The annual HP Quorum meeting of our stake is this coming Sunday. For some reason, our ward was asked to form a choir to sing a hymn. Now, if there was anything that would make me question the inspiration of our stake leaders, this has got to be it!   We have about 20 HP in the ward, and my guess is that there will be 10 or less of us there. Out of those 10, I have no idea who are decent singers and who aren’t. We haven’t practiced, other than singing the hymn that was chosen as the opening hymn in Priesthood opening exercises. We’ll see how it goes…

Anyway, one of the reasons why I wanted to mention this, as it is a chance to plug the Interactive Music Player that the Church uses. It is awesome. I went on the site this evening to see if I could sing any of the parts (I can’t). You can play the whole song with all parts, or you can isolate a part. So if you want to learn the alto, you just play that part of the music. You can change the key and tempo as well. It is very cool!

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A few random thoughts as the conference comes to an end:

• I say this after each conference, and I think I will say it forever… I have a hard enough time staying awake for 10 hours, how do these men in their 70s and 80s?!?!
• General Conference was fantastic. I always enjoy it, but there was something different this year. I’m not sure why, but I welcome it. I felt the Spirit through many of the talks, and loved the music.
• We are so blessed to hear from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir regularly.
• In between sessions on Sunday I watched The World Report. It’s always interesting. I like seeing some of the “behind the scenes” activities around the world.
• I’m sure other goofy people have thought this before, but I noticed that Elder Malm offered the benediction of the Sunday Morning session. We have a dresser in one of our dressers from Ikea that is called Malm.
• I can’t get over how great Elder Perry looks. He’s going to be 90 this year!
• Before I die I hope to make it to Temple Square to hear the choir sing in person
• More than half of births to American woman under 30 occur outside of marriage. Nearly half of marriages end in divorce.
• Elder Ballard spoke powerfully to both male and female YSA about marriage
• I’ve never heard of Elder Wilson before, but I really enjoyed his style (as well as substance)

It was a long, but enjoyable 10 hours. I’m grateful that we have prophets, seers, and revelators and other Church leaders who can help us feel the Spirit in this way.

Read the recaps and other notes from the 182nd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

• 182nd Annual General Conference – Pre-conference notes
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Saturday Morning General Session
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Saturday Afternoon General Session
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Priesthood Session
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Sunday Morning General Session
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Sunday Afternoon General Session
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Post-conference notes

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2. 182nd Annual General Conference – Sunday Afternoon General Session Well, here we are at the last session. I didn’t...
3. 182nd Annual General Conference – Sunday Morning General Session The Sunday morning of General Conference is the best! I’m...

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The Sunday morning of General Conference is the best! I’m in the Eastern time zone, so General Conference starts at noon. We got up late, had a nice breakfast, and then relaxed for the rest of the morning. Nice!

The family is gathered together now, and we’ll watch the session together. The other sessions we ask the kids to watch the first half hour, but they watch the entire Sunday morning session with us.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang Come, Ye Children of the Lord (I love this hymn)

President Henry B Eyring conducted

The choir sang Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (my wife loves this hymn… she attended a meeting where she first felt that the Church was true and this song was sung at the meeting, so it has a special place in her heart)

Elder Brent H Nielson offered the invocation

The choir sang Teach Me to Walk in the Light (a beautiful arrangement)

President Dieter F Uchtdorf

• everyone has been affected by resentment
• we feel hurt, angry or envious and judge other people
• Christ’s atonement is infinite and eternal
• The Lord will forgive whom he will forgive, but we are required to forgive all (that includes ourselves)
• If you are gossiping, criticizing, judging, just STOP IT
• He saw a bumper sticker that said “Don’t judge me because I sin differently than you”
• We need to forgive others, as we want to be forgiven
• the pure love of Christ can remove the scales of resentment from our eyes
• the merciful will receive mercy
• let us be know as a people who have love one to another
• there is enough heartache and sorrow in the world than to have us add to it

Elder Russell M Nelson

• are we like fish, and are oblivious to the source of our food (the bread of life)?
• our degree of gratitude is a measure of our love for him
• we are not required to have a perfect body in order to achieve our divine potential
• could an explosion in a printing shop create a dictionary? It is remote, but it couldn’t heal itself if the pages were torn (Note: What a great analogy!!)
• just as the body needs food, our spirit needs nourishment

Elder Ronald A Rasband

• he spoke of his grandson who is missing a chromosome
• some people are born with physical ailments
• with infinite love and ever last compassion God loves your afflicted one and he loves you
• this life is training for eternal exaltation
• trusting in God’s will is central to our mortality
• the worth of souls is great in the sight of God
• do we offer to help a drowning person, or do we jump in to save them?
• The offer of “let me know if I can help” is really no help at all

The choir and congregation sang Rejoice, the Lord Is King!

Sister Julie B Beck

• the Relief Society increases faith
• the Relief Society strengthen families and homes
• the Relief Society seeks those in need
• faith, family, and relief have come to express the vision of prophets for the sisters of the Church
• Relief Society is not a program, it is part of the Church
• there is no other organization to match the Relief Society

Elder D Todd Christofferson

• we’ve seen a growing interest in the Church as of late
• there is still some confusion with our doctrine and how it is established
• establishing the doctrine of Christ is not done through scholarship
• the Lord communicates with his servants by personal visits, but messengers, by voice, and by feeling
• the prophet is a prophet only when acting as such
• the fundamental principles of our religion are the testimonies of the prophets and apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ

The choir sang Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words

President Thomas S Monson

• he will speak of eternal truths
• we are so busy, and often are worried about the trivial things of life
• we get caught up in the race of life
• we need to reach heavenward for assistance
• the prize belongs to him who belongs to the end
• we enter mortality not to float with the current of life, but with the power to think and reason and to achieve

The choir sang Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Elder Per G Malm offered the benediction

Read the recaps and other notes from the 182nd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

• 182nd Annual General Conference – Pre-conference notes
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Saturday Morning General Session
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Saturday Afternoon General Session
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Priesthood Session
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Sunday Morning General Session
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Sunday Afternoon General Session
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Post-conference notes

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It is amazing that another 6 months has gone by, and another General Conference is upon us. In a way, not much has changed since last conference… the economy still isn’t great; the Church has been in the news lots; there have been no “scandals” that have rocked the church. I guess it is “steady as she goes”. That is mostly a good thing. Instead of having to put out fires, the Church can focus on the doctrine.

The only thing I’m kind of wondering about is the health of some of the apostles. Last conference President Packer and Elder Hales both had oxygen tubes in place. I wonder if their conditions have improved, or worsened.

We’ll be watching General Conference from home again. I’m not working this weekend, so we’ll watch all 4 regular sessions, and then I’ll go with my father to the Priesthood session at Church. We’ll go out to eat afterwards.

Enjoy the conference!

Read the recaps and other notes from the 182nd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

• 182nd Annual General Conference – Pre-conference notes
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Saturday Morning General Session
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Saturday Afternoon General Session
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Priesthood Session
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Sunday Morning General Session
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Sunday Afternoon General Session
• 182nd Annual General Conference – Post-conference notes

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With devotion

1. As now we take the sacrament,
Our thoughts are turned to thee,
Thou Son of God, who lived for us,
Then died on Calvary.
We contemplate thy lasting grace,
Thy boundless charity;
To us the gift of life was giv’n
For all eternity.

2. As now our minds review the past,
We know we must repent;
The way to thee is righteousness—
The way thy life was spent.
Forgiveness is a gift from thee
We seek with pure intent.
With hands now pledged to do thy work,
We take the sacrament.

3. As now we praise thy name with song,
The blessings of this day
Will linger in our thankful hearts,
And silently we pray
For courage to accept thy will,
To listen and obey.
We love thee, Lord; our hearts are full.
We’ll walk thy chosen way.

Text: Lee Tom Perry, b. 1951. © 1985 IRI

Music: Daniel Lyman Carter, b. 1955. © 1985 IRI

Doctrine and Covenants 138:1–4

Doctrine and Covenants 59:8–12

“169: As Now We Take the Sacrament,” Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, no. 169

Here are a few of the things that touch me:

• “We contemplate they lasting grace, Thy boundless charity” – So true!
• “With hands now pledged to do thy work, We take the sacrament.” – What good does it do us if we take upon us the name of Christ, but don’t take any action? We need to commit to do the Lord’s work
• “The blessings of this day Will linger in our thankful hearts” – I love Church. The meetings aren’t always the best. I don’t always go with a great attitude. But each and every week I leave Church a better person. I feel closer to God, and I’m thankful for the ward family that I have.
• “…we pray For courage to accept thy will, To listen and obey.” – Most of us have a desire to do what’s right, but we fall short. We should, indeed, pray for courage.

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I love to sing!

It doesn’t really matter what I’m singing, I just love singing. Since I’m at the front every Sunday, and generally close to the microphone at the pulpit, I’ve had numerous people tell me that when they are out in the hall, they distinctly hear my voice over the sound system.

I think the main reason that I love to sing, is that it gives me a great feeling. I almost always feel happy when I sing, and more often than not, I feel the Spirit when singing Church hymns. I thought the music from this past General Conference was tremendous. I downloaded Sweet Hour of Prayer, This Is My Beloved Son, and We Thank Thee , O God, for a Prophet from the Sunday Morning session and have listened to them several times.

The words of Doctrine and Covenants 25: 12 say it best:

For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.

My life has certainly been blessed because of the songs of the Church!

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I’ve added this to my Official web sites of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints page. There are now 68 official church sites and sub-domains listed.

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I ended up going to the Church this morning sans family for the first session. Two of our three kids are sick, and so my wife stayed home with them. I left a little early as I had an interview before. I also had an interview afterward. It was nice being able to refer to the talks in providing some counsel. Overall, we had 100 people at Church for the broadcast.

President Thomas S. Monson conducted

The choir music was awesome!

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf ** might use this as a 4th Sunday lesson **

• today is Palm Sunday
• the flame of new theories fade
• the gospel is the ultimate formula for happiness and success
• stay with it
• we don’t go after eternal life in a sprint… we endure
• for some, spectator discipleship is preferred
• we need to get off the sidelines and practice what we preach
• gospel has the power to fill any emptiness

Elder Neil L. Andersen

• knows with perfect clarity that Jesus is the Christ by the power of the Holy Ghost
• note: he was very humble while speaking
• he knows he is not what he must become
• expressed gratitude and bore testimony

Elder Steven E. Snow

• get on with life
• change is an essential part of life
• follow the prophets
• have faith
• be of good cheer

Sister Barbara Thompson

• the time is far spent
• increase our faith
• no matter what our families look like, we can strengthen our own families, or help strengthen other families

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland ** might use this as a 4th Sunday lesson **

• spoke of those who are lonely
• recounted Christ’s last week
• Christ said “why has thou forsaken me”, but the Father was probably closer than at any other time

President Thomas S. Monson ** might use this as a 4th Sunday lesson **

• since last conference, the world has changed
• moral footing is slipping
• would be easy to become discourage
• blessings as members of the Church
• how do we have joy despite the challenges we face?
• though the storm clouds gather, our love of the gospel will sustain us
• fear not, be of good cheer, the future is as bright as your faith

Read the recaps from the other sessions of General Conference:

• 179th Annual General Conference – Saturday Morning Session
• 179th Annual General Conference – Saturday Afternoon Session
• 179th Annual General Conference – Priesthood Session
• 179th Annual General Conference – Sunday Morning Session
• 179th Annual General Conference – Sunday Afternoon Session

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Did you get them all? Here are the answers:

1. Drawn by my 4-year-old son. This is a tough one… It’s “Follow The Prophet”. Apparently that is my son on the left and the prophet on the right.
2. Drawn by my 6-year-old son. It’s “Families Can Be Together Forever”. It is a family sitting in the living room together. One person is reading a book.
3. I drew this one (no, I’m not an artist). Hopefully you figured out that this is “Popcorn Popping”. There is a person looking out the window.
4. This was drawn by my wife. This is probably the easiest one to guess. Yes, it’s “Holding Hands Around the World”.

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