Sunday Afternoon Session

Speakers

Elder Robert D. Hales - Quorum of the Twelve (Mormons are Christian)
Elder Richard G. Scott - Quorum of the Twelve (Work for the dead)
Brother Russell T. Osguthorpe - Sunday School President (Teaching the Gospel)
Elder Marcus B. Nash - Quorum of the Seventy (Faith)
Elder Daniel L. Johnson - Quorum of the Seveny (Being a disciple)
Elder Don R. Clarke - Quorum of the Seventy (Sacrament)
Elder David A. Bednar - Quorum of the Twelve (Testimony and Conversion)

Talk that you MUST watch

Elder Hales' talk was amazing.  He's not usually one who gives a talk that sticks out to me, but this one did!  His discussion about Mormon's being Christian is a question that is asked often.  I appreciate his suggestion that if we say that we are Christians, we dang well better make sure that we are acting as such!

Favorite Quote

"What kind of Christians are we? In other words, how are we doing in our quest to follow Christ?" Elder Robert D. Hales 

General Thoughts About the Session

This session seemed to speak a lot more about the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel.  Faith. Testimony. Being a disciple.  The Sacrament.  Basic stuff.  It's easy to get caught up in so much stuff and activity in the Church that we forget the very, very basic aspects of the Gospel.  And these foundational principles are so essential to our spiritual lives! 

Click here to view video of individual talks and entire sessions.  This link will also have transcripts of the talks within the week.

Thanks so much for following me throughout this Conference weekend!  Please continue to follow my blog in the coming weeks and months!  Every weekend I answer questions about Mormons that people ask.  If you want to submit a question to be answered, please visit the Ask a Mormon page of this blog and submit it in the comment section! 

During the week I blog about leadership and business topics.  Also please follow me on Twitter @Skropp2, I'd love to get to know you better!

In the words of MoTab, "God be with you 'till we meet again!"

Sunday Morning Session

Speakers

President Henry B. Eyring - First Presidency
Elder Boyd K. Packer - President, Quorum of the Twelve ( Those who are lost)
Sister Linda K. Burton - Relief Society General President (First observe, then serve)
Elder Walter F. Gonzalez - Presidency of the Seventy
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland - Quorum of the Twelve (Do you love me?)
President Thomas S. Monson - President (Service)

Talk that you MUST watch

Elder Holland's talk was fantastic, as his always are.  The visual of Father in Heaven asking us at the end of our lives what He asked Peter, is motivating.  "Do you love me?" Elder Holland's recounting of this conversation between the Savior and Peter is a great one.  I highly recommend it.

Favorite Quote

"Your Father in Heaven expects your loyalty and your love at every stage in your life."  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

General Thoughts About the Session

Another fantastic session.  Service seems to be a continual theme, and one that bears repeating.  It is so important for us as members to follow the example of our Savior, Jesus Christ and serve our neighbors, families, etc.  As we do so, we will be able to answer to the Father at the end of our lives that we truly kept the two great commandments, To love God, and to love our fellow man. 

Follow me on twitter @Skropp2 for real time impressions from the final session of conference at 2pm MST today. 

Click here to watch video of individual conference talks or entire sessions.

Priesthood Session

Speakers

Elder D. Todd Christofferson - Quorum of the Twelve (Be men/quorums)
Bishop Gary E. Stevenson - Presiding Bishop (Young Men)
Elder Anthony D. Perkins - Quorum of the Seventy (Spiritual Guideposts)
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf - First Presidency (Priesthood Service)
President Henry B. Eyring - First Presidency (Leading the Youth)
President Thomas S. Monson - President (Testimony)

Talk that you MUST watch

Elder Christofferson's talk was awesome.  He spoke heavily on being men.  He discussed how society and culture today has emasculated and humiliated men.  Men are portrayed as selfish, good for nothing, rude and many other undesirable qualities.  He talks about how imperitive it is for us to rise up and be the type of men that our spouses, children, and God need us to be! 

Favorite Quote

"We cannot save a man on Sunday if during the week we're complacent witnesses to the crucifixion of his soul" - Elder D. Todd Christofferson

 

General Thoughts About the Session

This was a great session.  As it often is, it seemed that the over-arching message was that we as men, and especially as priesthood holders, need and can do better.  We need to be more spiritual.  We need to be more caring and considerate.  We need to be more engaged in our families.  We need to serve more faithfully. 
It isn't that we are doing bad, we're not.  But there is much work to be done, and there are countless lives that are in need of our service.  We've gotta step it up.  We've gotta bring our A game.  We can't be passive and expect that our children will grow up with solid testimonies.  We can't be complacent and expect that our wives will take sole responsibility for family prayers, scripture study and family home evening.  We can't be laxed in priesthood duty and expect that home teaching families will return to activity or feel the love of the quorum.  We must be anxiously engaged!

Click here to watch these talks individually or the session in its entirety.

As always, follow me on twitter @Skropp2 for my real time thoughts on conference.  Also follow the hash tag #ldsconf to see what others are thinking!

Saturday Afternoon Session

Speakers

Elder L. Tom Perry - Quorum of the Twelve (Being "goodly parents")
Elder M. Russell Ballard - Quorum of the Twelve (The parable of the honey bee/Service)
Elder Larry Echo Hawk - Quorum of the Seventy (Book of Mormon)
Elder Robert C. Gay - Quorum of the Seventy (Anxiously Engaged)
Elder Scott D. Whiting - Quorum of the Seventy (Temples/Ye are the temples of God)
Elder Neil L. Andersen - Quorum of the Twelve (Faith)
Elder Dallin H. Oaks - Quorum of the Twelve (Protecting children)

Talk that you MUST watch

Elder Dallin H. Oaks' talk about protecting children is very timely in our country at this time.  He called for an end to abortion, straight up calling it evil.  He called for parents to think of children before divorcing.  He called for all those of religious faith and with similar value systems to unite together to do better for the children of our world.  Powerful.

Favorite Quote

 "May our lives of service always affirm that God forsakes no one." Elder Robert C. Gay

General Thoughts About the Session

It seems that a reoccuring theme of the Conference thus far has been to stand up, declare what you believe and be proud and unapologetic in doing so.  What a great call for all people of faith.  If we can all do this, what a great place this world can be.  We cannot be silent and keep to ourselves any longer, we must stand for what is right.  There is no neutral ground. 

Click here to view these talks individually or to watch the session in its entirety.

Also follow me on Twitter @Skropp2 to get my conference thoughts real time! As well as the hash tag #ldsconf

Saturday Morning Session

Speakers

President Thomas S. Monson - Prophet (New Temples and missionary ages)
Elder Quentin L. Cook - Quorum of the Twelve (Pornography/sexual misconduct)
Sister Ann M. Dibb - Young Womens General Presidency (Im a Mormon. I know it. I live it. I love it.)
Elder Craig C. Christensen - Quorum of the Seventy (Holy Ghost)
Elder Shayne M. Bowen - Quorum of the Seventy (To those who have lost a child)
Elder Russell M. Nelson - Quorum of the Twelve (Ask the Missionaries!)
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf - First Presidency (busyness/regrets/happiness)

Talk that you MUST watch

Elder Russell M. Nelson and Elder Shayne M. Bowen's talks tie for my talks that you must watch!  Elder Bowen spoke to those who had lost a child.  It was a very touching talk and not something that is addressed very often in a place like conference. 
Elder Nelson spoke about missionaries and missionary work.  I loved his point that you can ask the missionaries for whatever you need (within reason, of course)

Favorite Quote

"Declaring our testimony of the Gospel is good. But being a living example of the Restored Gospel is better." ~President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Notes

New Temples Announced - Tuscon, AZ and Peru
Young Men may now begin missionary service at 18.
Young Women may begin missionary service at age 19.

 

General Thoughts About the Session

What a great session of conference (is there any other kind??)!  The HUGE news was that the ages for missionary service were changed, from 19 to 18 for Elders and from 21 to 19 for Sisters.  Twitter was exploding with young people excited about being able to serve earlier! I even saw one bishop tweet that he just got his first text from a young man asking to start his mission papers!  That is awesome.
Sister Ann Dibb's talk was fantastic.  I love the question of "What would you write on your tshirt to describe your values?" Isnt that essentially what we do through our actions?
Twitter also was having a great time with Elder Nelson's talk about missionaries.  People began joking, one person tweeted, "Want some bacon? Ask the missionaries!" But the sentiment is true, the Elders and Sisters are sooo willing to help with whatever, be it, answering a question or performing service.
I was also impacted by Pres. Uchtdorf's comment about busy-ness.  It's so easy to get caught up in al that we have to do, so that we forget to do the really important things!
I highly recommend watching this session.  It will be up on www.lds.org to view probably within a day, and transcripts are usually up within a week. 

The next session of Conference begins at 2pm MST today.  Check it out! www.byutv.org,  www.lds.org, or BYUTV on satellite.

Click here to view these talks individually or the entire session.

Follow me on twitter @Skropp2 and the hash tag #ldsconf as well. 

I will have another summary of the afternoon session posted later today!

General Conference

This week's weekend post is going to be a little different. Here's why.

Photo of the LDS Conference Center, where General Conference is held.



This weekend is a very special weekend for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Twice a year members of the Church have the opportunity to hear from the Church leaders via satellite. Speakers include the President and Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, his two counselors, members of The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, members of the Quorums of Seventy, as well as other general officers of the Church.

These leaders will speak Saturday and Sunday in five separate 2 hour sessions.

General Sessions are 10 am and 2 pm both Saturday and Sunday MST and are broadcast on BYU TV, www.byutv.org, www.lds.org, as well as at any LDS Chapel.

There is also a General Priesthood Meeting Saturday night at 6pm MST. This session is open to men and boys age 12 and up and is only broadcast to LDS chapels.

General Conference occurs twice a year, the first weekends of April and October.

Those who speak will counsel, teach, testify and encourage the members of the worldwide church. Their intent will be to bear testimony of the divinity of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of the fullness of the Gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith.

They will also provide answers and solutions to the most pressing questions and challenges facing the world today.

If you want to know what Mormons believe, flip on the TV, go to www.byutv.org, www.lds.org, come on into one of our chapels or ask an LDS friend if you can watch it with them.

Follow Me

Throughout the conference I will be tweeting my thoughts, favorite quotes, and impressions on twitter using the hash tag #ldsconf. Follow me @Skropp2 to see what I am learning!

I am also going to try to post a summary of each session on this blog through the weekend. Please feel free to read these summaries and comment on what was said in each session!

Please share this post with all those who you think may be interested! Thanks for reading!

As always, please visit the Ask a Mormon page of this blog to submit questions about Mormons and I will do my best to answer them in an upcoming post!


Twitter: @Skropp2

General Conference Postgame

Wow! What a great General Conference (is there any other kind?)!!! I LOVE the chance to take a step back from life for 10 hours and get refocused on what is truly important in life!

My wife made a great observation during one of the sessions. She said, "you know, its great that General Conference is every 6 months, because it seems that is about when you start needing some motivation." I couldn't agree more whole heartedly! General Conference is always very timely!

I just wanted share with you a little bit of my favorite parts of the Coference and what I gleened from it.

Looking back over all 5 sessions, I felt like, for me, the over arching message was that in an increasingly wicked world, I need to step up and be better. I need to double down on being a better husband, father, son, brother, and priesthood holder. There were several talks that focused on the importance of parenting. Elder Ballard's talk in the Sunday Afternoon Session was one of the best talks of the entire weekend. He talked alot about how all of the problems, concerns, and issues we see in society are simply symptoms of the real problem we're facing--the decaying family unit. I would highly recommend going back and watching or reading his talk.

Another great talk was Elder Quinton L. Cook's talk in the Saturday Afternoon Session. I loved his quote where he said, "...mothers and fathers, praying with children may be more important than any other example..." What great counsel that is to us as parents!

Finally I really appreciated a couple missionary minded talks. Brother Richard C. Edgley from Priesthood Session spoke alot about missionary work as it pertains to less-active members. The story he told about the grandfather who had spent much of his life less-active, and now that he had come back to activity was tormented by the fact that three generations of his family were not active because of his inactivity. Second was Elder David Evans talk, which also focused on missionary work. The central theme of both of these talks seemed to be that sharing the Gospel with one person, is not really sharing the Gospel with only one person, but with hundreds and thousands of future generations that will benefit from an ancestor that accepts the Gospel.

Anyway, I could go on and on and on about my favorite parts of Conference, but I won't bore you. I may refer back to several in coming posts.

Also, if you are interested, I tweeted my favorite quotes during all 5 sessions. Check out my
Twitter profile @Skropp2 for all my tweeting...or visit my Facebook wall, all of those quotes are also posted there.

We, truly, Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet, President Monson, to guide us in these latter days!