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What’s wrong with Elder Hales?

Published on October 8th, 2011 by in Mormon Church Hierarchy

If you saw General Conference, you definitely noticed that Elder Robert D Hales looked significantly different. He looked “puffy”, spoke from a chair, and had oxygen tubes in his nose. He didn’t say what was wrong with him. Elder Ballard and President Monson both referred to how it was nice to see him, but no one shared what was wrong.

Yesterday and today the Church News & Events page, the LDS Newsroom, and the Deseret News all posted about a statement issued by Elder Hales:

I continue to work with doctors and physical therapists to regain my strength. I am grateful for the faith and prayers that made it possible for me to participate in general conference and resume my responsibilities. I am touched by the many kind expressions of love and support shown to me and your continued prayers.

None of the three sources I mentioned talk about what the health challenges were that Elder Hales faced.

Do you think it was a good idea to post the statement, or does it lead to more questions? Part of me says they should share what is wrong with him. There are millions of people who are concerned about him, and continually using the phrase “health challenges” seems pointless. Another part of me says that it is his health, and he deserves privacy, so we should all back off. Yet another part of me says that if Elder Hales shared what is wrong with him, there would be critics of the Church who would use that as an excuse to talk about the “old men” who lead the Church and that they aren’t capable.

I’m still not settled on what I think the best way is to handle this, but I do know that I hope for the best for Elder Hales. I hope and pray that he isn’t suffering, and that he recovers.

 
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181st Semiannual General Conference – Post-conference notes

Published on October 2nd, 2011 by in Mormon Church Hierarchy, Mormon Church Meetings, Mormon General Conference

Before General Conference starts, I always wonder how I’m going to make it through. By the time it is done, I can’t believe how fast it has gone by. There were several talks that I really enjoyed, and lots to think about it. Here are a few random notes/thoughts:

  • President Monson is a great story teller. The story he told Sunday morning was a simple story about leaving money in his pants pockets, but he made it last for 5 minutes and was suspenseful. He also seemed to be a little “wired”. It was fun to see.
  • My favourite talks were probably from Saturday afternoon. I really enjoyed Elder Andersen’s talk about having children. He said that we don’t have children because we have time, he said that is what we’ve been given time for. I also really enjoyed Elder Ardern. He spoke about time management. He said the scales of time need to be correctly balanced.
  • It was sad to see Elder Hales. I have no idea what is wrong with him, but I hope he is not suffering. President Monson’s remarks to “Bob” indicated he’s doing better. Let’s hope so!
  • The Mormon Tabernacle Choir was fantastic as always
  • Elder Cook’s Mormon connection to the Titanic was neat
Well, I guess that is it for this conference. Stay strong, and I’ll post again soon…

Read the recaps and other notes from the 181st Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

 
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181st Semiannual General Conference – Sunday Afternoon General Session

Published on October 2nd, 2011 by in Mormon Church Hierarchy, Mormon Church Meetings, Mormon General Conference

Well, here we go into the last session of conference. It has been good so far. I haven’t started to fall asleep even once :-)

Between these two sessions on Sunday, we watched several of the Mormon Messages that the Church has put out. I highly recommend The Sting of the Scorpion and Watch Your Step. Both are very powerful!

President Henry B Eyring conducted

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang Arise, O God, and Shine

Elder F Michael Watson offered the invocation

The choir sang I Feel My Savior’s Love

Elder Russell M Nelson

  • spoke about his recent trip to Russia
  • temple covenants are sacred and powerful
  • we are children of the covenant
  • He is our God, we are His people

Elder Dallin H Oaks

  • What think ye of Christ?
  • When you consider all of the things the Saviour has done for us, don’t you have many reasons to come back to church?

Brother Matthew O Richardson

  • when I left my mission, my mission didn’t leave me
  • we need to be “real” in every area of our life
  • real life requires real learning which requires real teaching

The choir and congregation sang Now Let Us Rejoice

Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita

  • spoke about missionary work and the missionaries who serve around the world
  • missionaries are a treasure to this great church

Elder Randall K Bennett

  • he shared a story about how he almost drowned as a child
  • that day he made a poor choice that almost permanently separate him from his family
  • you can’t make eternal decisions without eternal consequences
  • in our choices we make every day, are we choosing eternal life
  • we essentially only have two choices
  • are you choosing to be busy and apathetic that you don’t take time to study the words of Christ?
  • are you choosing to follow the prophets or the world?
  • your eternal destiny will not be an accident. It will be a choice

Elder J Devn Cornish (President Eyring had a hard time pronouncing his name)

  • in His mercy, the God of heaven hears our prayers
  • Why would God concern himself with small things?
  • He loves us so much, what is important to us becomes important to him
  • it is contrary to the economy of heaven for God to do something for us we can do for ourselves
  • do not forget to ask the Lord to protect you and be with you
  • when we think we are too sinful to pray, that is like someone saying they are too sick to go to the doctor

Elder Quentin L Cook

  • something stirs within us when tragedy strikes innocent people.
  • why are righteous people not immune
  • we can exercise our faith
    1. God loves and understands us perfectly
    2. The atonement compensates
    3. The plan of salvation provides for eternal life
  • Cool story of missionaries cancelling trip on Titanic
  • have  a spirit of gratitude in our hearts
  • we prosper when we have the spirit in our lives
  • some challenges give us experience and purify us and prepare us to meet God
  • God has enough lifeboats for everyone

President Thomas S Monson

  • expressed gratitude and appreciation for a variety of things
  • Heavenly Father is mindful of the challenges we face

The choir sang Lord, We Ask Thee Ere We Part

Elder Gregory A Schwitzer offered the benediction

Read the recaps and other notes from the 181st Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

 
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181st Semiannual General Conference – Sunday Morning General Session

Published on October 2nd, 2011 by in Mormon Church Hierarchy, Mormon Church Meetings, Mormon General Conference

The Sunday morning of Genetal Conference is awesome. I’m in the Eastern time zone, so conference doesn’t start until noon. We have all morning to relax. We went for a walk in the rain, watched part of Pocahontas, and then had the Music and the Spoken Word broadcast on. We’re all set now for the first session.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang Lead Me Into Life Eternal

President Dieter F Uchtdorf conducted

The choir sang Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah

Elder Paul K Sybrowsky offered the invocation

The choir sang Consider the Lilies

President Henry B Eyring

  • members recently did a day of service
  • spoke of the baptism commitment we read about in the Book of Mormon near the Waters of Mormon
  • charity is the pure love of Christ
  • feelings of charity can become part of your nature

Elder Robert D Hales

  • How sad to see Elder Hales to look the way he did. I wonder what is wrong with him. I don’t mean to be disrespectful in speaking about him, but his face seemed kind of “puffy”, but spoke well. He had the same small oxygen tubes that came around the side of his nose that President Packer did. It appears to be a neat contraption that hooked up to his glasses.
  • He spoke of the atonement
  • To hope and trust in the Lord requires faith
  • To wait upon the Lord is planting the seed of faith
  • Sometimes I don’t receive an answer to prayers because the Lord knows I am not ready
  • Too often we want patience, but we want it right now
  • Be kinder to one another, and kinder to ourselves
  • We are not alone in our Gethsemane
  • the Book of Mormon is either of God or of the Devil
  • feast upon the words of Christ
  • come unto Christ and be perfected in Him
  • shared a great analogy about a dot. You can draw an infinite number of lines through the point. That is the bible and different interpretations. Add a second dot, the Book of Mormon, and there is only one line between the dots.
The choir and congregation sang We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet
  • How do we raise girls?
  • The most important thing a father can do for his daughter is to love her mother
  • join with us in leading the world in returning to virtue
  • the importance of a name
  • the church was given a specific name
  • we take upon us the name of Christ
  • do we realize how blessed we are to take upon us His name? It is the only name under heaven by which man will be saved
  • went over the name of the church, and how it in some ways seems long, in another way it is a beautifully short and specific name
The choir sang I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go (the choir sang it beautifully!)

President Thomas S Monson

  • recounted how life has changed since he was born
  • along with technology changes, the morals of society have changed almost as rapidly
  • we’ve been spending our moral capital with the same reckless abandon as our financial capital
  • we can rely on God’s constancy
  • we need to reject anything that does not conform to our standards

The choir sang I Believe in Christ

Elder James B Martino offered the benediction

Read the recaps and other notes from the 181st Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

 
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181st Semiannual General Conference – Priesthood Session

Published on October 1st, 2011 by in Mormon Church Hierarchy, Mormon Church Meetings, Mormon General Conference

Between the afternoon session and the priesthood session, my father, my brother-in-law, and I went out for dinner together. I ate so much Chinese food I thought I was going to burst! Not a good idea when you have to sit down for two hours.

Even after eating for an hour and a half, we made it to the church on time for the broadcast.

President Dieter F Uchtdorf conducted

A Melchizedek Priesthood choir provided the music

The choir sang Rise Up, O Men of God

Elder Richard G Hinckley offered the invocation

The choir sang I Need Thee Every Hour

Elder Jeffrey R Holland

  • We sometimes gloss over the menacing confrontation before the First Vision
    1. Satan is real
    2. He is eternally opposed to the love of God, the atonement, and peace
  • In this battle you need to be more morally clean than you are now
  • We need YM already on the team to stay on the team
  • Be active and be clean. If required, get active and get clean
  • From every priesthood holder I ask for a stronger voice

Bishop Keith B McMullin

  • Duty, properly carried out, affects our destiny
  • Spoke to the YM about being born again and developing priesthood power

Elder W Christoper Waddell

  • The Lord knows where he wants each missionary to serve
  • You learn things for the rest of your life
  • In order for the blessings to continue, you need to remain faithful
  • Arrive on your mission with a testimony of the Book of Mormon
  • Arrive on your mission knowing how to have the Spirit with you
  • Arrive on your mission ready to work

The choir and congregation sang the intermediate hymn. I sang it but didn’t write it down, and now I can’t think of it.

President Dieter F Uchtdorf

  • Experienced the church welfare program when he was a child
  • This year marks the 75th anniversary of the church welfare program
  • We care for the poor and needy because we love God and love our fellow man
  • Our spiritual life is that, a life. It is to be lived
  • This very hour there are many members of the church who need help
  • Do not think this is someone else’s responsibility. It is yours and mine.
  • It will take all of us

President Henry B Eyring

  • Priesthood preparation
  • Am I prepared?
  • Be an example of the word in deed
  • You can work harder than you think you can

President Thomas S Monson

  • The young people today think morals are a matter of personal taste
  • We should not have any question about what is moral
  • These laws are unchanging
  • Do we have the courage to stand strong in the face of opposition?
  • Dare to be a Mormon!

The choir sang Come, Ye Children of the Lord

Elder Koichi Aoyagi offered the benediction

Read the recaps and other notes from the 181st Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

 
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181st Semiannual General Conference – Saturday Afternoon General Session

Published on October 1st, 2011 by in Mormon Church Hierarchy, Mormon Church Meetings, Mormon General Conference

I gave myself a haircut, shaved, and had a shower between the sessions. I’m now refreshed for the next session :-)

President Dieter F Uchtdorf conducted

A Primary choir provided the music

The choir sang a song I didn’t catch the name of and I Thank Thee, Dear Father

Elder Won Yong Ko offered the invocation

The choir sang Families Can Be Together Forever

President Henry B Eyring did the sustaining of church officers

Elder David A Bednar

  • Sequence can be important
  • Spoke of Elijah
  • The restoration of the sealing authority was necessary to prepare for the Saviour’s second coming
  • Encouraged the youth to get involved in family history

Elder Neil L Andersen

  • Spoke about the family and children
  • You don’t have children because you have time, that is what you time for
  • Struggling financially is ok, and may even be good for you
  • Jesus was born without a fancy nursery to sleep in

Elder Ian S Ardern

  • Preach My Gospel speaks of wise time management
  • Time is never for sale
  • Wisely used, it’s value is immeasurable
  • Time flies on wings of lightning, we cannot call it back
  • Let us be as quick to kneel as we are to text
  • The scales of time need to be correctly balanced

The choir and congregation sang Praise to the Man

Elder Carl B Cook

  • “It’s better to look up”
  • Why is it hard to look up when we need help?
  • In order to be guided in life’s journey, we must look up and step up, and as we do we will cheer up

Elder LeGrand R Curtis Jr

  • Talked about the word redeem
  • “how great, how glorious, how complete, redemption’s grand design”

Elder D Todd Christofferson

  • Spoke of Nehor
  • The people didn’t believe the message of repentance
  • The prophetic call to repent should be received with joy
  • Repentance is a divine gift
  • Rather than interrupting celebration, it should be cause for celebration
    1.  The invitation to repent is an expression of love
    2.  Repentance means striving to change
    3.  (I missed what this was specifically)
    4.  We need to persevere through repentance
    5.  Whatever the cost of repentance, it is swallowed up in forgiveness
  • The pain of repentance is less than what we have to suffer for unrepentant sin

Elder L Tom Perry

  • Spoke about new temples
  • Visitors to the open houses are impressed with the members they meet
  • Spoke about the media attention the church has received
  • There are still many people who misunderstand us
    1. We must be bold in our declaration of Jesus Christ
    2. Be righteous examples to others
    3. Speak up about the Church

The choir sang My Heavenly Father Loves Me and I Know My Father Lives

Elder Bradley D Foster offered the benediction

Read the recaps and other notes from the 181st Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

 
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181st Semiannual General Conference – Saturday Morning General Session

Published on October 1st, 2011 by in Mormon Church Hierarchy, Mormon Church Meetings, Mormon General Conference

I helped a woman in the ward move this morning, and I got back just before noon… just in time to setup the laptop and get everything working on the TV.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir opened the conference by singing The Morning Breaks

President Henry B Eyring conducted.

The choir sang With Songs of Praise

Elder Gary J Coleman offered the invocation

NOTE: President Thomas S Monson did NOT open the conference with any remarks

Elder Richard G Scott

  • We don’t need to be concerned about the truth of the scriptures as the Holy Ghost prompted the writers
  • The scriptures are like packets of light
  • To memorize a scripture is to forge a new friendship
  • Scriptures can provide a foundational support

The choir sang We Ever Pray for Thee

Sister Barbara Thompson

  • As we grow we have challenges that help us know we need divine help
  • “have ye inquired of the Lord?”
  • The way to receive personal revelation is quite clear; we need to have desire, not harden our hearts, ask in faith
  • A woman said that she didn’t keep a testimony during trials, the testimony kept her

Elder L Whitney Clayton

  • The gospel is filling the earth
  • The work is great and marvelous

The choir and congregation sang Redeemer of Israel

President Thomas S Monson

  • Time flies when we are busy
  • Recounted recent temple dedications
  • The building of temples continues uninterrupted
  • No church built facility is more important
  • Announced
  • There is a new fund for people who still aren’t near a temple to help them financially to go

Elder Jose L Alonso

  • The Saviour’s life was a life of service
  • There are many who are lost who do not know they are lost

President Boyd K Packer

  • NOTE: President Packer spoke from a chair (sitting down). He had very small oxygen tubes going around his no. They were hardly noticeable.
  • The youth of today are better than the youth of his day
  • The youth are being raised in enemy territory
  • You may feel uncertainty in your life
  • The family is the centre of the great plan of happiness
  • Perhaps the single greatest thing he’s learned from reading the Book of Mormon is that the Holly Ghost helps you feel spiritual things
  • If you are associating with people who will pull you away, use your agency and heed the promptings of the Holy Ghost

The choir sang I Am a Child of God (they also sang the fourth verse in the Children’s Songbook)

President Dieter F Uchtdorf

  • Talked of Moses
  • Moses knew of the grandeur of a worldly kingdom
  • Years later he spoke to God face to face
  • “I know that man is nothing”
  • Even though man is nothing, the worth of souls is great
  • the great Deceiver uses extremes to get to us
  • compared to God we are nothing, but to God we are everything
    1. God loves the humble and meek
    2. The Lord entrusts the fulness of his gospel to declare the gospel
    3. No matter where you live, no matter how humble your circumstances, how meager your employment, you are not invisible to your Heavenly Father
    4. Please understand that what you see and experience now is not what forever will be

The choir sang Press Forward, Saints

Elder Lowell M Snow offered the benediction

Read the recaps and other notes from the 181st Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

 
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181st Semiannual General Conference – Pre-conference notes

Published on October 1st, 2011 by in Mormon Church Hierarchy, Mormon Church Meetings, Mormon General Conference

I can’t believe 6 months have gone by already. I haven’t even posted anything since the last General Conference. Yikes! Well, even though I’ve been a slacker on the blog, I’m still going to do my notes as usual.

Heading into this Conference, I haven’t heard any “rumours”, and there hasn’t been much talk that I’ve read on the Internet. I have no predictions myself. I’m going into it with an open mind, and I’m looking forward to receiving some direction. Getting through 10 hours of conference can be difficult, but it is always worth it.

One of my sons had a sleep over last nigh. This morning I was telling them that we had to get him home before General Conference started. Earlier we watched part of last night’s Star Wars The Clone Wars which had General Grievous in it. My 3-year-old daughter asked who General Conference was. I told her it was General Grievous’ friend, and she looked amazed, and asked if General Conference was from Star Wars :-)

I’m pretty sure we are going to watch all 4 general sessions from home. In the past we’ve still gone to watch the first Sunday session at Church. We’ll see how it goes this time watching it at home with the kids. We generally have them watch half an hour of each session, and they watch the entire first Sunday session. Hopefully they won’t be too distracted at home.

The only other thing that is a little different this time will be the food after the priesthood session. Normally my Dad and I go out afterward. Since conference ends at 10 pm, it makes for a late night. This time my brother-in-law is also here, and we’ve decided to go out for dinner instead, so we’re going out to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet in between the Saturday afternoon and Priesthood sessions. It should be good.

Enjoy the conference!

Read the recaps and other notes from the 181st Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

 
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181st Annual General Conference – Post-conference notes

Published on April 3rd, 2011 by in Mormon Church Doctrine and Teachings, Mormon Church Hierarchy, Mormon General Conference

Another General Conference, another 10 hours. This was the first time we had watched all of the sessions at home (other than Priesthood Session), and we loved it. We missed seeing some of the other members, but being able to watch it on our 46″ flat screen TV in HD at home was fantastic!

I made it through the first 3 general sessions and the priesthood session without any problem. I got a little sleepy during the last session. However, I still managed to watch every minute of each session, and here are a few thoughts:

  • My favourite talk was probably Elder Kent F Richards from the first session. He spoke about the purpose of pain
  • When I heard that this was the 75th anniversary of the welfare program of the Church, I was a little worried that every talk was going to be about that topic. I think that there was a good balance.
  • I think most people agree, but President Uchtdorf is a great speaker
  • I enjoyed the Saturday Morning and Sunday Afternoon sessions the most

Read the recaps and other notes from the 181st Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

 
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181st Annual General Conference – Sunday Afternoon General Session

Published on April 3rd, 2011 by in Mormon Church Doctrine and Teachings, Mormon Church Hierarchy, Mormon General Conference

So we’re getting settled in for the last session of conference. I had a brief nap between sessions, so I should be good for these last 2 hours :-)

During the few minutes before conference when they are showing different views of the Conference Center, I noticed that Elder Hales wasn’t there. I guess we won’t be hearing from him this session.

President Henry B Eyring conducted

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang I Saw a Mighty Angel Fly

Elder José A. Teixeira offered the invocation

The choir sang I’m Trying to Be like Jesus

Elder Richard G Scott

  • shared how he felt when he and his wife were sealed to each other
  • after a mission, the highest priority for a young man is getting married
  • are you loyal to your spouse?
  • tell your wife you love her
  • express gratitude for what your spouse does for you
  • he shared several other very touching memories of his wife
  • righteous love leads to successful marriages and happy children
  • “It is so rewarding to be married”, “Marriage is wonderful”

Elder D Todd Christofferson

  • “I would that ye should be perfect”
  • the God of the bible deals with life and death, not niceness
  • we need to meet Heavenly Father’s high expectation
  • we need to accept correction
  • “he that will not bear chastisement is not worthy for my kingdom”
  • all of us can meet God’s expectation

Elder Carl B Pratt

  • he is grateful for righteous ancestors
  • we need to pay our tithing
  • we are all indebted to the Lord
  • let us not be accused of robbing God
  • integrity in paying our debts to the Lord will help us to be honest with our fellow men
  • pay your tithing first

The choir and congregation sang Come, Ye Children of the Lord

Elder Lynn G Robbins

  • “To be or not to be” is actually a very good question
  • “What manner of men ought ye to be?”
  • to be and to do are inseparable
  • people often have “to do” lists, not “to be” lists
  • discipline involves patience
  • teach your children well
  • we need to compliment their “be” and “do”

Elder Benjamin De Hoyos

  • loves being with the saints
  • humble members who are dedicated become saints
  • the saints come to know the Savior through their trials

Elder C Scott Grow (I love his name)

  • his brother recently died
  • shared some information about his brother who had fallen away, and came back
  • the Savior’s atonement is available for each of us, always
  • as we repent, the Savior removes the guilt

Elder Jeffrey R Holland

  • Before leaving Nauvoo, President Young had a dream of the Salt Lake Valley
  • reflect on the unique phenomenon that General Conference is
  • we testify to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, that God not only lives, but also speaks
  • with rare exception, no one is given a topic
  • the general authorities and officers of the church are mortal messengers with angelic messages
  • the church is not a fast food outlet; we can’t always have it our way
  • if you teach by the Spirit and listen by the Spirit, one of the speakers will touch on your circumstances and send a personal prophetic epistle just to you
  • one way or another God will have His voice heard

President Thomas S Monson

  • expressed appreciation for those who participated in the conference
  • expressed gratitude for his counselors, the Twelve, and the Seventy
  • may we be examples of honesty and integrity
  • none of us can fully comprehend what Christ did for us

The choir sang More Holiness Give Me

Elder Kent D Watson offered the benediction

Read the recaps and other notes from the 181st Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

 
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