I really enjoyed Stake Conference. I was only able to go to the adult session on Saturday night but it was really good. I just wanted to give everyone a brief synopsis of the speakers and the topics.
The first speaker was President Brown he's the president of the Mt. Timpanogas Temple. His talk was on "Teaching our Children about Ordinances". He said that an "Ordinance is a sacred ceremony entered into with God." He talked about the 4 major ordinances that we participate in. They are found in the 4th Article of Faith
- Baptism
- Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost
- Prophets are called of God
- Ordinance of the Sacrament
He said that, "God promises to forgive our sins if we promise to honor our covenants." He explained that, "Through ordinances God endows his people with power." And that,"Through ordinances people learn of the priesthood." He explained that the temple is something like the "Book of Mormon" that is a living book of scripture. When we go to the temple we are like investigators and that we must go often to understand the fullness of the ordinances that are performed there. He ended with a quote by President Packard, "If we keep our covenants that our life is like a movie and we know how the movie ends."
The second speaker was Pres. Dortch the 2nd councillor in the Stake Presidency. I always love his talks. He often speaks of when he was a boy growing up and I love those stories. His topic was on "Because we have agency bad things happen." He said that he was reading in Revelations 11-13 and he asked himself why do bad things happen if God loves us? He also explained that maybe he was naive but that he had never met an evil person. He said that sometimes we are stuck around the corner and can't see. We need the patience and faith of the Saints to be able to see from beginning to the end. Elder Maxwell said, "We are never at home in time...we belong to eternity... time whispers to us that we are strangers here." Life is a hammer shaping us and we are the anvil. Time will heal but it's a slow process and eventually end up killing all of it's patients. Patience and Faith-the more we use them the less we need them. Our perspective will broad until we see the veil.
The 3rd speaker was Pres. Server the 1st councillor in the Stake Presidency. His topic was on "Be the best we can be!" He quoted the 10th Article of Faith and talked about how we can an "Enoch like Stake". He said if we read in D&C 105:5 and changed "Zion" to "we" or "I" we could understand what we need to do. He explained that when we have troubles with our children all we can do is be the best we can be and be Zion like in our approach and use the spirit of the Lord. He said that when we have marital problems we should ask our selves,
- Am I living worthily?
- Is my heart soft?
- Have I really done all that I can do?
All of our problems are spiritual in nature and we need to remain humble and teachable so we can feel the spirit. We need to change and receive the spirit as taught in Isaiah 4. He then showed the "Building up of Zion" video. It is based on some talks and it is really good. I don't know how to post it but if someone else does would you please put it up so everyone can watch it. It's really good.
The 4th speaker was Chris Anderson the Executive Secretary to Pres. Wilkinson. He bore his testimony on going to the temple to find the answers that we seek.
The 5th speaker was Allison Wilkinson President Wilkinson's wife. She bore her testimony about renewing our love of the scriptures. She also testified that the talks the prepared here are done so because it is what the Lord wants us to hear.
The 6th and final speaker was President Wilkinson. His topic was on "Why did God command us to get married?" He explained that there is no better way to teach us to be like God. There is no better way for us to be happy. Sister Hinkley said, "I think that for any marriage to be successful you have to be fiercely loyal, I think that's what happened to us." He showed a graphic of a bulls eye and explained that in the center there is a triangle and at the top is God and on the right side is husband and on the left side is wife. He said that we should be seeking the center of the bulls eye. On the 2nd ring there are children, parents, siblings and friends. On the 3rd ring there is play, church callings, work, co-workers, Internet. We should guard that bulls eye and not let anyone else into it. Don't be tempted to let children, parents and siblings into our center of the bulls eye. Our children will find their own center of the bulls eye on their own. We shouldn't be at our church callings more than 2 nights a week. He talked about the date night fireside that Matt Townsend spoke at and how he talked about how a marriage is in trouble when it is Starved of any of these things:
Saftey
Trust
Appreciation
Respect
Validation
Encouragement
Dedication
He then said, "STARVED people turn into the Natural men and women." He asked us to do a "Companions Inventory" once a week like missionaries do. We only should bring up one thing each to be "fixed". He also said to be like the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's and to bury our "weapons of war." Our weapons are pride and anger. Honor our covenants that we have made in the temple.
If anyone else has comments or was at the Sunday session I would love to hear your thoughts about it since I was unable to attend.
Love you all!
Karen
Katie and Emma are cousins that are 14 years apart but it was fun that they could be in the same dance recital. Emma has been taking for one year and Katie has been taking at Showcase for 16 years. This is her last year. There were 7 seniors that have pretty much danced together for at least 10 years. Katie has been there the longest. They did a video presentation of these girls. It was really fun to see how much they have grown up with dance. It has become Katie's whole life. I really appreciate the teachers and the life lessons that Katie, Brooke and now Emma will be able to learn. Thanks Jeana, Cassie and Tewa for all your love and support of my girls!
