Mormon Bloggers

The youth website (youth.lds.org) has selected messages for youth from the April 2012 general conference and has published highlights from those messages that would apply to the youth of the Church. These messages include short video clips from talks given during general conference and the Young Women’s general meeting.  Read More →

Between Conference sessions on Sunday, I was replying to a friend’s email and I mentioned, “This has been one of the most ‘personally customized‘ conferences I have ever participated in – and it isn’t even over.” About two hours later Elder Neil L. Anderson referred to it as “customized direction”. I can’t recall a General Conference that has seemed so specifically customized for me, my questions, and the things I needed to hear. What makes that much more interesting is that many of my friends feel the same way. Uniquely personal, for millions of us. As I was focused on watching this ‘customized direction’ unfold, I failed to notice any sort of traditional “theme” this year. I didn’t notice multiple talks about temples, or family history, or missionary work, or history, or pioneers. So I have been processing, trying to decide what the theme of the Conference was for me.  Here is what I came... Read the rest of this entry »

It was a wonderful weekend – full of instruction and hope.  In addition, I had some questions answered. I also noticed a few things that I want to pass on to you. I was happy to see this: This is always good to see: Everyone was so excited to see Elder Archuleta, that nobody noticed who else was there: And I probably wouldn’t have even noticed, if I hadn’t seen this:  Read More →

Just a quick post today. I mentioned in my pre-conference post that I was, for the first time that I can remember, taking specific questions into conference with me. I told you I’d report back what happened. Well, Saturday Morning and Priesthood, that’s what. I’m still not telling you what my questions were. (My 11-year old shared her questions with me, but I refused to share mine with her. I told her maybe one of my questions was about her… Mine weren’t about her (and I told her that), by the way, but I also didn’t feel comfortable sharing them with her last night when she asked. But we did both observe that we did receive answers to our questions, and that was important to her.) My questions were very specific, and the answers were, too. Some were frighteningly specific (frightening because of the work ahead of me). I’ll blog more on conference later, but I’ll add this: As usual I took notes on each talk. Last night my lovely... Read the rest of this entry »

Unfortunately I missed part of this weekend’s LDS General Conference, which is held semi-annually.  I did listen to all of Sunday’s talks though.  One thing I noticed is that there were some very good quotes, which I will highlight. Best Quotes from April 2012 LDS General Conference President Deiter Uchtdorf gave a talk on not judging other people.  The quote I liked was off a bumper sticker he had read which reads “Don’t judge me because I sin differently than you!” Russel Nelson, an apostle, discussed in part the absurdity of the Big Bang Theory and made a great comparison.  He said “Could an explosion in a book factory create a dictionary?” Elder Rasband of the Seventy talked about how God’s works are often made manifest through other people.  He discussed how we sometimes need to jump in and help others rather than sitting back and merely asking “can I help?”  The quote I liked in his comparison was “would you... Read the rest of this entry »

My favorite moments from the 182nd Annual General Conference: Favorite Quotes ” ‘You can’t be right by doing wrong; you can’t be wrong by doing right.’ ” ~Elder Soares quoting President Monson ” ‘Don’t judge me because I sin differently than you.’ ” ~President Uchtdorf (from a bumper sticker he saw) “If a printing shop explodes, will it produce a dictionary?” ~Elder Nelson Favorite Talks Sister Esplin on teaching children. She gave very touching real-life examples. Elder Holland on the parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16). This parable has great meaning to me (read my post on it here), so I appreciated how enlightening and in depth his talk was. Elder Wilson on proper priesthood usage. I especially liked his opening story about driving with his wife. Favorite Musical Number “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the Sunday... Read the rest of this entry »

All too soon, another general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is concluded. Although each conference is relatively predictable, there’s always a twinge of regret when the president of the Church says “Conference is now over” during his closing remarks. The spirit of general conference does not necessarily require attendance in person to experience; it can apparently be transmitted via cyberspace. Audio archives of each session available eight hours after the session, video archives available 24 hours later, and written transcripts in English available four days later, all on the Archive Page. Those who don’t want to wait can read the LDS Church News summaries of each talk available through their own General Conference portal, subdivided by session. – Summary of Saturday morning general session HERE.– Summary of Saturday afternoon general session HERE.– Summary of Saturday evening priesthood session HERE.–... Read the rest of this entry »

I really do love General Conference. There is only one session left, and I have a few minutes to contemplate before it begins.  Rather than talk about what has been said, I have a couple thoughts about Conference in general (Get it? Conference in General?) Yesterday I described the gist of Priesthood Conference with this picture: In response to the picture w/ quote, I got a comment that was eventually deleted that said: “I must say, a perfect example of why I hate going to priesthood meeting.” The comment put me back on my heels for a second, and made me sad.  Sometimes I forget that we do not all approach Conference with the same purpose or desire. My approach is probably different from many of yours. I am highly critical of myself. I am acutely aware of my shortcomings in life. Sometimes this bleeds over into my relationships – which is yet another one of my shortcomings. When Conference rolls around, I look at it as an opportunity for the Lord to reenforce... Read the rest of this entry »

The Sunday morning general session of the 182nd Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was headlined by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, who delivered what could be considered a “red-letter address” calling upon Church members to be less judgmental and more forgiving. The primary beneficiary of forgiveness is the forgiver. In addition, the departing Relief Society President Julie M. Beck gave an exit address that effectively communicated the vision and purpose of Relief Society. Audio archives of each session available eight hours after the session, video archives available 24 hours later, and written transcripts in English available four days later, all on the Archive Page. For those who don’t want to wait, LDS Church News makes summaries of each talk available through their own General Conference portal, subdivided by session. – Summary of Saturday morning general session HERE.– Summary of Saturday afternoon general... Read the rest of this entry »

Highlights from yesterday’s LDS General Conference: 14 highlights were published last night on youth.lds.org. Public Affairs’ Mormon Newsroom had prominently displayed their conference article that contains various sub articles including one about the leadership changes. The Church News and Events team published an article summarizing yesterday’s events that will continue to be updated today.  Read More →

~by Michelle One of my favorite things to do when listening to General Conference is to look for common themes and patterns in the talks. As Elder Neil  L. Andersen said a couple of years ago: There are no assigned subjects, no collaboration of themes. The Lord’s way, of course, is always the best way. He takes the individual prayerful efforts of each speaker and orchestrates a spiritual symphony full of revelation and power. Repeated themes, principle building upon principle, prophetic warnings, uplifting promises—the divine harmony is a miracle! I testify that in this conference we have heard and felt the mind and will of the Lord. President Henry B. Eyring has reinforced this idea that patterns we see in prophetic words help us know and recognize God’s voice. The Apostle Paul wrote that “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Cor. 13:1). One of the ways we may know that the warning is from the Lord is that the law of witnesses, authorized... Read the rest of this entry »

General Conference was amazing! There were several notable, inspiring talks. But there is one that will have bishops high-fiving across the nation, I’m sure. In fact, one kindred spirit on Twitter joked Elder Holland must have slipped in the back of her ward and wrote a talk about it. Delightful! Spot on! Come listen to what an apostle sounds like: Jeffrey R. Hollands Amazing Talk Can’t wait for the Sunday sessions today.  Read More →