General Conference (Saturday Morning Session)

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I decide to appropriate Theric's idea of blogging General Conference.

9:00 am! We have already gorged ourselves on the traditional sacrificial donuts. MMM! Crispy fatty goodness. Especially the chocolate old-fashioned.
The SM is cuddled in his blue fluffy.

Glory to God on High!
President Thomas S. Monson: We're so glad you all can hear us.

Sweet Hour of Prayer - I haven't prayed for an hour for a really long time. Years. The SM says hour is metaphorical. Duh.

Agreed: We need a better couch to sit on for extended periods of time

Statistics in the morning? I thought it was always the Saturday afternoon session!
The Dude learns the joys of sustaining General Authorities.
President Monson's Spanish accent is so cute.
We're losing the RS General Presidency and the YW General Counselors!!!!! Well, at least it's not too many new faces. =) Unanimous in the affirmative as usual.

Auditing Guy
Everything is legit. Your tithing goes for things good and great. Don't complain or doubt.

Growth and Activity 2745 stakes! 344 missions! 630 district 27475 wards! 12,868,606 members! 53164 missionaries! sacramento temple dedicated! (and helinski) total temples: 124.

Cita Bonita twitches her way to sleep without too much complaint.

Elder Richard G. Scott
Prayer

Converse! Prayer good for everyone, anytime. Motives trump flowery language. Father is listening. Ask the right questions - honestly seek what He wants for you. Never too unworthy to pray! Vocal prayer important. Learn from Pres. Hinckely's prayers - prayed from heart (hem,hem opening prayer-talkers!) Complete responses not the norm - come in packets - like a treasure hunt! Exercise faith! Answers seldom during prayer itself.
Why prayers not answered as wished? Sometimes hard to recognize what is best in long term.

Both the Rosita and the SM are napping now.

When have no response - express thanks? - Heavenly Father trusts you to make decisions in the moment.

The Dude decides cleaning is more exciting than listening to Elder Scott.

Testify: Father will always answer prayers in best way for your Eternal Good!

MoTab: Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel - I don't like this extremely legato and calm version - it's like work is something to dream about.

Elder Jenson

Hymns = sermons. Nearer to the Lord through music than any other thing except prayer. Music a performance when it brings attention to itself instead of bringing revelation.
Hymns of the Restoration: Praise to the Man, Come Come Ye Saints, We Thank Thee, O God for a Prophet, and others. Nourishing hymns lead to conversion.

Hymns and appropriate music at home. Sing hymns as lullabies. Be punctual and listen to prelude music. Exit meetings reverently to extend spirit of meeting. SING! Listen to Hymns more frequently in homes.

Elder ?

Addressing the youth. I exempt myself from strict attention: I am no longer a youth, and my children are nowhere near youth age.

The Dude experiments with the vacuum and attachments. Without power. He then declares, "Mommy, you need raisins!" I defer and request a drink of water instead. He complies.

Stand and Sing! WE THANK THEE O GOD FOR A PROPHET!

Elder Jeffery R Holland

By words that all things are done. Power and sanctity of words.
Quoting the apocrypha! Stinging whips. Ouch!
Tongue a little member: set on fire of hell - untameable, deadly, poisonous tongue.
Perfect man - husbands! greatest gift = wife. voluntarily gave herself to you - think of her as your queen! Cold, caustic words - that which cometh out of a mouth defileth a man. Verbal and emotional abuse against wives (and vice-versa!) biting and acrid - drive people love futher away NO CATTY REMARKS, gossip, etc.
Children shaped by how we speak to them. and their faith in us and their faith in God - be Constructive. Never compare children (even if think are right). Praise child for what they are. Keep away from culture of comparing, competing. See only complaint makes us all miserable. Don't complain and moan - in Golden Age - everything too yellow! Nephi -- hit me, I can still hear you!
Maxim for living: no misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse.
BE YE KIND ONE TO ANOTHER.

The Dude distracts by reading me an animal babies book.

Speak by tongue of Angels. Speak with a new tongue - full of faith, hope and charity.


Elder David Bednar
Parable of the Pickle

Orchards and veggies - canning season! Temporal Self-reliance, provident living.
Cucumber to Pickle as We are to Being born again in Christ
1. Preparing and cleaning.
2. Immersing and Saturating in Brine (steady, sustained, complete for curing to happen correctly)
3. Sealing - all impurities removed.
CANNOT BE HURRIED OR SKIP STEPS
Mortal life to be changed, transformed. New creatures in Christ.

1. cleansed by Aaronic priesthood ordinances - and REPENT (preparing)
2. Spiritual rebirth - gradually and imperceptibly motives become aligned with God's)
SALT=covenants baptism - walk in newness of life sporadic and shallow dipping won't produce spiritual transformation to picklehood
3. Purified and sealed by Holy Ghost consecration

Search Ponder and Pray - this is one of the primary songs that I know. The MoTab seems lacking in passion today.

The Dude practises couch diving. SM and RC briefly awake during Dude tantrum, then fall asleep again.

President Thomas S. Monson!
We're trailing clouds of glory again
crucify Christ anew - denying divinity of Christ.
Man trying to deny Christ eventually came back to faith - wife died. Not her - soul gone.

Dude exiled for kicking.

Storytime - family of muscular dystrophy
reality of resurrection
Die we must. But the end it not be.
Easter - He is Risen!!!!!
Somtimes I think he's been general authority for too long because he speaks in cadences that lullabic in nature - more so than any other speaker I know.

Come Thou Fount
The men sound like they mean it for the first time today and now the women do, too - and I Feel it. The SM wakes to listen to it. We love Mac Wilburg!

The SM and I agree that we liked Elder Holland's remarks best - probably because it was most applicable to us. I wonder if we're spiritually masochistic.