem so difficult to bear. I have heard those challenges termed impossible.…

To teach His people, the Lord employs the unlikely. 

Turning to our day, have you ever wondered why the Master waited so long to inaugurate the promised “restitution of all things”? Any competitor knows the disadvantage of allowing an opponent to get too far ahead. Wouldn’t the work of the restoration of the Church have been easier if begun earlier? 

Suppose for a moment you are a member of a team. The coach beckons you from the bench and says: “You are to enter this contest. I not only want you to win; you shall win. But the going will be tough. The score at this moment is 1,143,000,000 to six, and you are to play on the team with the six points!” 

That large number was the approximate population of the earth in the year 1830 when the restored church of Jesus Christ was officially organized with six members. The setting was remote and rural. By standards of the world, its leaders were deemed to be unlearned. Their followers seemed so ordinary. But with them, the work was begun. Assignments had been revealed: 

The gospel was to be preached to every kindred, nation, tongue, and people. 

Ordinary folk were to become Saints. 

Redemptive work was to be done for all who had ever lived. 

The great dispensation of the latter days had commenced, and they were the ones to usher it forth! 

Furthermore, the Prophet Joseph Smith was unjustly held in the unspeakable isolation of a distant prison. In such obscurity, then and there, he was told by the Lord that “the ends of the earth shall inquire after thy name”. 

If any tasks ever deserved the label impossible, those would seem to qualify. But, in fact, our Lord had spoken: “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible”. To teach His people, the Lord employs the unlikely… 

How is it possible to achieve the “impossible”? Learn and obey the teachings of God. From the holy scriptures, heaven-sent lift will be found for heaven-sent duties.… 

Foster your faith. Fuse your focus with an eye single to the glory of God. “Be strong and courageous”, and you will be given power and protection from on high. “For I will go before your face,” the Lord declared. “I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up”.

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He leads us along

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Morning Session of the April 1988 Conference.

When I was young, I always felt kind of pitying of the early saints in Joseph Smith's time, because they thought the Second Coming of Jesus Christ was so close and then (in my mind)—they were wrong! "How embarrassing for them!" I thought. And I carried that feeling of "Oh boy, I don't ever want to assume the Second Coming is close, because then I'll look pretty silly too!" into adulthood with me.

But I've become a lot less critical of those early saints, in recent years. I've realized how little I know about what they were truly led to feel, and that Heavenly Father may have had many reasons for allowing them to think what they thought. And I've also realized the elastic nature of time and how what once seemed soooo loooong now seems likes no time at all!

Along these lines, I liked Elder Maxwell's talk about the Second Coming of Christ. He addresses the obvious question about how to balance being prepared for the Second Coming with being obsessive about it:

By analogy, it is one thing to notice strong ocean breakers crashing against the shore, heralding another oncoming storm, and quite another to discern the powerful movements on the ocean’s quake-jarred floor foretelling a terrible tidal wave. 

In the context of such cautions, I have no hesitancy in saying that there are some signs—but certainly not all—suggesting that “summer is nigh”. We would do well to notice and to ponder, but without either becoming preoccupied or ignoring any sprouting leaves because of being “overcharged” with the “cares of this life”.

In other words, he addresses the dilemma of not going too far to one side or the other by…uh…saying we shouldn't do too much of one or the other. Nothing about HOW to achieve that balance, unfortunately! Maybe it's a matter for individual prayer and discernment.

I thought all of this was interesting, and strikingly applicable to today (see link for scripture references):

Some prophecies, such as the return of Jewish people to Israel, were decades in their fulfillment. Other prophecies can be fulfilled in a compressed period of time. Taking the restored gospel “for a witness” to all the nations of the world involves generations, but a “desolating scourge” can cover the land quickly. …The blossoming of the desert “as the rose” involved substantial time, yet significant moral decay can happen within a single generation—whether in a nation or in a family.

He discusses some more prophecies that seem extremely…well…prophetic, and have only increased in relevance in the 20+ years since he gave this talk:

Our time already reflects yet another prophecy: “Distress of nations, with perplexity”. Before modern times, global perplexity simply was not possible. Now, there is a quick transmission of some crises and problems from one nation to others—the consequences of debt-ridden economies, the spreading of diseases, the abuse of narcotics, and, perhaps most of all, a shared sense of near-helplessness in the face of such perplexities… 

There will also be “a great division among the people”. This stressful polarization will, ironically, help in the final shaking of that strange confederacy, the “kingdom of the devil,” in order that the honest in heart, even therein, may receive the truth. 

And then these were some of my favorite parts:

Members of the Church need not and should not be alarmists. They need not be deflected from quietly and righteously pursuing their daily lives, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”… 

The spiritually submissive will make it through…

Brothers and sisters, it is my testimony to the Church that the Lord will lead us along, just as promised. He balances giving to the Church and its people the needed, specific directions, with providing the relevant learning experiences, including having our faith and patience tried in order to be strengthened. Thus He leads us along, but He desires that during that process we take His yoke upon us in order to learn of Him by our personal experiences. 

I love that reminder that God works both ways—sometimes preparing us so carefully and specifically for what we need, and other times letting us bungle along for awhile without a lot of clear direction. I really like the first way a lot better, but the second way is so good for me! I will try to remember that when I feel worried and frustrated about not knowing what's coming next. I will try to keep trusting that He really does leads me along, probably far more often than I'm even aware of.

Obviously (obviously!) no one knows the time of the Second Coming. But I no longer feel so worried about the possibility of preparing "too much" and then being wrong. I feel the urgency in President Nelson's voice when he says the time to repent and improve ourselves is right now, and it makes me want to do everything I can to be more ready! 


Other posts in this series:

Easter: Jesus Christ's Greatest Gift—by Jan Tolman

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Memorable and Unforgettable

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week we are skipping forward in time to write about the conference that just happened, April 2020.

How did you like General Conference? I'd been looking forward to it SO much, and now I'm sad it's over! But I'm excited to re-read the talks I liked and study the ones I didn't hear because my kids were fighting. 🙄 I don't have access to the transcripts yet, so I'll just look at my (probably vastly incomplete) notes and mention a few things I liked.

Elder Rasband—James Rasband, that is—had a great quote which I didn't quite get down about Jesus Christ's atonement restoring what we can't restore and healing what we can't heal. I think maybe Elder Renlund used this same quote? Or something similar. It was beautiful. I loved his emphasis on how the atonement of the Savior comforts those on both sides of sin—those that have been hurt, and those that have hurt others and are now sorry! There are so many things I've done wrong with my children, and others, that I wish I could undo! It brings me such relief to know that through Christ's power, all of those things can be recompensed.

"The Lord loves effort!"—that was President Nelson, quoted in Sister Jones' talk. She also said it's important for us to know our current life path is approved of God; without that knowledge, she said, we will become tired and discouraged. I liked the implication, then, that WITH knowledge of God's approval, we will be able to overcome tiredness and discouragement! She said "the spirit can tell us which work to focus on today" since we can't "wear all our hats" at once. This is a skill I need so much to develop!

I loved Elder Neal L. Anderson speaking about how important it is to remember the personal and specific moments when God shows His love for us. "I knew it, and I knew God knew that I knew it." I liked the promise that "at times of difficulty, [God] can and will bring these experiences back to our minds." I've been noticing how much more easily this happens as I write my experiences down! Elder Anderson said something like, "these experiences are like luminous stones to help brighten the road ahead," and I thought of the stones in the Jaredite barges. It's cool to think that we could have those metaphorical lights on our own journeys!

I really liked Elder Renlund's talk but I don't know if there was one specific quote or phrase that could sum it up. His talks always have such depth, it takes me multiple hearings to digest them! I love the "new heart" metaphor as Elder Renlund used it to connect the scriptural phrase, the experience of his friend's heart transplant, and our own strivings to be transformed. I hope I can learn to "reflect every day on the gift I have received" of Jesus Christ's atonement.

I feel like I only just began to grasp what Elder Gong was getting at in his talk about Hosannas and Hallelujahs. By the end of the talk I sensed that the whole thing had been a sort of complicated weaving-together of opposing concepts that both clarified and reinforced each other. I'll have to study it further. But I loved being reminded of the meanings of those holy words before participating in the Solemn Assembly and Hosanna Shout the next day! I remember the first time I joined in the Hosanna Shout (perhaps during the Nauvoo Temple dedication broadcast?), I was distracted by the sort of strange awkwardness of it all. Now I feel no such awkwardness and welcome the chance to shout praises to God! In fact, sometimes at other times I FEEL like shouting Hosanna or Hallelujah, and don't quite know how to give expression to those feelings so satisfactorily!

I did like Elder Gong's point that restoration does "not just restore what was, but what CAN BE." I have sensed this idea as we've been studying the Restoration—that at least when we are talking about God restoring US, he is making us better than before. Maybe that meaning is implied within "restoration," but I haven't usually thought of it that way before. It also brings to mind something I read recently in Doctrine and Covenants 88, about people who in mortality are "quickened by a portion of the celestial glory." God promises that eventually those people "shall then receive of the same, even a fulness." I like the idea that if we can receive even partially the plan God has for us, he will magnify and multiply that within us until it transforms us in whole!

I thought Sister Jean B. Bingham's talk about men and women working together was wonderful! I loved the reminder that "men and women accomplish more working together than separately." And was it news to anyone else that Joseph Smith's mother used to go to the Sacred Grove to pray? I'd never heard that, but I loved it when President Nelson (in the video during Sister Bingham's talk) said that was probably why Joseph chose that place to go and pray, following his mother's example! Beautiful.

I liked it when President Eyring talked about the appearance of the Savior in the Kirtland Temple. We have just been learning about that part of Church History in our homeschool (and in our reading of Saints) so I've been extra sensitive to all the mentions of it. Who else brought it up? Seems like at least two or three other speakers.

Elder Bednar's talk was a great companion to Elder Renlund's, with its theme that "the essence of the gospel is changing hearts." I'd never heard the Brigham Young quote about there needing to be "thousands of temples" someday—and here I thought 200 was a lot!

Oh, and I loved Elder Christoffersen's story about the boy who was told (about the Book of Mormon) "Do not burn my book!"

And of course I love pretty much anything that comes out of President Nelson's mouth. I'm so grateful for him, and for the other prophets and apostles!


Other posts in this series:

April 2020 General Conference: Memorable—by Jan Tolman

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Our influence for good

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Women's Session of the October 1987 Conference.

I really liked ALL the talks from this women's session, but I couldn't NOT choose Elder Russell M. Nelson's talk "Lessons from Eve." It's so good! I'll just quote a few of my favorite parts:

Eve came as a partner, to build and to organize the bodies of mortal men. She was designed by Deity to co-create and nurture life, that the great plan of the Father might achieve fruition.…

The spiritual rewards of motherhood are available to all women. Nurturing the young, comforting the frightened, protecting the vulnerable, teaching and giving encouragement need not—and should not—be limited to our own children.

This made me wonder something I've wondered before. Of course you know I love the sacred role of  women in pregnancy and childbirth. But I'm curious about what a woman really does in "building and organizing the bodies of mortal men." Of course we often choose to accept children into our families. And we feed and care for them as they grow. But, though it certainly amazes me and I'm grateful to be part of it, I don't feel I really DO that much to participate. I don't know how to form the baby and let it grow inside me or make the breast milk—my body just does all that! It's not something I have to be worthy or smart or even use agency to do! It just…happens, and it's a blessing that it does—I know it doesn't "just happen" for every woman—but it makes me wonder about the significance of this "building and organizing bodies" role. Can we receive blessings for something we don't do by ourselves? Maybe the blessings just come from our willingness and submission to God's will as we seek His guidance on our mothering roles, whatever they are?

And as I write that, it also occurs to me that perhaps MOST of the things we do as mortals fall into that category of "something we don't do by ourselves." When we make sacrifices for missionary work or temple work or our callings—the true power is still coming from Jesus Christ. So maybe motherhood isn't so different after all. Hmm. I will have to think about that.

I also like the way Elder Nelson puts it here—his emphasis on the rewards of motherhood—and how no woman need miss out on those, whether she has her own children in this life or not. He seems to say that nurturing behavior leads to heavenly blessings for the nurturer, no matter who the recipient is.

I also liked this, and could feel the sincerity of it, coming from a man who lived in a regular family just like all the rest of us:

Sisters, be patient. I know something of the pressures you feel. Your kitchens are too small. Your budgets are too tight. Demands upon you exceed your capacity to help all who cry out to you… Take time for spiritual regeneration.…

When priorities are in place, one can more patiently tolerate unfinished business.…

I take that last part to mean that life is easier when you can say to yourself, "I chose what I'm doing right now—I'm doing it because I want to—I'm doing it on purpose!" This intentional thinking really does help me, when I remember to do it. It helps me be patient with all the things I don't get to do right now. It feels much easier to clean or cook or teach after I've reminded myself that I really do LIKE this life, and I wouldn't want any other! It may be true that "if I don't do this, no one else will!" but it's more USEFUL to think "I could be doing something else, but I choose this because I want to serve!" Maybe that's what Elder Nelson means when he says later:

Our highest sense of sacrifice is achieved as we make ourselves more sacred or holy.

…The laws of obedience and sacrifice are indelibly intertwined. …As we comply with these and other commandments, something wonderful happens to us. We become disciplined! We become disciples! We become more sacred and holy—like our Lord! 

Then Elder Nelson sounds so much like the President Nelson he is today:

With your mind so attuned to the Lord and his power, your influence for good becomes immeasurably great. And in this world of sin and temptation, the power of prayer will protect you and be a shield for your loved ones. 

I plead with the women of the Church to accept individual responsibility to know and to love the Lord. Communicate with him. He will impress upon your mind inspiration and personal revelation to give you strength.

I love that he was "pleading with the women of the church" even back then—over twenty years ago—and he is still pleading with us now, to improve ourselves, to learn more about revelation, and to draw on the power of God to help us influence the world for good. I'm trying to respond to all these calls to action, and I hope get even better at it in the next twenty years!


Other posts in this series:

Eve was the first courageous woman—by Jan Tolman

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