April 2, 2012 - General Conference

Talk about a spiriually boosting weekend.

We spent the whole weekend watching conference practically! As a zone we had a barbeque in between one of the sessions with all the missionaries in my zone and some members of the church. Luckily we who are not native spanish speakers got to listen to Conference in English. That helped so I could really get every last drop out of Conference:)

I love General Conference! All of the talks were amazing and inspiring, but here are some highlights of my favorites or things that people said that really hit home.

Elder Donald L. Hallstrom:

"It is possible to be active in the Church and inactive in the Gospel." What a horrible thought. I was just astounded during his talk at the prospects of that and loved the point he made that we need to be fully and completely converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Church helps us to do that.But if we are active in the Church, and don't understand the Gospel we are missing the point.

President Henry B. Eyring:

Quoting Spencer W. Kimball said, "I feel to say to the Lord humbly, Give me this mountain, give me these challenges." I love so much to listen to President Eyring. His words are always so full of love and the Spirit. His talk and some experiences I've had recently have caused me to think about the reason for afflictions and trials, and what it means if we have little or lots of trials.

I was studying a little about this and came across two scriptures in the Book of Mormon that taught me a little more about afflictions. Alma 32:6 "Alma (a prophet)...beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word." The challenges we are given and afflictions we pass through are meant to help us be humble. I asked myself "Are you letting your afflictions humble you and prepare you to be taught?" And then in Ether 12:27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

I like how it all comes together - Our afflictions humble us and help us to see our weaknesses. And when we acknowledge our weaknesses humbly before the Lord He strengthens us! So afflictions are really a blessing that help us learn and grow as we humble ourselves. President Eyring explains a little in his talk, "why...great blessings can come from adversity to more than compensate for any cost."

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:

"We are not in a race against others, we are in a race against sin!" and "If you have made covenants, keep them. If you haven't made covenants, make them. If you have made covenants and broken them, repent and repair them!"

Elder David S. Baxter:

I was really touched by his talk directed at single parents, and especially single mothers. I liked that he said, "You can't change the past, but you can shape the future." If you are a single parent check out the talk on http://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2012/04?lang=eng.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf:

"The moment we judge others we condemn ourselves, for none is without sin." and "Heaven will be full of people who have been forgiven and who forgive." Many of the speakers of this conference addressed the need to put away contention, envy, and discord in our lives. I really liked that. Life is too short and too precious to be caught up in petty misunderstandings, or even serious grievances. Like President Uchtdorf said "We are all dependent on the mercy of God." So why should we deny it from other people and condemn ourselves by judging and not forgiving others?

Elder M. Russell Ballard:

Of course my ears perked up whenever someone talked about the family, and I loved this talk! I loved that he talked about causes and effects and how the family is the greatest cause in this life (it causes the most wonderful things and has the most beneficial effects), then using a little play on words he said that we should fight for this cause, the cause of family. He said, "Life is better as hearts turn toward family, and as families walk in the light of Christ."


General Conference was DEFINITELY the highlight of the week. These men and women are called of God and speak with His power. These are the words of eternal life! If we listen and learn from them and apply them to our lives we will find greater peace and joy in this life and in the life to come!

I hope you look up the talks online and read them over and over. I know I am going to!

Love Hermana Bowns


PS I hope you liked my April Fool's joke:) They don't really eat frozen cow tongue here...but they do have this cool popsicle that is like frozen jello!

Note: The church will have conference talk text uploaded to the website after April 5th. Once it is up I'll link each to each talk Di mentioned. The speakers' names are linked to their talks from the April 2012 General Conference. -Ryann