General Conference. I love General Conference. I love having the sacred opportunity to hear from Prophets and Apostles of our Lord and Savior.
Some of my favorite talks? My favorite was definately President Henry B. Eyrings talk during the Saturday Morning Session. That was exactly what I needed to hear. A Message of hope and faith. Given I now have 6 months left, I don't really know what is ahead of me. But I was glad to hear a Apostle give me the council I needed to strengthen faith. I also loved Elder Bednar's talk on the Priesthood, and President Uchtdorf's talk on Forgiveness and grudges. That's definately something I need to work on. I liked Elder Wilson's talk on helping people change upon principles of righteousness. I also loved Elder L. Tom Perry and Elder D. Todd Christofferson teaching the Doctrine of Christ! The stud those men are! I was sad to see President Packer and Elder Hales in such poor health states. I love President Packer, and Elder Hales- both very powerful men, who have impacted me big time on my mission. They have done alot for the world, and they teach truth. I was glad I got to hear from them again.
I don't really know what to talk about other than General Conference. It was just awesome. Not much else to say.
The basic message I got out of this Conference for me personally is:
1. Don't give up hope-
when the world is falling apart so speedily, deteriorating with pure filth, you just begin to wonder how are we going to fix this. But I learned about the importance of "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass." When we make changes they impact in majorities. I loved the storied that talked about how one baptism influenced alot of people, even thousands! That is why we need to be righteous, and ready. "The day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion." Just as Elder Holland and another Elder declared this conference- We are at war! We cannot stop to sniff the roses. We need to prepare ourselves for what is to come.
2. I need to honor my priesthood better-
The priesthood is an amazing. I've always known the priesthood is Authority, but until Elder Bednar spoke on Saturday I don't think it ever crossed my mind about the difference between Priesthood Authority and Priesthood Power. The Priesthood is an Oath and Covenant that men take. If we do not hold to that Oath and Covenant, then we do not have the power to use that priesthood. I've realized in that way that many changes are needed to be made in me. And so all I can do is as Elder Shayne M. Bowen of the Seventy said when he visited the Iowa Des Moines Mission in November, is "Repent, and be better."
3. Live what you preach-
It is one thing to have a know something, and another to live by it. True conversion is when you apply your testimony. Many people find this the hard way, but I am glad that I did. Without finding it out the hard way, how else would I have? The Lord does not require us to sit around and be idle after words. "Faith without works is dead." I was reading an interesting book I bought in Nauvoo the other day about this. Lots of members get on a spree about how it is by Works we are saved, and others Grace. It is a huge argument in the other religious world as well. But I never realized that if you look at Romans 3:27, where it states it is by faith in Christ we are saved is a popular thing people use to take about Grace. I never realized however, that if you read the background of this scripture, and read the WHOLE CHAPTER you come to know that Paul is actually teaching people who were "going through the motions" so to speak. They went to church, did everything they needed to, were baptized, and yada yada yada. So Paul showed up, and is telling them, "no! It is not by just what you do on a regular basis that saves, UNLESS you do it with faith." You must live the Gospel with faith! If it has no faith it has no meaning, and so God will not acknowledge it. Now in Romans 2:13 however, it states "For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." Again if you read up on history of this chapter, and the whole thing you can understand the whole context. The people in this land believed that they knew all they needed. They "had the word" as some would say it. Because they "knew enough" they were "saved". Paul teaches however that this is wrong. It is one thing to know you need to live the Law of Chastity, and another to actually do it. It is one thing to hear about the example of Jesus Christ, and know the example He set, and another to follow it. The Savior told Peter 3 times to feed His sheep because it was that important. After He left the Apostles didn't know what to do, even after the Savior had instructed them to feed His sheep. So when the Savior appeared to them, and taught them again, He reminded them- 3 times- "Lovest thou me?... Feed my sheep." We know that the Savior has said "If ye love me, keep my commandments."
In the long run, "it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." But the 'after all we can do' is the key part. We must be DOERS of the Word not just HEARERS. I hope we can all apply that. If it made any sense. 90% of the time, I'm dead certain that what I'm thinking doesn't come out right, and that's why people look at me like "whaaa?" But that's just because I'm awesome, and I put things together in my head, and it's too much for others to comprehend. SO HA! I'm not President Uchtdorf or Elder Holland who do make everything difficult sound simple. Those men rock.
Anyways, I hoped this was a cool week for all of you. It was for me. My ear is itching right now, so my neck is doing this weird twitchie thing. I'm emailing at a college too, so that's not good. The students will see me, and think "he is possessed!" but in reality, my ear just itches. Those jerks. They don't understand the kind of crap we missionaries endure. Hurrah for Israel!
Elder Prows
who has 6 months left on his mission... let's make them count! BOO HOO, WOO HOO!
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