Another General Conference has come and gone. There were several scriptures and quotes repeated by more than one speaker. Here are the ones I noticed:
Jeremiah 1:5: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."
A common complaint among various Christian churches is that there is no Biblical support for exotic Mormon doctrines. Actually, it is abundant, though often fragmentary. Premortal existence is supported by this verse, if one does not simply interpret it as a statement of God's foreknowledge.
Matt. 11:28-30: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Perhaps this was the most-often repeated quote of the entire conference. Associated with it was the frequent mention of power—given to us by God to accomplish His commandments. Humility leads to obedience, obedience leads to having the Spirit, and having the Spirit leads to power.
"After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel" (History of the Church, 2:478; from a discourse given by Joseph Smith on Apr. 6, 1837, in Kirtland, Ohio; reported by Messenger and Advocate, Apr. 1837, p. 487).
Raising children is missionary work, each child a blank slate, a new investigator fresh from heaven. Perfecting the Saints is like missionary work, teaching what each person needs to do next to further their eternal progression. Even Temple work is a form of missionary work, offering the ordinances of the gospel to those on the other side of the veil.
"Rise up" was repeated in several contexts—over and over again as an exhortation in President Uchtdorf's priesthood session talk, and at least once in the context of Jesus commanding a cripple to rise and walk as He healed him.
Ephesians 2:19: "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God..."
With 15 million members in the Church, converts might easily fall away. President Monson's talk about home teaching was probably for the salvation of teachers as well as the taught. Being a genuine friend requires an investment of time, emotional energy, and courage in the face of rejection. We should embrace all people who come through the doors. There was a plea that each of us make the first move to introduce ourselves to new people coming into our meeting places. It is so easy to offend, or be offended—so easy to feel passively or actively ignored.
It would be a horrible thing to account to the Savior for some brother or sister who left the Church because of our actions (or inaction). "How great shall be your joy" would be inverted.
Isaiah 55:9: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
How are the heavens higher than the earth? They completely encompass the earth, and expand for eternity in all directions. The Lord knows everything we know, or may yet know. He also knows everything there is to know at all. It is easy to slip into giving God advice when we forget this rather obvious principle.
2 Timothy 3:1-5: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."
There is opposition in all things; as the members of the Church become closer to God and witness more of the spiritual gifts promised to them, there will also be an equal and opposite outpouring. It never ceases to amaze me how otherwise rational individuals can be tricked by Satan into shooting themselves in the foot and feeling proud of it. Forsaking motherhood for career was mentioned multiple times; this is an example of "throwing away happiness with both hands." Family is forever; work is selling one's talents for ephemeral money. Developing talents of all kinds was lauded, but when it becomes impossible to adequately juggle family, marriage, and career, we were asked to let career take a hit.
Convincing people that freedom is bondage and bondage is freedom seems to be Satan's goal.
We are all beholden to something, have something enthroned in our hearts. It is not a question of IF we will worship, but WHOM or WHAT. There is no neutral ground where our hearts can hide from desires. We will end up giving our time and affection to something, somewhere, sometime. We are going to have something on the upper pedestal, and we are commanded to make certain that one thing higher than all others is God. That does not mean forsaking all other desires, just putting them in their proper order beneath the Lord. These words were not spoken this conference, but they seem to sum up much of what was said:
"When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities" (President Benson, The Great Commandment—Love The Lord, April 1988 General Conference).
