Sunday, October 4, 2015

October 2015 Confernce Thoughts!

      Hey everyone! Here are my thoughts (basically my tweets) from listening to this conference. Hope my insights are helpful.
 
      My favorite quotes and moments from Saturday Morning Session.

     First off President Uchtdorf was a great start to one of my favorite conferences ever. He said, "The more we walk in this path of discipleship, the more we desire to learn the word of God." I love that because it is so true. The more you study the scriptures the more curious you become. Thus making you want to study even more! I just love it! I love how he reminded us that we are being of eternal light. One of my favorite quote of his of all time is "We are Eternal Beings...endings are not in our destiny." AH I LOVE IT. Quotes like that are kinds that I will put on my walls. Another thing that he said was "Exaltation is our goal. Discipleship is our journey." As much as I want that end goal, we have to be here NOW. We need to enjoy our journey and path becoming like the Savior and our Heavenly Father. One of the things he said I really want to make my personal motto for my mission, or just for a little while. "It works." The spirit works. The atonement works. The temple works. The gospel works! I love that God will take us as were are now, where we are now. He doesn't care where we are, he only cares that we are going in the right direction.

      Elder Ballard said something close to giving ourselves the pep talks to be better. That reminded me about in band last year when Mary would tell us woodwinds to "Speech Yourself" because we always played better after a Mary pep talk. She wanted us to learn how to play well without the whole talk beforehand. He also talked about not getting off the ship. I think that is sooo important. Once you are on board with the Saviors Plan, don't get off! Like in the first book of Nephi, Lehi tells about the people who came and partook of the fruit of the tree of life and then were so ashamed that they left and got lost in the darkness. That makes me so sad. It is so important to keep coming to church, to stay and eat the fruit, and to stay on old ship Zion. So as a missionary, we need to follow up with the people we've baptized and keep them coming to church!

       I love how Elder Maynes spoke about centering Christ in our lives. That is seriously one of the most important things ever. He said, "Lining a Christ-Centered Life can fill us with great happiness even when surrounded with incredible hardships." It's so true. Whenever I pray and ask for comfort, I always felt it instantly. Centering my life around Christ always would help me get through the hardest of days that seemed to go on forever.

     Sister Marriott spoke about how "It will all work out." That was fantastic. Oh my I loved it so much. First off, Her southern accent was THE CUTEST. I loved how she said that "In order to have a healed and faithful heart, we must first allow it to break before the Lord." That is so hard, but like it says in Mosiah 3:19 we have to put off the natural man and become like a little child, to come to the lord with a broken heart and contrite spirit. He then will be able to mend and mold us. So we can be what he wants us to be.

      I really liked how Elder Lawrence told us that "We must be willing to act when we receive an answer to a question." Lol, he said that to bring the spirit into our lives we need to ask for some help. And then when you get the answer, it may be just as simple as "Clean your room" Lol! I'm saving that for my Mom days! Another thing he said that the speed of our repentance doesn't matter only the direction. Like Prime Time quote right there.

      I think it was Elder Vinas who said that It is our duty to be better today than we were yesterday and better tomorrow than we were today. Literally the best quote. He also said, "Having the companionship of the Spirit will make us better people. It will whisper peace and joy to our souls." I love having the companionship of the Holy Ghost. It makes my day so much better.
   
     Then I had to leave for the Marching Band Competition. I haven't had a chance to listen to the Saturday Afternoon session yet, but I am way excited to bc there was a JAZZ REFERENCE. I LOVE IT.

      Sunday Morning Session thoughts!

      Starting this session off with my good boy Tommy. And can I just say that my heart literally broke as he tried so hard to finish his talk. I honestly love that man so much. He is truly inspired and I just want him to be here for a little longer. When he reminded us that we need to speak to others with love and respect, it was the best thing. I seriously needed to hear that. Sometimes I get so frustrated and flustered that I just want to scream and say some not so nice things. He said, "Strive to have kindness, gratitude, forgiveness, and goodwill in our lives." It has always been hard for me to forgive, so hearing him talk about that helped me in so many ways.

      I think it's pretty neat that Elder Rasband and I have the same favorite hymn, I Stand All Amazed. I read it every Sunday while the Sacrament is being past. I just love that hymn. It's literally the best.
Was it Elder Stevenson that said that he has loved The Savior and Heavenly Father since he learned of them? I feel the same way! I can't pinpoint a "conversion" in my life. I just have always known that Heavenly Father is real and that Jesus' atonement is real. Hearing that he was that was too was really comforting. I always felt really awkward at girls camp when everyone bore about how they became converted and I've just never doubted and always believed it was true. So that was nice:) OKAY. BEST MISSIONARY QUOTE. "Your calling (mission) isn't about you. It's about the Lord, His work, and Heavenly Father's children." Elder Renlund is SO RAD. I can't wait to hear these three men speak full talks. It will be fan-FREAKING-tastic! And seriously all I could think about during Elder Renlund's talk was the song 'Looking At Your Life Through Heaven's Eyes' from The Prince of Egypt! Hahaha it was the best.

      OH MY GOODNESS PRESIDENT NELSON'S TALK. Sooooooooooooooo good. I cried, I laughed, I loved. Basic, I know, but it was so good and sooooo what I needed hear. I swear if my husband ever becomes a general authority, I will just be waiting for the talk that he talks about me. AND IT WILL BE AMAZING. I cry every. single. time. any of the authorities talk about their wives. Like RELATIONSHIP GOALS. The fact that Elder Scott is with his wife again brings me soooo much happiness. I just am such a hopeless romantic. I'm sorry. I love it. Then he went on about how the church needs valiant women to raise a sin resistant generation in this crazy world. Oh my I can't even handle it. It was so good. Just a few quotes that were fabulous: "Your virtue, light, love, knowledge...will draw good women of the world, along with their families, to the Church in unprecedented numbers." and "We need women who know how to make important things happen by their faith." and "We need women who know how to call upon the powers of heaven to protect and strengthen families." and sooo many more. AND THEN THE SURGERY PART. UGH I JUST CAN'T EXPLAIN IT. Like when he said he wife asked him, "Are you finished crying?" it was basically asking everyone if they are finished crying bc it was so touching. Seriously that talk rivals Uchdorf's Your Happily Ever After as my favorite talk of all time. (Like I said, I'm a hopeless romantic) I just hope one day I will be the type of woman the President Nelson described in his talk.

       Elder Schwitzer said, "True disciples represent the Lord when it may not be convenient to do so." I love that. We are not a Sunday church people. We are an everyday people. We (especially missionaries) represent the Savior at ALL TIMES in ALL THINGS and in ALL PLACES. One of my favorite quotes from all of conference was "True disciples desire to inspire the hearts of men, not just impress them." I also love how he said "It is time for the notes of the melody of the gospel to arise above the noise of the world." (Digging all these music references.) He was so to the point and so down to the basics. I loved it. The simplicity of the gospel is that God is our loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is his son. Brilliant at the Basics. Another band reference! I LOVE IT. I have seriously found so many ties into Marching Band and band in general it is DA BEST.

     The main thing I got from Elder Costa was that we need to enjoy the Sabbath Day more. To truly soak up the gospel. AND PRES EYRING IS AMAZING. Like he basically just got all the church to love Nike. JUST DO IT. Nothing more needs to be said. Anything the Lord asks, JUST DO IT. Like Nephi says in 2Ne 33:15 "For thus hath the Lord commanded me, and I mist obey." I LOVE IT!

     Sunday Afternoon Session! These thoughts aren't as good, bc I kinda fell asleep or was close to it. So I apologize. I will be re-reading these talks to get more out of them.

      I like how Elder Christofferson said, "Repentance is individual, but fellowship on that sometimes painful path is in the Church." It reminded me that we have no place to judge. We as a church are full of imperfect people. We all come to this perfect church to repent and become better. We should help each other. WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER. Something to remember is that Hard can be good. Learning a new language is hard. Leaving our loved ones for two years is hard. But it is so good. Remember that when it gets hard.

      I kinda really dig the Ponderize thing that Brother Durrant spoke about. I like how it brings us closer to the scriptures. Seriously the scriptures can become our friends in time of need. They already have in my life and I can't wait to try this out and get more friends;)

       I think it was Elder Keetch who said that it isn't enough to just go through the motions. (Another Band reference!) I'm all about it. We can't just read our scriptures and say our prayers like a robot. We need to mean our prayers and study the scriptures! I love how he also mentioned that God wants us to have JOY. He wants us to be happy! His commandments will keep us safe and happy. "He has charted a course leading back to him and he has established barriers that will protect us along the way." Love it.

      Then Elder Bednar spoke the best talk about the apostles last talks. Elder Perry said family is the key to eternal happiness. It's sooo true. I can't imagine anything happier than living with my family forever. I love how he showed us that the Lord's church is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I am really going to miss Pres Packer, Elder Perry, and Elder Scott. But I'm excited to look over some of their older talks that I have forgotten about.

      Honestly I loved everything about this conference and I cannot wait to get out and start being a missionary and sharing this glad message with the world!! I know the church is true and it brings soooo much joy into our lives. Annnnnd.......AHHHHH! TWO AND A HALF WEEKS. I am FREAKING out!

Adios!
(Almost) Hermana Lizzy Davis