Our stake conference today was presided over by one of the twelve apostles of our church, Neil Andersen. In the 22 years that I've been a member, I've never seen an apostle come to a local congregation. I was able to meet him and introduce him to Abi. He blessed her for her faithfulness in being baptized last week. It was very cool. Here are the notes that I took from his talk.
Today is a gorgeous day isn't it? You are blessed to live in Arizona, where the weather is so nice most of the time. You are probably thinking, "You should have been here a month ago!" There are good and faithful members of the church here. Be grateful to be part of this community. I met with President Michael Crow last night and he told me how impressed he is with LDS students, and that he wishes more would come to school there.
Themes from this conference:
President Thomas spoke about recognizing the Lord's hand in our lives and expressing gratitude.
Elder Wright (area authority here) right talked about seeing with clearness and that the Lord expects us to make progress.
Sister Owens talked about being steadfast and immovable.
When Elder Andersen and President Monson were in France when Andersen was mission president, they were at a conference speaking to about 5,000 people. As they left, Andersen saw a couple whose missionary son had died. President Monson needed to be on his plane, but he insisted in turning back to greet that couple and hugged them and told them that they had his promise that if they would remain faithful, they would have their son again in heaven. The father later died, but the wife wrote to Elder Andersen about how important that moment had been to them and gave them so much hope and faith. The lesson from President Monson: never, ever delay acting on a prompting. President Monson had once delayed a prompting to get to the hospital when he was a young bishop. He was at a church meeting and left as soon as it was over, but when he got the hospital, the man had just died. The nurse told President that the man was calling for him before he died.
What helps us stay good in a tough world? Beautiful promises that we can overcome it and be with those we love. He testifies that the promises are true that we will see them again. When we have beautiful experiences, it brings affirmation and confirmation to us that if we are immovable, we can know heavenly things are at work.
Discussed the parable of the sower in the New Testament. We all have our share of scorching sun and thorny ground. Most of us are not "planted" perfectly. The challenge of mortality is to figure out how to receive the gospel into our heart. The things we don't see coming blindside us with pain and difficulty. Some aren't even of our own doing. We're left with trying to understand and keep going.
Shared story of two farmers: one who worked on crops on Sunday and one who didn't. The one who obeyed the Sabbath was chided by the other. His response: the Lord doesn't balance His books in October. We have to see the big picture: this life is but a brief experience in an eternal life. We're here to endure in patience and prepare for a much greater world.
Shared story of Jesus raising Lazarus and that Jesus is the resurrection. We live in a complex world. We see things in different ways. What we believe in is true. We have responsibility to teach these things to others. They have to know how we feel. We have to be loyal and true to our spouses. Be unafraid to prayer, read scriptures, and talk about our experiences.
Our lives take turns we don't expect. It helps us learn and grow. It's not easy for anyone. Jesus's experiences weren't easy either. Elder Andersen testified of Jesus as a God and our redeemer. Joseph Smith actually saw him - it was not a dream. He restored the gospel so that there can be righteous people in every nation when he comes again. Now have 3,000 stakes. We won't be a massive people, but there will be righteous people across the world. Stay true and faithful to the things we know to be right.
Left his blessing: as we study, pray and desire to know more about Christ, our testimony and firmness will grow and expand to see Him as he really is.
