General Conference

Our church has what is called General Conference (for more info on what this is, click here .) This weekend we were able to watch and listen over the internet (http://www.lds.org/). We listened to messages from a living prophet, apostles, and other leaders of the church. It was very inspirational. Even if you aren't a member of the church, the talks are very uplifting and encouraging. And the tabernacle choir was amazing. (If you're not interested in the talks, at least listen to some of the musical numbers.) Some of the talks were on overcoming adversity, becoming provident providers, and ways to strengthen our families. In these challenging times, it's comforting to hear messages of hope and ways to be of good cheer. It's so easy to become discouraged. The boys even listened to some of it. It worked really well for them to listen for words like faith, prayer, or Jesus. Nathan liked making a mark whenever he heard particular words, although he had to announce it each time he heard one (Mama, he said, "Faith!"). They also played a Bingo game with pictures of things to listen for - Jared ended up just eating a bunch of Cheerios...

One of the talks that I thought was very powerful was Elder Holland's. He talked about loneliness and particularly Christ's loneliness on His journey to Atonement. Although much of it was something He had to do alone in the garden of Gethsemane, His disciples were supposed to watch and wait for Him. When He found them asleep, He asked, "Could ye not watch with me one hour?" How often do we abandon the Savior or betray Him by our actions or our lack of actions? Despite what we do, though, the message of hope is that because Jesus walked the lonely path, we don't have to be alone on our journey. We truly are never alone when we accept the Savior's atonement.

I know - I'm sharing my religion. Sometimes it's hard not to.