This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday Afternoon Session of the October 2009 Conference.
Wow, this session was full of good talks! There is Elder Holland's classic talk about the Book of Mormon, "Safety for the Soul," the words of which even now I hear ringing in my ears from time to time ("If anyone is foolish enough or misled enough to reject 531 pages of a heretofore unknown text teeming with literary and Semitic complexity without honestly attempting to account for the origin of those pages—especially without accounting for their powerful witness of Jesus Christ and the profound spiritual impact that witness has had on what is now tens of millions of readers—if that is the case, then such a person, elect or otherwise, has been deceived; and if he or she leaves this Church, it must be done by crawling over or under or around the Book of Mormon to make that exit"). I get goosebumps every time I read his powerful testimony:
I hope I have a few years left in my “last days,” but whether I do or do not, I want it absolutely clear when I stand before the judgment bar of God that I declared to the world, in the most straightforward language I could summon, that the Book of Mormon is true, that it came forth the way Joseph said it came forth and was given to bring happiness and hope to the faithful in the travail of the latter days.
So good!
Another good talk in this session was Elder Renlund's masterpiece "Preserving the Heart's Mighty Change" which just hits so hard coming from a heart surgeon.
But something that has stayed with me this week is from a third great talk, Elder Christofferson's "Moral Discipline." The part that struck me was this:
We cannot presume that the future will resemble the past—that things and patterns we have relied upon economically, politically, socially will remain as they have been. Perhaps our moral discipline, if we will cultivate it, will have an influence for good and inspire others to pursue the same course. We may thereby have an impact on future trends and events. At a minimum, moral discipline will be of immense help to us as we deal with whatever stresses and challenges may come in a disintegrating society.
Something about that just seemed so sober and full of warning. We can't resume that things and patterns we have relied upon will remain as they have been. We've all seen it—how fast trends in the world can change, how far values can skew from their centers. I start to get terrified for my kids if I let myself dwell on it. How can they possibly make sense of things in a world so full of darkness? How can any teachings be enough to overcome the relentless pull of the culture they're surrounded by? Elder Christofferson's talk keeps emphasizing that we need to help children learn "moral discipline," but beyond saying that parents should teach the gospel with "love and discipline," he doesn't go much into HOW!
Going back to Elder Holland's Book of Mormon talk, though, I found these words helpful and comforting. Elder Holland mentions those same sobering warnings about the last days, and then tells us how God has prepared help for these very times:
The Savior warned that in the last days even those of the covenant, the very elect, could be deceived by the enemy of truth.…[but] The encouraging thing, of course, is that our Father in Heaven knows all of these latter-day dangers, these troubles of the heart and soul, and has given counsel and protections regarding them.In light of that, it has always been significant to me that the Book of Mormon, one of the Lord’s powerful keystones in this counteroffensive against latter-day ills, begins with a great parable of life, an extended allegory of hope versus fear, of light versus darkness, of salvation versus destruction…Love. Healing. Help. Hope. The power of Christ to counter all troubles in all times—including the end of times. That is the safe harbor God wants for us in personal or public days of despair. That is the message with which the Book of Mormon begins, and that is the message with which it ends, calling all to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.”
I know there have been many promises from prophets about the power of the Book of Mormon to help our families. It contains so many good doctrines about how to come closer to Jesus Christ. So of course using its teachings, and reading its words to ourselves and our children, can provide safety and hope even in this "disintegrating society" at "the end of times"!
I need to remember that for everything Satan throws at us and our children, the Lord has already provided a "counteroffensive"! He doesn't leave us alone to face the Last Days. He will give us all the "love, healing, help, and hope" we need to return to Him, and to help our families return!
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