Stake Conference

Stake Conference was the best stake conference I have ever been to. It was the Davis County Stake Conference with 65 stakes in attendance.   I took pages of notes. Jack and Jennifer were lucky enough to go to Salt Lake and sit in the middle section directly in front of the pulpit in the conference center.  The speakers were Shyne Bowen, Linda Burton, Elder Jeffery Holland and President Uchtdorf.
When Jack left on his mission from Arkansas he was the only missionary out from the entire Saline County, there are currently 2530 missionaries serving from Davis county.  WOW what a difference!
Some of my notes are:
Brother Bowen of the 70 talked about: Go after the one.  Open your mouth and invite someone to FHE or to church or to any activity.  Look beyond ourselves and reach out to the one.  Less active or inactive are those who do not understand the doctrine.
Sister Burton, the General Relief Society President, talked about Pitching our tents towards the temple.  Grow up in the Lord.  Teach our children (even before nursery age) the primary songs.  Sing to them.  Teach them the importance of the temple.
Elder Holland spoke about Conferences.  He said they are to be once every three months, they are "conferring" .  They are to bring about real growth, real change and the words are directed by The Holy Ghost and will bring about change.  Faith cometh by hearing and hearing the word of God.  Faith works by words.  Something someone said at one point has changed your life.  What can we do now to make a change?
What change have I made in my life as a result of anything I heard or was asked to do in the latest General Conference? (He repeated this a couple times so it is word for word what he asked).
He quoted the following from the last priesthood session, President Uchtdorf's talk:

General conference is always a good time for both hearing and doing. Therefore, let us “be … doers of the word, and not hearers only.”⁵ Brethren, I invite you to consider the words spoken by the servants of God this weekend. Then get on your knees. Ask God, our Heavenly Father, to enlighten your mind and touch your heart. Plead with God for guidance in your daily lives, in your Church responsibilities, and in your specific challenges at this time. Follow the promptings of the Spirit—do not delay. If you do all this, I promise that the Lord will not leave you to walk alone."

Kneel down and claim this promise.

He spoke about the closing remarks from conference. "May you ponder the truths you have heard, and may they help you to become even better than you were when conference began two days ago."  I am making a new sign for my fridge that says : Ponder and Pray to be better than I was before today.

He spoke about Christ speaking in the conference when he delivered the sermon about the House on the Rock that stood and the foolish man who built on the sand.  Go back and read that, it is worth the reminder (Luke 6:47-49)

President Uchtdorf was the closing speaker.  He started off with a joke about sleeping in church and that "Church sleep is on of the healthiest" He reminded us that the First Presidency needs our prayers.  He spoke about missionaries and said "The Lord has work for you to do!" Prepare now for a mission.  Study Chapter 3 in Preach My Gospel.  Read. Ponder. Pray.  Become and then stay worthy so you are ready when called upon.  The church has close to 15 Million members now. 

We are to concentrate on our own family members, invite them to church, be their friend, pray for them  "Dear Lord, help us to have success in bringing our family back to you..." (sorry, he spoke so fast that I did not get the rest)

We need to actively participate.  What do we choose to do with our time? Set spiritual goals as well as temporal goals.

Where an I in this journey? Where do I need a course change? Evaluate myself, commandments of God have a purpose.  Prove God by paying tithing.

Technology can be good, use it for good.  

 "You are free to choose, but we are not free to choose the consequence" CTR and return to righteousness.  

Parents, Check out the new site for kids  youth.lds.ord

He spoke about bullying and read the 2010 statement put out by the church where bullying has no place in our society.  Speak out against it, it ruins marriages, and families.

Nephi said he knows that God loves ALL his children.  He spoke about problems facing some in the church today.

When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Re-lite the power of conversion in us.  There are three things you need to do in order to keep the flame alive:

1. Have a current Temple Recommend.  Go to the temple often.  CTR stand for current temple recommend.

2. Study the word of God DAILY.  Home should be a refuge, read the scriptures and conference talks.

3. Speak with Heavenly Father DAILY.  Pray.  There has never been a time where prayer is more needed than right now.

Follow this counsel and you will have PEACE in your life.

Thank you for such a great conference and a great reminder of what is important.

Sister Dibb spoke at the Relief Society Women's Conference

I was invited to my old ward's Women's Conference yesterday. Sister Dibb was the guest speaker. I did not know who she was but during her talk I found out her father is President Monson. She spoke for about an hour and a half. She is an excellent speaker. She made jokes about women taking notes we never read again, and frog lanyards and many other things. She gave such great advice. I took a few notes but was so busy listening that I did not get much written down. Here are a few of the things I got out of her talk. We need to keep up with the changes. We need to listen to the brethren, gain testimonies of them and then we can get alot more out of their talks. Our conscious is that inner voice that someone is watching us. I will stay on the path back to Heavenly Father. (I loved the hand motions for that. make fists with your thumbs extended out and touching. Press forward and then upward with them and extend your hands upward towards Heavenly Father. The fists look like you are gripping the iron rod!!) We will go through whatever we have to so our children can be with us. People are so afraid of failing that they don't even try. She read us a book called The girl who never made a mistake. What are some of the mistakes we are so afraid of making? What "eggs" are we juggling? If you love me, keep my commandments. Forgiveness is a challenge. Sometimes we have the mistakes so we will never repeat them again. Write down all the things that are going wrong in your life. Now write down all your blessings. Then tear up the negative page and get rid of it. Focus on the positive. Forget yourself and look to other. Keep a service calendar or journal to look back on when you are discouraged (I have a journal). The 10 commandments are about relationships. Relationship with our Heavenly Father then with our family then with our fellow man. Put my will aside and listen to the teachings that will keep us on the path to happiness. Not all prayers are answered, it depends on the Lords will. Love the Lord, Love thy neighbor. FORGIVENESS AND LOVE and then do the best we can. I will have to come back when I have time and expand on these notes.

RS Testimony

I was asked to share how my testimony of Jesus Christ has changed over the years. Here is what I have written down as I think about this (don't know yet what I will actually say, it depends on the Spirit at that time).
My Dad’s family is Catholic and my Mom’s family is Presbyterian. I was raised Presbyterian and never questioned it. I went to church every Sunday no matter where we were. We took lots of camping vacations when I was growing up and visited the local church where ever we were. I have a pin that shows I went 5 years straight without missing one Sunday. I loved going to church but I always felt like something was missing. I was known as the trouble maker in Sunday school class because I always asked questions. I would say things like “You can’t take a part of you and send it down here to live as a human and another part of you to live as a spirit and even if you could how could you be your own father?” I would read my scriptures all the time and try and make sense of things. On youth Sundays I would be the pastor for the day, mostly because none of the other kids wanted to, but I would get up there and teach lessons that I truly believed, lessons about Christ and how he loved each and every one of us.
Then I went away to college and there was not a Presbyterian church nearby so I started asking my friends if I could go to church with them. They used to say, well Mary, we don’t actually GO to church but they would take me once or twice and then I was on my own. This started 17 years of searching for a place I could call home. I went to every kind of church there was up there but I never went to a Jehovah Witness, a Jewish Synagogue or a Mormon church. I couldn’t find anyone who went to any of those. I loved my Savior very much. I knew he was my big brother who watched out for me and I lived the principals that I discovered. I tithed even when I did not go to church; I would send my money in to TV preachers. I would listen to people preach and take from them the things I felt were true and create my own beliefs, my own standards. I guess this was why I had a hard time finding a church I liked.
Then one day I read Elder Ballard’s book “Our Search for Happiness” I could feel Christ’s love as I read the book and I had so many questions. I really did feel happiness as I read the book so I sat down and wrote a very long letter to him. I did not know he was someone special, just someone who wrote a book, someone who knew things I wanted to know. It took two stamps to mail that letter and I felt such a peace when I mailed it, I truly did expect an answer. I mailed it on a Monday and that Friday I got a letter from him answering some of my questions and he said he was sending some nice young men or women to answer the rest of them.
I had finally found what I was looking for and 24 days later I was baptized. At 34 years old I had finally found what I had been searching for, people who believed what I believed. I finally had proof of the things I had thought I knew. Finally there were people who help me learn more. I have spent the last 16 years trying to learn as much as I could and to forget the things I had been taught that were wrong. Sometimes I ask the same questions I had asked early on, simply because I have a better understanding of them now. It is like when you read your scriptures and you see something new even though you have read those passages a hundred times before. I love my Savior so very much. He gave his life so that I, Mary Deaton, could live and return to my Father in Heaven someday. He suffered so that I would not have to. I now know that I can live with Him and Heavenly Father forever and ever as long as I do my best here in this life, as long as I learn as much as I can and honor that which I have learned.
My whole life I have loved my Savior, my love for him grows more as I learn more about him. I wish so much that I could just give him a hug and thank him for all he has done for me. Now that I am a member of the church I know that it is possible to one day do just that. Sometimes when I am down it is that thought that brings me back up. The thought of one day living with him again, seeing his shining face in my dreams, gives me reason to go on. My testimony grows stronger and stronger the more I learn and yours can too, read about Christ, talk to him, treasure your friendship with Him. It will change your life. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, AMEN.