General Conference

As years have gone by I have grown more of a desire to watch General Conference and actually get something out of it. Since this is my first GC since I have moved out, I have felt more of a need for guidance and I have become more and more curious about certain things in the gospel. In the past I have had problems believing that what the prophets and apostles were saying were what Heavenly Father wanted them to say, but for this conference I wanted to try and be more humble and trusting in that famous D&C scripture. I was very much looking forward to this conference to hopefully hear the things I wanted to hear and have my questions answered.  I ended up watching Saturday morning, and then both of the Sunday sessions. Bear with me as I attempt to remember the things that I liked about Conference.

Robert D Hales
As I said before I have always had a problem with believing that DC 1:38 was true, and that if I didn't like what the prophets said then it didn't come from God. Hales' talk kind of set the record straight for me right off the bat, that this was Heavenly Father's general conference. It isn't up to the general authorities on what they speak, they spend months thinking and praying for revelation on what they need to speak about. One major idea I got out of Hales' talk is that it might be hard to believe in what they are saying and that that it will take patience and faith in order to really believe the words. I have to realize who is speaking to me, even if I don't want to agree with it. Patience and faith is key.

Carole M Stephens
There was one thing that I really loved about her talk, and that was when she said that everyone had the right to revelation. That even though only men can have the priesthood and at times it may seem like they have more of an importance than women do, we all have the right to revelation, the Holy Ghost isn't sexist or even racist. Anyone and everyone can have the opportunity to have a personal revelation.

Edward Dube
I absolutely adore Elder Dube, he is definitely one of my new favorite general authorities. As a college student constantly worrying about my future, Dubes talk really comforted me. I have problem of wanting to live in my past, more specifically my high school years in Mesa, but Elder Dube said that "the past is to be lived on but not lived in." Even though I really loved my high school years in Mesa, I cannot stay stuck in them, I can take the lessons I learned and use them on the rest of my journey. The future really is a scary thing for me, especially since I don't even know what I am going to major in but Dube reminded me that I have to look ahead and believe. That I may not know what the future has in store for me but I have to have faith in the Lord's timing.

Dieter F Uchtdorf
You're really going to have to bear with me on this one, it is very likely I am going to be all over the place. President Uchtdorf is my absolute #1 favorite and I don't even care if that is stereotypical. In my conference notebook I wrote 1 1/2 pages on his talk while most of the others took up a quarter of the page. One reason I really loved his talk was because it wasn't something that we generally hear in church or in general conference. He talked about how unique our church is, in its organization, in its organizations within the organization as a whole, in the people and in our doctrine. Our church was not created by Joseph Smith, but by Jesus Christ. Our church shows the world one very basic but very important truth: God speaks to mankind again. We have so many callings within the church, in which each person is called by inspiration. These callings are opportunities for us to serve Gods children in best way possible and to fellowship one another. Our doctrine is pure because God is perfect, but he works through us and we are imperfect. We truly are a church of misfits. I loved that he mentioned this because we tend to carry a stereotype of a church full of the perfect molly mormons. We are church with so much diversity and that diversity is the strength of this church. We are all working together toward being perfect with our plethora of imperfections. We are not a perfect people. I think that is so important for investigators to understand and especially members to understand. Just because we have know and have the truth, does not make us better than anyone else.
I loved loved loooooved that he said that it was natural to have questions. That it is indeed good to have questions because that nurtures our faith. We aren't always going to have the information we want or need, but we have to have faith and patience. I also loved when he talked about agency. Everyone has their agency, even agency to stray away from the church and that the reasons people leave the church are far more complex than some of us could even imagine. Even though we don't want anyone to ever fall away, we have to respect their agency. We can't control their choices or force them to come back, but we can be faithful that they will find their way back in their own timing. That is something I really love about my church, that even if you stray away, you are never condemned, you are always welcome back.
Could you tell that I got a lot of out that talk?

Henry B Eyring
I appreciated President Eyrings talk a lot, but specifically the part where he mentioned agency. His talk reminded me of the quote "hate the sin, not the sinner". We cannot force the children of God not to sin, and we should not condemn them because of their sins. We all have our agency, our agency is a gift from God. I firmly believe that and that we have no right to strip someone away from a God given gift.

Dallin H Oaks
This was a talk where I really need to trust that the Lord is speaking through Elder Oaks. Although the liberal in me was not too thrilled about his "subtle" talk, there was one thing that I really did love about his talk. And that was, as we want people to respect what we believe we have to be able to respect that not everyone has the same beliefs as us. I am a huge believer in being able to respect other peoples beliefs views on things because I want people to be able to listen and respect mine.

Bonnie L Oscarson
I have this problem where I want to have a testimony of everything... without necessarily have experienced the principle in my own life. I loved that she said that conversion is a process and not an event. I think this is important to know for investigators of the church, that none of us have a sure testimony of every aspect of the church, that conversion and a testimony comes through a process of trying our best to keep the commandments. We have to actually exercise faith in principles in order to be converted to it. I cannot expect to have a testimony of tithing if I do not practice the principle. I also really liked that she mentioned that we can't just stop once we are converted, she quoted "when thou art converted, strength thy brethren." Our sure testimonies can help build or reaffirm other peoples testimonies of certain principles.

So those are just some of the talks that took place during General Conference, these are the ones that really stood out to me. I am excited to go back and re read the talks that I loved and re read the talks that I did not particularly fancy so I can try and understand them better and learn something new.