Coming off of the heels of General Conference and Stake Conference I am uplifted and inspired by the messages we had the chance to hear over the last two weeks. I'm always inspired by the words of the Prophet, his counselors, the 12 Apostles, and other general authorities. {
October 2013 Conference} How can you not be uplifted by their words?! I remember as a youth thinking the 2 hour sessions were quite possibly the most torturous events forced upon me by my parents. I mean come on, sitting for two hours listening to some "old" people talk about something I wasn't interested in learning about or even trials I wasn't yet old enough to face was not my idea of fun.
As with other things though, as I grew up, not only in age but also in my own gospel study, I began realizing the importance of General Conference and the blessings it can bring into our lives. The two hour blocks of time where we are given inspired instruction became something more as I listened to the voices of men and women who faced many of my trials and kept pushing forward despite the trials they faced. I learned to find strength, peace, encouragement, chastisement, comfort, and acceptance through their words twice a year. For those eight hours { 2 sessions on both Saturday and Sunday, each lasting two hours} the world sits on the back burner and the gospel messages becomes the focal point of our lives. The bubble is real!
Improvement {i.e. repentance} is a consistent theme throughout the conference. There is always room for improvement for us all, so long as we remember improvement is not because we are broken, but because we are building and crafting a better version of ourselves. One of my favorite poems is the one about the master's touch. The reminder that at times in life we feel like something broken and sitting on the shelf. Along comes someone who helps us move through those feelings and towards a better version of ourselves. Not a different version with someone else's ideals imprinted on us and pushing us towards being someone different, but a version of ourselves who is a little more refined than before, a version of ourselves we can look in the mirror and know we are overcoming our weaknesses and reflecting the image of our Savior.
I missed the majority of Elder Holland's talk, found
here, but what I did hear was simply amazing. He always seems to hit the nail right on the head each and every conference. I love listening to his words of gentle {ok well sometimes not so gentle!} rebuke followed by words of encouragement and strength. His talk was entitled
Like a Broken Vessel and spoke to how at times in our lives we feel like a broken vessel, barely making the ends of our lives meet together from mental or emotional distress or illness. We feel alone, ashamed, scared, useless, and like a second hand shirt left by the wayside. I love his reminder though. "We are infinitely more than our limitations or our afflictions." How powerful is that thought? Society would have us labeled by our shortcomings, but not our Savior, not the one who was willing to lay down his own life for us all so we could return to our Father. We are not defined by our tragedies or our shortcomings.
This is what conference is about, it is about learning we are more than our limitations and our afflictions. We are truly worth more than we give ourselves credit. As President Uchtdorf reminded us in his talk we need to doubt the doubts before we question our faith. It's easy to doubt our faith, easy to let that one thought inside that tumbles down the mountains in our mind and becomes a mighty avalanche of heartache, worry, doubt, fear, and feelings of being unworthy of our Savior's forgiveness. We forget the atonement is for us all, regardless of our sins.
I love General Conference. I love hearing their words and the spirit is brings into our homes and hearts as we take their words and apply them to our lives. I love being able to look at my fellow member's feeds and see their reactions to their words and how quickly they spread these days. Most of all though, I love how their words of encouragement help me to become a better version of myself, the version of myself I know my Father in Heaven and my Savior see of myself. I love knowing I can carry their words with me wherever I go now and they can carry me through the hard times in life.
I look forward to April when we can once again join together as members of the church and hear the words prepared for us. We are truly blessed to live in a day and age where we can listen to their words and have them with us with such immediacy to incorporate into our lives.
