Live-Blogging General Conference April 2014 - Sunday AM

Yikes! Just when you are trying to be all positive and spiritual, the Choir ends their program with the Hymn-that-must-not-be-named. Good thing they started when they still had 8 minutes left.

Watch conference live here: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch?lang=eng&cid=HPTU040114644

Pres. Eyring conducting.

"Come Ye That Love the Lord" and "On This Day of Joy and Gladness" from the Choir help a bit.
"Let Us All Press On" even more so.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf:
Met with many people whose sorrow met the very depth of their souls.
Struggled to know how to comfort them.
Estrangement from family member - loss of Hope - end of Faith - questioning and abandoning what they know to be True.
It can happen to anyone - no one is immune
There is something that would take away the bitterness
One thing to make life sweeter, joyful, even glorious - we can be Grateful
set aside bottle of bitterness for the goblet of gratitude
Thank the Lord in all things.
Sing unto the Lord in Thanksgiving
Why command us to be grateful?
Commandments are opportunities to exercise our agency and receive blessings.
But what do I have to be grateful for if my world is falling apart.
It's not about counting blessings
We shouldn't be less grateful at time of trial than time of troublies
Attitude of gratitude - It's not about gratitude for things
It is a disposition
Story of waiter whether he had enjoyed the meal. Kept doubling the bread.
The choice is to live in gratitude like Nephi even when he had been tied up on the ship he had built.
"I did look unto my God - and I did praise him - and did not murmur because of my afflictions."
Job - naked - Lord giveth and taketh away - blessed be name of the Lord"
Mormon Pioneers
Prophet Joseph Smith
"Let us cheerfully do all things that lie within our power - and be still - for his arm to be fulfilled"
It surpasses disappointment - it blooms in icy winter
Grateful to God IN OUR CIRCUMSTANCES
Glory in God and in the Atonement.
Not just after our problems are solved.
Not just for the rainbow but for the rain.
Through the eyes of Faith we look beyond our present day challenges.
Heals the heart and expands the mind
An Act of Faith in God - Trust God - We hope in things we cannot see which are true Hebrews.
Hope and Testimony
Great Plan of Happiness - Through Atonement live with families for ever - live with perfect eternal bodies.
Replaced with eternal happiness and joy.
After crucifixion - apostles in despair - one event changed that - appearance of Lord - when they beheld Him they became different men. Not deterred from loving and serving the Lord.
Look past disappointing endings in mortality and see what He has prepared.
Seems to be something inside of us that resists endings - because we are made of eternal stuff
Endings are not our destiny.
They are merely interruptions - temporary pauses.
In His plan there are no true endings only everlasting beginnings.
Have we not great reason to rejoice?
Gratitude broadens perception. - a catalyst to all godlike attributes.
those who receive all things with gratitude shall be made glorious.
Show by word and deed our Gratitude to our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ.

M. Russell Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve:
After returning from mission went to dance and met Barbara Bowen. Tag dance - less than a minute til someone tagged him out - he was persistent - eventually able to make a date - somehow was able to convince her he was the only true and living missionary as far as she was concerned.
Consistent, Persistent Follow-up
Oct.2011 urged us to remember - For thus shall my church be called in the last days even the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We should not refer to the church by any other name
Members can be referred to as Mormon. [His last talk was why I changed the heading to this blog]
Just last conference - pray to have just one person to lead to the gospel. Stories from successes - but only a few had been followed up.
Preach My Gospel. Extending an invitation without following up is a hollow commitment.
Missionary work - inviting others to come unto Christ - basic principles.
Much more to missionary work than to extend invitations - also includes follow-up in the cultivation of faith, preparation for covenants, enduring to the end.
Book of Acts. Peter & John went up to the Temple - man asking alms - Peter, silver and gold have I none but such as I have I give unto the - rise up and walk. Acts 3:6-8. Powerful invitation - Peter didn't stop. He took him by the right hand and lifted him up. Leaping he stood up and walked and entered into the Temple with them.
Peter's example - we can replace our fear with real faith.
Invite all members to obtain copy of Preach My Gospel - read and study and apply what you learn
Invitation and follow-up
The harvest is plenteous but the laborers are few.
Greatest number of missionaries in the whole world.
Share Preach My Gospel study with missionaries.
But that every man - every man that hath been warned to warn his neighbor.

Sister Jean A. Stevens, 1st Counselor Primary:
[This is one of the sisters my wife taught to make a Kazoo with rubber bands, tongue depressors, and straws]
Neo-natal unit story.
Story about boy walking along the road. impressed to go back and help him. He had been praying for help. 25 years later, he connected with the boy, Derek Nance. Story helped lay a foundation of faith.
Not every prayer is answered so quickly - God accomplishes his miracles one person at a time - one prayer at a time.
I pray because I can't help myself  - it doesn't change God, it changes me" - CS Lewis, [Shadowlands, the movie. filmed in the Golden Valley below the Black Mountains.]
visits to Africa - members live each day putting their trust in God.
You can feel peace in the midst of turmoil.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is NOT A CHECKLIST OF THINGS TO DO - it lives in our hearts.
We are not alone, you are not forgotten.
Faith and Trust in the Lord - we become more like Him.

Choir: "Teach Me to Walk in the Light" [I guess cuz the Primary lady spoke?]

Gary E. Stevenson, Presiding Bishop:
Olympic stories of Mormon participants [members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, thank you Elder Nelson]
Speaking to young men, young women, young singles [I might just snooze]
For Parents and Grandparents: Help family along the covenant plan draw it up on some sheet of paper.
[I don't ski or snowboard either]

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve:
Friend who wanted a 4-wheel drive truck - spouse why? milk for our children in a terrible snow storm. Spouse - if we buy a new truck, we won't have money for milk.
They bought it. He decided to justify it by cutting and hauling some wood. got stuck. he went ahead and cut wood. filled the truck. then it got out of the snow. It was the load of wood that provided the traction.
It was the load that enabled him to return to his family
Each of us also carries a load demands, opportunities options, constraints [a few more]
Is the load I'm carrying providing spiritual traction so I don't get stuck and can return home to Heavenly Father.
Happiness is not the absence of bearing a load.
Don't haul around a lot of nice but unnecessary things to distract us from what is most important.
"Come follow me take my yoke - for my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
"take my yoke upon you" Matthew 11:28-30.
Making and keeping sacred covenants yokes us to the Lord even if our best efforts can't match Him.
But the yoke is easy and the burden is light.
Through the Atonement we can receive strength beyond our own.
Ammon in the Book of Mormon - covenants linked to deliverance
Covenants necessary
Ordinances of the priesthood the power of godliness in made manifest. D&C 84:21.
Lord will ease your burden to make them easy to bear
The burdens laid upon Alma and his brethren was made light - the Lord did strengthen them
The were agents to act - the Lord made them able to bear burdens.
Atonement isn't just about remission of sins - it also enables us to do good and become better far beyond our mortal capacities.
The Savior has made it possible for us to become clean.
It is also for faithful men and women who strive to serve more faithfully - we do not have to carry our load all alone with our limited capacities.
We need to appreciate that the Lord desires to enliven us - not just to guide but strengthen and heal us.
And he shall go forth - take upon the pains and sicknesses - death - infirmities - to know how to succor his people.  Alma 7:12
weaknesses fears frustrations despair injustices emotional distresses [several more]
No physical pain - no wound - no anguish of soul that the Savior did not experience first.
No one knows what it is like - but the Son of God knows and understands
He can reach out
His yoke is easy and His burden is light
Need to study the Atonement to understand better.
Heavy load necessary to provide traction.
Savior will help us to bear up our burdens with ease.
Agents to Act rather than objects to be acted upon.
April the 6th actual and accurate date of Savior's birth.

President Thomas S. Monson:
Which is the great commandment in the law
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God - Second like unto it - Love thy neighbor as thyself.
John: This commandment we have from Him - he that loveth God loveth his brother also.
If we keep his commandment in mind loving will become easier
The very heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Angry mob took his life "Father forgive them for they know not what they do" Luke 23:24.
Compassion and Love
Kindness patience selflessness understanding forgiveness.
Our love will be shown in our day-to-day actions in recognizing someone's need and responding.
Poem in the night - never regretted being nice
1933 - depression millworkers only paid for pieces

[I've been trying to come up with a good explanation for dropping off in the middle of Pres. Monson's talk. The truth is, my kids and wife finally got "second breakfast" ready and we paused Pres. Monson on DVR and said a blessing on the food. Then turned it back on to go as I was eating. But I can't do Pres. Monson justice anyway. The message was no more and no less than what my bishop just told me after I went on non-stop for nearly an hour over all kinds of things "Love God and love each other by service." I had to repent then, and I have to repent now.

The link here will get you Pres. Monson's talk as soon as it available in text or video, or other formats I don't even understand: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/when-conference-materials-will-be-available?lang=eng