Stake Conference!

A Quadruple Combination of the (scriptures) of – contains the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, all bound together. Ricardo630 07:45, 15 April 2006 (UTC) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Today was a spiritual feast!

 

It was Stake Conference!

 

No, not steak conference.  Stake conference.

 

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are divided up geographically.  That means that everyone has a place in the kingdom of God.  No one is left out.  The smallest group, which is the local congregation, is called a Ward, or Branch if there are not enough members to form a Ward.  Several Wards together form a Stake.  So Stake Conference is a meeting of several local congregations with their Stake leaders, and in our case today, with 2 General Authorities, members of the Seventies.

 

Needless to say, that makes for a spiritual feast, communing with the Spirit and with our Father in Heaven.  It was so uplifting and inspirational!

 

And last night we had the evening adult session of conference where we receive instruction and inspiration designed to help us be better parents, families, leaders, and community members.  That session is usually the best one of all.  And beloved hubby was able to attend both last night’s and this morning’s sessions (meetings)!

 

So, what did I glean from these important meetings?  What was gleaned from the wisdom and spirit of these great people of God?

 

It started out with Michael Jackson’s quote, “Keep the faith baby” from one of his songs.  Weird, I know.  But the point was that faith needs to be in the Lord, Jesus Christ.  It is a condition, and trust, that Heavenly Father knows us and blesses us.  The challenge is to strengthen our faith.

 

How do you strengthen your faith in Jesus Christ?  Study the scriptures, pray to God the Father (in the name of Christ, His Son), hold Family Home Evenings with your family where you talk about the gospel and how it applies to your family and how you can strengthen each other, go to church together, serve others, and work towards going to the temple of God so you can receive His choicest blessings, etc.  We must be doers of the word, not hearers only.

 

Becoming casual in these things causes us to risk being overcome by temptation.  Certain blessings are only found in the scriptures (that would be the complete standard works – the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price).  And we receive protection from God as we go to His holy temple and keep the covenants we make there!  “…each of you needs to build a reservoir of faith so you can draw upon it when someone you love or respect betrays you, when some scientific discovery seems to cast doubt on a gospel principle, or when someone makes light of sacred things, such as the name of God or the sacred ceremonies of the temple. You need to draw on your reservoir of faith when you are weak or when someone else calls on you to strengthen them. You also need to draw on your reservoir of faith when some requirement of Church membership or service interferes with your personal preferences.

 

“You need the strength that comes from faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ if you are to fulfill your duty “to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9). In times of trial you need the comfort offered in the holy scriptures, which assure you that when you have the shield of faith you will “be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (D&C 27:17).” (Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by Dallin H. Oaks)

 

It just got better from there!

 

There is so much wickedness in the world today.  But there is also so much good in the world today!  This is a wonderful time we live in! Listen to the Spirit of the Lord speak to you.  You feel something here [at Stake Conference].  The Spirit of God will guide you.  In fact the greatest gift available to us is the gift of the Holy Ghost.

 

It was such a wonderful couple of days!

 

I know that these things are true.  God is our loving Father in Heaven, the literal Father of our spirits.  He sent us here to learn and grow.  He did not send us here without instructions.  He has blessed us with the scriptures, with His spokesman who leads the church today – His prophet, Thomas S. Monson.  And Father has given EVERY person the light of Christ.  Sometimes called our conscience, the light of Christ helps each person to feel what is right and what is wrong.  Listen to it.  Follow it.  Seek after that which is good, which leads to God, and to helping others.  That is the true way to happiness, and to life Eternal!

 

Try it and see for yourself.

 

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Come With Me To Church!

Knowing that Mom and Dad would probably soon be going to the hospital to have the baby, I offered to take the kids to church with me.  Why bother going to church?  Why worry about it at a time such as this?

That thought crossed my mind as I text messaged the invitation, so as not to disturb this precious yet precarious time in their lives.

Going to church has always been very important to me.  I was raised that way.  You go every week.  You just don’t skip going.  You only miss if you or someone you have to care for is ill.  As a matter of fact, if we went on vacation over the Sabbath, we found the local meetinghouse and attended there.

The benefits of doing this have been astounding.  There is, in fact, a synergetic relationship between going to church and living the commandments of God and the attendant blessings that are bestowed.  And this is because, as it says in the Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21, “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated – and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.”

One of the benefits I have been blessed with in my life is a steadfast belief in God, our Father in Heaven; never wavering, no matter what the ever-changing and shifting philosophies of society’s latest craze tried to espouse.  I never had to wonder if what was being proclaimed by the news, media, government or social group was truth or not.  I could weigh it against the steadfast teachings of the gospel as taught in the scriptures, the Prophet of God, and in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and know for myself whether it was true or not.  I could pray to a loving God who blessed every one of His children with the Light of Christ so each of them could know for themselves, if they would humble themselves and ask Him in faith.

Moroni 7:16 in the Book of Mormon says:

“16 For behold, the ^aSpirit of Christ is given to every ^bman, that he may ^cknow good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.

 17 But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do ^aevil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.

 18 And now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the ^alight by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same ^bjudgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged.”

I invite you too, to “come to church with me” and feel the things I have felt, learn the things I have learned, and receive the blessings I have received!

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