GENERAL CONFERENCE - SUNDAY SESSIONS (open discussion thread) The present author has decided to merge the discussions for both Sunday sessions into one thread, owing to the fact that the Sunday-morning session was not as compelling as the others, and could effectively be termed a “Gospel Principles” session. (Please post your impassioned disagreements with the above statement and defend the honour of the Sunday-morning session in the comments below. :) ) The finest talk in the Sunday-afternoon session was assuredly that of Elder David A. Bednar — he who is the face of the Church’s social-media outreach. Targeting his address to non-members of the Church, he explained why we Saints are so vocal and insistent in our missionary efforts, affirming that because we have found, in our faith, a salve for the wounds that sin inflicts, we seek to share this remedy with all and sundry. Citing supporting scriptures such as that from the Book of Enos, Elder Bednar noted that this desire to share beneficial “life hacks” with others is an essential human trait — as demonstrated by the de facto laboratory experiment that Elder Bednar performed upon his own son, who, when injured and healed by the ministrations of an older brother, proceeded to tend to his friends with the same home remedy. (This hilarious anecdote earned the biggest laughs of the entire Conference.) Elder Bednar’s contention is eminently persuasive, because, after all, which one of us, in discovering a compelling new artwork, or poem, or novel, or symphonic performance, hasn’t eagerly shared these newfound treasures with his friends? The gospels, which provide the greatest and most lasting joy of all, and most effectively assuage our spiritual wounds, irresistibly compel us to share them far and wide. M. Russell Ballard hung his talk from the nail of a vivid anecdote about white-water rafting, for which he listed three cardinal rules: (1) stay in the boat (earning big laughs for that point), (2) wear your lifejacket, and (3) hold on. Elder Ballard compared this to our overall mortal travels, in which the boat is the Church, and during the course of which journey we face the rapids and turbulence of many challenges, both spiritual and temporal. To cope with these difficulties, however, Elder Ballard underscored that the Lord has given us guides and lifejackets in the form of prophets and scriptures and Church leaders, which can help us get to our final destination: the kingdom of heaven. As for staying in the boat, Elder Ballard shared a compelling quotation from the greatest of prophets, Brigham Young himself, who asked: “Why do people apostatize? You know we are on the ‘Old Ship Zion.’ We are in the midst of the ocean. A storm comes on, and, as sailors say, she labors very hard. ‘I am not going to stay here,’ says one; ‘I don’t believe this is the “Ship Zion.’ ‘But we are in the midst of the ocean.’ ‘I don’t care, I am not going to stay here.’ Off goes the coat, and he jumps overboard. Will he not be drowned? Yes. So with those who leave this Church. It is the ‘Old Ship Zion,’ let us stay in it.” Elder Ballard also quoted President Young’s lament that during times of calm seas, some members often disembark from the Old Ship Zion to take pleasure journeys on whaling boats, and many such travelers never return. Elder Ballard cautioned us, therefore, not to follow those who think that they know better than the General Authorities how to administer the Church, affirming that Church leaders have lived out of the bubble far more than their critics, and that their life experiences and spiritual insight give them the wisdom to keep the Church on an even keel. Richard G. Scott delivered an address on the topic of the “Felix Culpa,” or the “happy fall”: the concept that the Fall of Mankind was, after all, a blessing, as it created those great binaries in life by sole means of which we can progress and become more like the Father. After all, Elder Scott noted, we only know happiness by enduring its opposite number, sadness, and we only know peace by contrast with turmoil. We should not, therefore, lament over the difficulties that we experience in life, for they are part of God’s plan to refine us. Highlights from other talks include Elder Carlos A. Godoy’s observation that it is not enough that something is “good,” for other choices are assuredly better, and one is invariably best. He reminded us that we are not here merely to waste our time but to reach our potential, to grow spiritually and intellectually (yes, he specifically said, “intellectually”). Elder Allan F. Packer employed an anecdote about the difficulty that he encountered in chopping wood with a new hatchet (when he failed to remove the hatchet cover) to caution his listeners about avoiding distractions. He then likened qualifying for exaltation to entering a foreign nation, a privilege for which we must meet all of the requirements set by God. Larry S. Kacher relayed a terrifying swimming experience in which he and his wife nearly lost their lives in a riptide, and cautioned listeners to beware spiritual the riptides in life that threaten to pull one away from the harmonious current of faith. And Hugo E. Martinez inspired listeners by reminding them that they themselves become saviours on Mount Zion when they perform ordinances for the dead. What were your own favourite talks or insights from the Sunday sessions of Conference? (Illustration below is Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life: Manhood (1840).)
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 23:19:56 +0000
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