The General Conference weekends are two of my favorite times of the year. I approach conference weekend with a determination to be spiritually prepared, to have questions that need answering, and to sit attentive to every session. It never happens quite the way I would like--I get distracted during the week, it jumps up on me and, although I usually watch every session, I'm doing good if I don't fall asleep at some point during all of them. For a few years I would listen to conference talks in the mornings as I got ready for work, but I'm always in such a rush these days that it doesn't work so well. I also don't retain nearly as much when I listen to something as when I read it.
So this year, I made a new goal, one that I know I can complete and will enjoy doing. I'm going to write my thoughts about every single April 2014 conference talk on this blog in the next six months. That way, I'll read the talks, I'll study them with the intent to learn something new, and I'll have something to blog about regularly. I love blogging, so it shouldn't be a problem.
I hope that through this effort I may be able to bring to pass President Monson's wish when he said in his Conference Welcome, "May we—all of us, here and elsewhere—be filled with the Spirit of the Lord and be uplifted and inspired as we listen and learn."
The thing that I feel is most important about the Prophet's opening address is that even though he didn't announce any new temples, he reinforced that "We are a temple-building and a temple-attending people." New temple announcements are exciting and make us feel the reality that the church is reaching the corners of the earth, but it is our personal dedication to temple service that is most important. It seemed to me to be a reminder that we need to make the most out of the temples we already have before we wish for more (unless we live in a region without an accessible temple, of course). I am so lucky to have a temple a mere ten minutes away. Sometimes I don't take advantage of it enough. In the absence of excitement for newly announced temples, we should evaluate our personal temple attendance.
So this year, I made a new goal, one that I know I can complete and will enjoy doing. I'm going to write my thoughts about every single April 2014 conference talk on this blog in the next six months. That way, I'll read the talks, I'll study them with the intent to learn something new, and I'll have something to blog about regularly. I love blogging, so it shouldn't be a problem.
I hope that through this effort I may be able to bring to pass President Monson's wish when he said in his Conference Welcome, "May we—all of us, here and elsewhere—be filled with the Spirit of the Lord and be uplifted and inspired as we listen and learn."
The thing that I feel is most important about the Prophet's opening address is that even though he didn't announce any new temples, he reinforced that "We are a temple-building and a temple-attending people." New temple announcements are exciting and make us feel the reality that the church is reaching the corners of the earth, but it is our personal dedication to temple service that is most important. It seemed to me to be a reminder that we need to make the most out of the temples we already have before we wish for more (unless we live in a region without an accessible temple, of course). I am so lucky to have a temple a mere ten minutes away. Sometimes I don't take advantage of it enough. In the absence of excitement for newly announced temples, we should evaluate our personal temple attendance.
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