Stake Conference
We had a special Stake Conference today because our Stake President passed away a couple weeks ago. The regular conference went on as planned the weekend after his passing, but they called a special one where they called a new stake presidency. It was a good experience. I woke up and didn't want to go today. Ellen decided she didn't wasn't going because she was still sick. When I told Joe that it was time to get up, he did but soon asked if I was going back to bed. (Of course to see if he could go back to bed.) I told him no, that we were going to church. He kind of rolled his eyes, but got ready to go. I decided I should go even though I really didn't want to because I had just read Kim's post which talked about that very thing.
I looked over at Joe's watch and saw that it was 20 minutes until conference was over. I thought about that conference was OK, but that I hadn't really gotten much out of it. I even thought about leaving so we wouldn't have to deal with the traffic when it was over. I decided it was probably a bad idea to get up and leave while a member of the Seventy was speaking. I'm really glad I stayed.
He spoke about Peter walking on the water toward Jesus. I heard a talk a while back that said that we focus too much on the fact that he started to sink and not enough on the faith that he must have had in order to walk on water in the first place. So, I thought that he was going to talk about that. Instead, he brought up a very good point. He talked about the challenges that we face being like the challenging winds that Peter saw. He asked us to think about what our challenging winds are. He brought up a couple of challenges that people face such as pornography or other addictions. Then he went back to Peter. He said that he had extraordinary faith and was able to walk on water. Where were his eyes when he walked on the water? They were looking at Jesus. When he took his eyes off of Him and looked at the challenging winds around him, that's when he started to sink. We have to keep our eyes on Him if we want to make it through. If we take our eyes off of Him, and look at the challenging winds around us, we will sink. Then, he went into how we can keep our eyes on Him since He is not here. He said that he couldn't tell us what would work for us, but that he would tell us what works for him. He prays every morning, every night, and in the middle of the day. He also keeps a prayer in his heart. He reads his scriptures every day. He hasn't missed one single day in over 40 years. He attends the temple regularly. He attends his meetings and partakes of the sacrament weekly. He also brought up that those who go to seminary in the morning, although their eyes may be half closed, they are focused on Jesus Christ. He then went on to talk about the sacrament. He went over our baptismal covenants and discussed how we renew them every time we take the sacrament. Every talk on the sacrament usually says that, but he elaborated. He read us a passage when Jesus forgave people. I can't remember the sentence, but he said that every time we worthily partake of the sacrament, it is the same for us. It is just like Christ is telling us that we are forgiven. It was awesome. I left with a better understanding of what I need to do with my challenging wind of SSA. Yes, I need to work through it, because to ignore the problem, won't help at all. However, there is no sense on dwelling on it as much as I have allowed myself to do. I need to focus myself on all the things He wants me to do.
It gets even better. Almost a year ago, Joe decided he was going to go on a mission. This was a huge change because he had been saying for years that he wasn't going...nobody can make me......etc. This happened shortly after we took President Hinkley's challenge and read the scriptures last year. Of course, we didn't start until November, so we had a lot of catching up to do. We read for hours a day over Christmas vacation. We finished about 3 or 4 hours before midnight on New Year's Eve. Nevertheless, we finished and we reaped many benefits. One of which was Joe deciding to serve a mission. About six months later, he changed his mind. Lately, he's been saying how he's going to join the military right after high school and that he isn't going to go on a mission. He stopped going to seminary and we all went 8 weeks without going to church. Last Sunday, he made the statement that he needs some time and space from the Church. Ellen and I reminded him that he's had 8 weeks of space and that was enough. She also asked him to go back to seminary and he agreed. Anyway, after we left, I asked him what he learned at conference. He made jokes like, "That all those people talk too much" and "Listening to a monotone guy for that long makes me sleepy" and I thought, "Great, he didn't get anything out of it." Then, he said, "Well, I did like the part about the sacrament, that was kinda cool." I was prompted to tell him what I got out of it. So I did. Then he said, I also received a very strong impression that I should (pause) (sigh) go on a mission. But I don't WANT to go on a mission. But GOD wants me to go on a mission. I guess I'll just join the military when I get back from my mission. I can leave for my mission when I'm 19 right? We talked about it more and he told my mom as well as his mom that he is going on a mission. I'm very happy that he made that decision again. I hope that we can all keep our eyes on the Lord and that this time he will stick to his decision.
I looked over at Joe's watch and saw that it was 20 minutes until conference was over. I thought about that conference was OK, but that I hadn't really gotten much out of it. I even thought about leaving so we wouldn't have to deal with the traffic when it was over. I decided it was probably a bad idea to get up and leave while a member of the Seventy was speaking. I'm really glad I stayed.
He spoke about Peter walking on the water toward Jesus. I heard a talk a while back that said that we focus too much on the fact that he started to sink and not enough on the faith that he must have had in order to walk on water in the first place. So, I thought that he was going to talk about that. Instead, he brought up a very good point. He talked about the challenges that we face being like the challenging winds that Peter saw. He asked us to think about what our challenging winds are. He brought up a couple of challenges that people face such as pornography or other addictions. Then he went back to Peter. He said that he had extraordinary faith and was able to walk on water. Where were his eyes when he walked on the water? They were looking at Jesus. When he took his eyes off of Him and looked at the challenging winds around him, that's when he started to sink. We have to keep our eyes on Him if we want to make it through. If we take our eyes off of Him, and look at the challenging winds around us, we will sink. Then, he went into how we can keep our eyes on Him since He is not here. He said that he couldn't tell us what would work for us, but that he would tell us what works for him. He prays every morning, every night, and in the middle of the day. He also keeps a prayer in his heart. He reads his scriptures every day. He hasn't missed one single day in over 40 years. He attends the temple regularly. He attends his meetings and partakes of the sacrament weekly. He also brought up that those who go to seminary in the morning, although their eyes may be half closed, they are focused on Jesus Christ. He then went on to talk about the sacrament. He went over our baptismal covenants and discussed how we renew them every time we take the sacrament. Every talk on the sacrament usually says that, but he elaborated. He read us a passage when Jesus forgave people. I can't remember the sentence, but he said that every time we worthily partake of the sacrament, it is the same for us. It is just like Christ is telling us that we are forgiven. It was awesome. I left with a better understanding of what I need to do with my challenging wind of SSA. Yes, I need to work through it, because to ignore the problem, won't help at all. However, there is no sense on dwelling on it as much as I have allowed myself to do. I need to focus myself on all the things He wants me to do.
It gets even better. Almost a year ago, Joe decided he was going to go on a mission. This was a huge change because he had been saying for years that he wasn't going...nobody can make me......etc. This happened shortly after we took President Hinkley's challenge and read the scriptures last year. Of course, we didn't start until November, so we had a lot of catching up to do. We read for hours a day over Christmas vacation. We finished about 3 or 4 hours before midnight on New Year's Eve. Nevertheless, we finished and we reaped many benefits. One of which was Joe deciding to serve a mission. About six months later, he changed his mind. Lately, he's been saying how he's going to join the military right after high school and that he isn't going to go on a mission. He stopped going to seminary and we all went 8 weeks without going to church. Last Sunday, he made the statement that he needs some time and space from the Church. Ellen and I reminded him that he's had 8 weeks of space and that was enough. She also asked him to go back to seminary and he agreed. Anyway, after we left, I asked him what he learned at conference. He made jokes like, "That all those people talk too much" and "Listening to a monotone guy for that long makes me sleepy" and I thought, "Great, he didn't get anything out of it." Then, he said, "Well, I did like the part about the sacrament, that was kinda cool." I was prompted to tell him what I got out of it. So I did. Then he said, I also received a very strong impression that I should (pause) (sigh) go on a mission. But I don't WANT to go on a mission. But GOD wants me to go on a mission. I guess I'll just join the military when I get back from my mission. I can leave for my mission when I'm 19 right? We talked about it more and he told my mom as well as his mom that he is going on a mission. I'm very happy that he made that decision again. I hope that we can all keep our eyes on the Lord and that this time he will stick to his decision.
posted by Latter-gay-saint at 3:44 PM
4 Comments:
I'm glad my post helped. And I love to see how going to conference was not only to benefit you, but Joe as well. Amazing how far reaching our choices are when they seem to be only about us ... thanks for sharing.
I really liked that. Your summary of the speakers words was very eloquent. Thanks.
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I really liked that. Your summary of the speakers words was very eloquent. Thanks.
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