Yesterday in a teacher's meeting at the MTC we were given the opportunity to share what we learned in General Conference and apply it to our work in the MTC. When asked the question I could not honestly think of a single thing that stood out to me (it was obvious that a couple other teachers suffered the same lapse). It got me thinking what did I really learn in Conference anyway? Was it nothing more than a relaxing weekend?
Fortunately thanks to modern day technology just a few days after the actual conference was over you could already read the talks and listen to them as well. I took the time to review just a few talks and happily I did pay attention (though I did doze off through a couple talks, oops!). As I reviewed a few of the talks I was reminded of a few things that I did learn and I learned a few new things myself. I decided to go through and post just a couple of my favorite moments of General Conference:
I absolutely loved Elder Holland's talk on the atonement. His telling of the story of Christ's sacrifice for us was absolutely a beautiful and comforting tribute. This part of the talk was especially moving:
With all the conviction of my soul I testify that He did please His Father perfectly and that a perfect Father did not forsake His Son in that hour. Indeed, it is my personal belief that in all of Christ’s mortal ministry the Father may never have been closer to His Son than in these agonizing final moments of suffering. Nevertheless, that the supreme sacrifice of His Son might be as complete as it was voluntary and solitary, the Father briefly withdrew from Jesus the comfort of His Spirit, the support of His personal presence. It was required; indeed it was central to the significance of the Atonement, that this perfect Son who had never spoken ill nor done wrong nor touched an unclean thing had to know how the rest of humankind—us, all of us—would feel when we did commit such sins. For His Atonement to be infinite and eternal, He had to feel what it was like to die not only physically but spiritually, to sense what it was like to have the divine Spirit withdraw, leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly alone.
I was also very impressed by President Uchtdorf's analogy with the burnt out light bulb that he gave in priesthood. It helped me to consider perhaps some things in my life that had taken priority over more pressing matters.
Elder Hale's talk about being careful with money was especially applicable to me. I liked this quote a lot:
"I have learned that the three most loving words are “I love you,” and the four most caring words for those we love are “We can’t afford it.”"
One of the first talks I looked at was Elder Scott's talk. It was unfortunately one of the ones I had slept through in the initial airing. My dad and Jess both told me it was one of their favorites, so I did get a chance to listen to it. I agree with them. It helped me to better appreciate the covenants I have made in the temple and makes me want to be better at keeping them more fully.
So overall I'm grateful for conference and I'm grateful for the wake up call I had at the teacher's meeting. Hopefully I can keep this conference fresh in my mind until the next one!
