90-Stake Conference

This weekend all of the Stakes in Southern California had Stake Conferences that included a satellite broadcast from Salt Lake City.  The broadcast was presided by President Hinckley and included talks by him as well as Daniel K. Judd, 1st Counselor in the General Sunday School Presidency; Elaine S. Dalton, 1st Counselor in the General Young Women's Presidency; L. Whitney Clayton of the Seventy; and Robert D. Hales of the Twelve.

The General theme of the conference seemed to be taken from 1 Cor. 15: 58–"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." (see also Mosiah 5: 15)  All of the speakers at the local Saturday evening adult session spoke on this scripture, and that also seemed to be the general thrust of the talks by Elder Judd, Sister Dalton, and Elder Clayton on Sunday.

Elder Judd specifically talked about the power of the gospel to change and improve lives.  He used a convert from his mission as an example.  This person came from a difficult neighborhood and his family was completely against him joining the church.  However he persisted in the gospel and 23 years later looked up Elder Judd in Utah when he took his son to the MTC.  While this young man didn't have much support from friends and family he did have support from the Savior (3 Ne. 22: 10) and local Church members.  Elder Judd highlighted the importance of getting and retaining the Holy Ghost and noted that the Church is a hospital for saints and sinners.

Sister Dalton noted the faith and dedication of the youth throughout all the world.  For example, in some countries youth will work all week just so they can earn the bus money to attend church on Sunday.  While all of us need to decide for ourselves the best way to live our lives, she said a scripture that has always helped her in making decisions was 1 Sam. 2: 30 that says in part, "for them that honour me I will honour."  Blessings always come from following God's commandments.

Elder Clayton's talk was about the importance of keeping our central baptismal covenant: obeying God and keeping his commandments.  He used the kudzu plant as an analogy.  This plant has many beneficial properties, and was once promoted for use as a forage crop and for ornamentation, but in the southeast United States it has grown out of control and is now viewed as a pest weed.  Once it has taken hold of an area it's very difficult to root out and eliminate, and it blocks sunlight to choke out other plants in the area.  Neglecting our baptismal covenants will allow worldly influences produce the same effect in our spiritual lives.  Elder Clayton had three suggestions to keep us from being overtaken by this "spiritual kudzu".

     1.  Observe the Sabbath day
     2.  Work at keeping our minds clean
     3.  Avoid giving only half-hearted attention to our family life

Elder Hales spoke on family preparedness, which I found interesting since I recently gave a lesson on the same topic. (For what it's worth, I think he did a much better job than I did, which should serve to illustrate why he's the apostle and I'm not.)  Using the recent wildfires in southern California as an example he explained why "if ye are prepared ye shall not fear." (D&C 38: 30)  He gave 4 steps to family temporal preparation based off of the pamphlet All is Safely Gathered in: Family Food Storage.  (Also see here)

     1.  Gradually build up a 3-month supply of food you regularly use
     2.  Store drinking water
     3.  Establish a financial reserve
     4.  Build up a long term supply of stables like grains and legumes

As for spiritual preparation he talked about the importance of taking upon us the name of Christ and keeping his commandments.  He also gave a three step plan for doing this.

     1.  Be worthy to partake of the Sacrament
     2.  Pay an honest tithing
     3.  Attend the temple regularly

Overall he stressed the importance of always having the Spirit with us.

Finally we heard from Pres. Hinckley.  He took us in a different direction than the other speakers.  He talked about the many thousands of letters he gets from women who are discouraged about their lives and have little hope for their future, in this life or the next.  They ask, "is all I have to look forward to is being barefoot and pregnant?"  He emphatically stated that he strongly disliked that charactiture of our women.  While the Church does talk about the importance of "multiplying and replenishing the earth" and "having joy and rejoicing in our posterity" the church leaves the number and timing of the children to the couple.  While he also acknowledges that life is difficult with many setbacks and detours, he said that the trick is to learn to enjoy the journey as companions.  He gave four suggestions to establish a nurturing home.

     1.  Mutual respect–husbands and wives shouldn't try to change each other, but accept and cherish each other for who they are: equal partners in the family
     2.  Soft answer–our communication should be meek, gentle, and uplifting
     3.  Financial honesty–finances tend to be the biggest reason for divorce, so couples should never hide finances from each other, work together to establish a budget, and never make any major purchases without first discussing it between them
     4.  Family prayer–developing the habit of always praying as a family will bring the family closer together

So that was the gist of the conference.  Nothing new or groundbreaking, but all good things to remember.  The biggest question is whether or not our lives will change much because of it, or if it will simply be quickly forgotten.  I hope more of the former than the latter, but only time will tell.