The power of God manifest

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Priesthood Session of the April 2005 Conference.

Elder Holland shared such a beautiful testimony of the power of the priesthood:

I have beheld the power of God manifest in my home and in my ministry. I have seen evil rebuked and the elements controlled. I know what it means to have mountains of difficulty move and ominous Red Seas part. I know what it means to have the destroying angel “pass by them.” To have received the authority and to have exercised the power of “the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God,” is as great a blessing for me and for my family as I could ever hope for in this world. And that, in the end, is the meaning of the priesthood in everyday terms—its unequaled, unending, constant capacity to bless.

 It reminded me of what he said in his most recent talk: 

We need to believe in angels and miracles and the promises of the holy priesthood. We need to believe in the gift of the Holy Ghost, the influence of good families and friends, and the power of the pure love of Christ. We need to believe in revelation and prophets, seers, and revelators and President Russell M. Nelson.

I've seen more miracles in my life the past few years than I ever imagined I would see in a lifetime. It may be because I've been looking for them so much more than I used to, but I hope it's also because the power of God is being made manifest more than ever before—"the veil o'er the earth is beginning to burst!" What a blessing!

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Red cheeks, stained glass, and runaways

It's the most beautiful time of year—at least in our yard. The daffodils are everywhere! And they are SO pretty! We took a trip to Texas for the solar eclipse at the beginning of April and I was afraid maybe we'd miss the peak of the daffodils, but we didn't. They were perfect when we got back. Every spring I think about what a miracle it is that these flowers just…come up all by themselves. I don't have to "tug on their stems to make them taller," as Elder Uchtdorf said. They are miraculous and I love them so much!

———

Before the spring, though, there was some cold cold winter! We got tickets to the Manti Temple Open House and went during Spring Break. There was an accident on the freeway driving down, so we got there half an hour late. Then when we arrived, we walked smugly, tickets in hand, past the long, long, long standby line of people who didn't have tickets—only to join an even longer ticket line that wound all the way down the hill! We waited in the freezing wind for an hour and a half. It was so cold! We were grateful for the wagons full of blankets which the sister missionaries walked up and down the hill with, handing them out to sadly underdressed people like us. How could we have known a sudden blizzard would blow in? (Poor Ziggy did NOT want to be wrapped up in the blanket in this picture.)

Daisy and Clementine matched down to the last detail!

Junie's clearly very skeptical about something

We had brought a picnic for lunch, so we ate it with numb fingers while standing shivering in line. And Malachi had to work later that afternoon, so we had to endure his continual annoyed sighs and muttered complaints of "Ugh, this is taking sooo long!" We had to practically racewalk through the temple once we did get inside, and didn't have the time to bask in the beauty and appreciate all the details like I would have preferred…but…we did get Malachi to work (only 15 minutes late). AND it is a beautiful temple! I'd like to go back when it opens for real. My oldest brother got married there, but I was too young to go inside at the time, so I've never been!

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Love them

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Afternoon Session of the April 2005 Conference.

I've been thinking about how much it helps me to be kind and serve my children (and others) if I almost forget the child and think about Jesus Christ instead. Not that I actually forget the child, of course; I can't and shouldn't—but I just mean that instead of thinking about how my service is received—if it's appreciated, if it's deserved, if it's discarded, if it's even noticed—I can instead reflect on the fact that I am truly attempting to serve my Savior above all. And He receives my service with love, blessings, and gratitude no matter how it is received here on earth! And He deserves the most loving, constant, heartfelt service I can offer because of all that He has done for me!

So, my favorite part of this session was in Elder Wirthlin's talk about kindness:

“But,” you ask, “what if people are rude?”

Love them.

“If they are obnoxious?”

Love them.

“But what if they offend? Surely I must do something then?”

Love them.

“Wayward?”

The answer is the same. Be kind. Love them.…

Who can tell what far-reaching impact we can have if we are only kind?

My brothers and sisters, the gospel of Jesus Christ transcends mortality. Our work here is but a shadow of greater and unimaginable things to come.…

As our Heavenly Father loves us, we also should love His children.

May we be models of kindness. May we ever live up to the words of the Savior: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

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Sufficient to prepare them

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Morning Session of the April 2005 Conference.

I remember listening to President Nelson's talk (he was Elder Nelson then, of course) in this conference where he talked about his wife Dantzel's unexpected death. He was just sitting next to her on the couch, holding her hand, when she suddenly slipped away. I wonder if he could have ever anticipated then that he would still be alive, and leading the church, almost 20 years later? It's sad that he's had to live so long without her, but I'm so glad he's still here with us! Think of all the things he's taught even just at Conference in those two decades!

My favorite thing from his talk in this session was actually a quote from Joseph Smith:

"[The celestial] rest is of such perfection and glory, that man has need of a preparation before he can, according to the laws of that kingdom, enter it and enjoy its blessings. … God has given certain laws to the human family, which, if observed, are sufficient to prepare them to inherit this rest.”

I just like the wording there: God's laws are "sufficient" to prepare us for celestial glory. Sometimes when I "think celestial" as President Nelson has counseled, all I can think about is how far away I am from being ready for celestial behavior! But it's helpful to think that God already anticipated how much preparation and transformation we'd all need to be celestial people, and he already put in place every commandment we'd need to get there. Now, instead of figuring it all out for ourselves, we can just "observe" the laws He's already given us and if we keep doing that, we'll be fine!

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Temple Bound

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week skips ahead to the current conference that just took place, April 2024.

I have even fewer notes than usual because we were watching Conference while out of town! But we did get to watch all the sessions! So I will just mention a few highlights and random thoughts:

• I loved hearing from Elder Holland again. I got the impression that he had been quite ready to move on to the next life, but we as a church prayed him back for a little while longer. He seemed good-natured enough about it! But I wish so much I could hear his stories of what he experienced while he was unconscious. I also think it's so interesting that he, one of the most earnest and urgent testators of Christ I've ever heard, came back with the impression he hadn't been quite urgent enough!

• I loved the symbolism in Elder Dushku's talk of one ray of light joining with another until there we have a whole pillar of light for our testimony, just as Joseph Smith did.

• I liked Elder Soares bringing up multiple meanings of "temple bound"—tied to the temple as well as headed for the temple. This was definitely a temple-centric conference, wasn't it? 

• I always love Elder Eyring. I've learned about that Teton Dam Collapse on the secular side too, but I always love hearing Elder Eyring's experience with it. I don't know if I've heard before that his kids were in the flood zone with a babysitter?! That must have been so scary for everyone. I relate with Sister Eyring's annoyance: "How can you sleep at a time like this?" I think that about Sam all the time. Haha. But good for Elder Eyring for finding peace amidst that turmoil!

• The discussion of "be still" in Elder Bednar's talk was amazing and, as usual, too deep for me to quite grasp in one hearing. Excited to re-read this one.

• More temple stuff in Elder Gong's talk. I really love the promise that "all things work together for good to them that love God," so I'm always happy to hear it expounded. It was a cool thought that "we can know that [that promise] is true without knowing how it's true." That describes me 99% of the time.

• Elder Uchtdorf is the cutest man. I loved his face as he quoted the Wright Brothers' dad: "Higher, Orville; higher!" So happy and joyful. His message really resonated with me about seeking a higher, holier form of joy—and being able to find it through selflessness and service. I have such a desire to be this kind of person: joyful and hopeful and selfless. It feels…very far away. I did love the thought that "seek and ye shall find is not just a commandment but a statement of fact. We very rarely find something we're not looking for. Are we seeking eternal joy?" Yes! I'm seeking it! It's comforting to know that that's an important step.

• Sister Porter's talk to the primary kids was good. Usually people who say "I'm going to talk to the children!" actually don't talk to the children—or not very well. But Sister Porten really did talk to them through her whole talk, in simple and clear language. I liked it.

• I loved Elder Paul Pieper's talk about trust. That really deserves a whole post of its own, but I was absolutely astounded to realize that he was right about how much God trusts us. I would have assumed God is waiting to trust us until he sees we're a little more worthy of it. But Elder Pieper pointed out how God's trust of us underlies his whole plan—at least trust in our potential. I am working on learning to trust God better myself, and I like knowing that on His end, at least, the trust is already there, just waiting for my own trust to catch up!

• Oh, I can't leave out Elder Kearon. I love him! I already knew I liked him but his first talk as an apostle was SO good! He has such an elegant way of speaking, and I don't just mean his beautiful accent. I mean phrases like "The intent of the Plan of Happiness is our happiness, now and in the future. The intent of the Plan of Mercy is mercy." Couldn't get much more obvious than that, but somehow stating it in that way made me see it as I haven't before. And "God is in relentless pursuit of you, and employs every possible measure to bring you back." That is truly beautiful.

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Small Things

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Relief Society Session of the October 2004 Conference.

Just a quick quote this week because I'm traveling, but I love this from Sister Kathleen H. Hughes:

We must not become weary of doing good, and we must not become impatient; the changes we seek will come about “in their time.” Most important, the great work we wish to do will proceed from “small things.”…

Spirituality through prayer and study. Service to others. Generous tithes and offerings. These are not new principles. These are some of the “small things” that are prerequisites to that which is great…It is our hearts and our minds that must be made new. We each have our failings, our weaknesses, our less-than-perfect attitudes. The Lord asks us to open ourselves to Him, holding nothing back.…The newness of heart comes when we do and give all we can, then offer our heart and will to the Father. As we do this, our Father promises us that our lives now and in eternity will be abundant. We need not fear.

Sisters, don’t become weary in doing good. If we are patient, we can experience the change of heart we seek. For most of us this will require only a slight change of course, sending us toward true north. The adjustments we must make are in those “small things,” but that does not mean they are easy. Too many forces are confusing our compass. But the pull to the polar star is one we recognize. It is the direction toward home.

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