Come and listen to a prophet’s voice

photo from lds.org

Twice per year the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hosts its General Conference. This is a big event where thousands of members gather in the Conference Center (aptly named) in SLC for 10 hours of instruction and teaching from the leaders of the church (many considered apostles and prophets like those in the Bible), with live broadcasts across the world. For many LDS families, this is often one of the favorite weekends of the year. I personally enjoy it as it is a time to stay home and watch church in my pajamas with my husband while eating his yummy coconut rolls, panipopo which he seems only to make on this occasion.

So what do apostles and prophets have to say, you ask? It is hard to narrow down after hours of material but here are a few things that struck a chord with me. Please note these may not be direct quotes but were the message that spoke to me:

• You can depend on the Lord to draw closer to your family when you serve Him. He will raise you up as you serve others. (Eyring)
• Put away electronics and distractions and interact with your children (Wixom)
• Obedience to law is liberty! (Perry)
• Never underestimate how driven Satan is to succeed (Perry)
• Murder, stealing, lying are still frowned upon, but we have routinely dismissed the other 10 commandments as a society (Perry)
• Fan the flame of your faith, acknowledge doubts but focus first on faith (Holland)

And a few of my absolute favorites:

• Imperfect people are all God has to work with [so be patient, kind, and forgiving] (Holland)
• How would women be treated if everyone remembered the statement, “We are daughters of our Heavenly Father” (Dalton)
• A man cannot fully use his priesthood without a wife. In the eternities, both partners share the power of procreation and the priesthood (Ballard)

You can read, listen, or watch more if you are interested. I would be interested to hear from friends who watched what struck a chord with them this time.