Lifted, Encouraged, Inspired, and Blessed

This past weekend was General Conference.  This is a bi-annual conference that reaches out to all the world.  All nations and people now have the opportunity to listen to a living prophet and special witnesses of the Lord, Jesus Christ.  Growing up in the church, watching conference was just something we did.  I never prepared for conference.  I would take notes here and there to make it seem like I was paying attention, but the notes I took were never to be looked at or pondered over again.

Now that I am older, and have built a sure foundation upon Christ, I cannot seem to get enough of the words spoken at General Conference.  I feel as though General Conference should last longer than just two short days.  The inspired words we hear come directly from the head of the church, the Savior Himself.  He speaks to the prophet and the apostles through the Holy Spirit, and revelation.  In the Doctrine and Covenants 1:38 it reads: "What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." When we hear those who speak at General Conference, we are literally hearing the words of the Lord.

As a missionary I began to prepare for General Conference.  I would pray for specific questions to ask while watching conference.  Each time I did this I felt like there were talks given that were meant to answer my questions.  That testified to me that our Father in Heaven heard my prayers, and answered them through his faithful servants.

This is something I wanted to continue doing as a returned missionary.  In the days leading up to conference I contemplated what I needed to be improving on.  I came up with some questions that I could ponder while watching conference that would help me better understand what Heavenly Father wanted me to do.  One of those questions was " What can I sacrifice to become a more consecrated disciple of Jesus Christ?"  This question was addressed in numerous different talks.  Yet again, I felt that Heavenly Father heard my prayers, and knew the desires of my heart.

I found it very interesting how often the topic of  "come to know the savior" was mentioned or addressed.  We were invited by the Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, to read and study the Book of Mormon every day.  We were invited by President Russel M. Nelson, and a few other brethren, to study the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.  We were invited to study "The Living Christ", a testimony of the apostles.

This General Conference was not only wonderful because I got to watch it with my family, but it was wonderful because the Savior was at the very heart of the conference.  He truly is the Son of God.  He has bourn our sins so that we can have the opportunity to choose to return to our Father in Heaven some day.  I love that Christ does not take away our personal responsibility.  We are to choose to follow him and let his life be an example to us of how we should strive to live.

This conference has helped me to know what I can do to improve.  I plan to study the life and teachings of the Savior, and his Prophets.  I plan to read the Book of Mormon each day and draw nearer to the Savior.  But most importantly I am going to strive to become a greater disciple of Jesus Christ by Standing up inside, and being all in.

Here are some links to a few of my favorite talks from General Conference.  It is my hope that you will go back and prayerfully study and ponder the talks that were given and strive to learn how these talks apply specifically to you.

The Power of the Book of Mormon- President Thomas S. Monson
Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives - President Russel M. Nelson 
 Becoming a Disciple of Our Lord Jesus Christ - Elder Robert D. Hales  
Stand Up Inside and Be All In - Elder Gary B. Sabin
Return and Receive- Elder M. Russell Ballard 


I know our Savior lives.  I know our Savior knows and loves us.  His gift is the ultimate gift we can be given- New life and peace.

Find out how Christ is the Prince of Peace and learn more about the principles he taught that bring peace into our lives by visiting www.mormon.org