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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