178th Semiannual General Conference – Saturday Morning Session

October 4, 2008

My postings from the April General Conference sessions brought a lot of visitors (although no comments), so I figured I’d do the same this time. I already take notes anyway and include them in my journal, so this is just an extension of that.

When I first got to the church, there was only 1 person sitting in the chapel. Within a few minutes, there were about 55 people there (not a bad turnout)
President Monson conducted. He had a typical dark conservative suit on. This might not be note-worthy, but given that he wore a very light coloured suit at the RS broadcast (that was the first thing my wife told me when she got home that night), I wondered what he would wear.
President Thomas S. Monson
- during the last 6 months they have dedicated 3 more temples
- he recounted the cultural celebrations
- 5 new temples announced to be built in the greater Kansas City area; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Calgary Alberta, Canada; Córdoba, Argentina; and Rome, Italy
- he asked us to pray for areas of the world to be opened
Elder L. Tom Perry * might be used as a 4th Sunday lesson *
- endure
- be positive and optimistic
- “the best is yet to be”
- he shared the story of Henry David Thoreau and his life on Walden Pond
- Thoreau said that we only needed 4 things: food, clothing, shelter, fuel
- we need a simplified lifestyle
- Food – read from the Word of Wisdom
- Clothing – simple & modes; dress and grooming sends message to others; casual dress brings casual manners
- Shelter – live within our needs; stay out of debt; save for a rainy day
- Fuel – spiritual fuel
Sister Silvia H. Allred
- the Lord’s church has responsibility to preach the gospel
- she was taught when she was 14
- missionary work is in the life blood of the church
- how can I assist or participate?
  1)have a clear understanding that God loves all his children
  2) our message is the most important gift that we have to give
- every member can help
- be a good neighbour
- be specific in your efforts
Elder Neil L. Anderson
- “you don’t know everything, but you know enough”
- we have moments of spiritual power, as we do, we have personal storage that we can go to in moments of doubt
- faith is not just a feeling, it is a choice/decision (my favourite line of the session)
- questions and doubts are normal
- “be not afraid, only believe”
Elder Marcos A. Aidukaitis
- 2-Jun-1940 was an important day in his family. It is the day his father was baptized
- reading the Book of Mormon brings great promises
- NOTE: There was a brief power outage near the beginning of the talk, so I’m not sure what the exact topic of the talk was
Elder Dallin H. Oaks * might be used as a 4th Sunday lesson *
- we live in perilous times spoken of by the apostle Paul
- D&C 59:9-10
- sacrament meeting is the only Sunday the whole family attends
- importance of individual reverence
- prepare for ordination of the sacrament
- he read from Elder Nelson’s training from WWLT broadcast in 2003
  bring broken heart and contrite spirit
  be seated early
  have quiet time before sacrament meeting; prelude music should be subdued
- appropriate dress (like going to the temple)
- concentrate on worship
- music is for worship, not for performance
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf * might be used as a 4th Sunday lesson *
- shared a bit of the story of his family leaving Germany
- his mother had faith and hope which led to action
- he spoke of the infinite power of hope
- hope is 1 leg of a 3-legged stool (faith and charity being the other 2)
- if we have hope, why despair?
- there must be opposition in all things
- faith/doubt, hope/despair, charity/failure to act
- the hope of Israel, Jesus Christ
- hope is trust and confidence