For those of my friends who are not LDS, my church had General Conference this weekend, which is where leaders of my church give guidance to the members. I don't really like to use social media for religious stuff, and I am not trying to convert anyone, but I had some thoughts about what I heard over the last two days.
Everybody hears different messages from conference - usually what they need to work on - and every talk can be quite personal if you allow it to be. A lot of what I took from conference was that we all can work a little harder at being the best we can be, but we are not alone. One talk that hit me kind of hard was by Ronald A. Rasband, in which he talked about physical afflictions. I have to admit, I got a little teary-eyed when he was talking about his grandchild who was born with severe physical defects.
Obviously I am going through some physical afflictions, so I paid more attention. He said, "A perfect body is not required to achieve a divine destiny. In fact, some of the sweetest spirits are housed in frail frames." I don't think I necessarily fit into the "sweetest spirits" category, but I do think my physical afflictions have helped me take a different perspective on life. I can see how everything is working together to try to make me a better version of myself.
Another talk that stuck out was by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. He basically talked about how we should not judge others and how we should be more forgiving. A memorable quote was from a bumper sticker that said, "Don't judge me because I sin differently from you." Unfortunately, Utah has a lot of really judgmental people. It was one of the first things I noticed when I moved here, and I have also heard that from a lot of other people who move to Utah. My whole thought on the matter is that we all have different trials, so why should we judge somebody when we have no idea what they are going through? To quote a song by the punk band the Street Dogs, "Nobody knows the shape of other men. He could be looking well but his life is a living hell."
The final talk I will mention was by Henry B. Eyring. He talked about trials, and how challenges give us experience and build faith. Again, this talk stood out to me because I am going through some pretty big trials right now. A quote I remember is, "Lord, give me mountains to climb." I feel like I am climbing some mountains, but I can see how my challenges are helping me. He also talked about how personal integrity should be at the foundation of our character and faith.
This got me thinking about how rare integrity is in the world today. Most of the political leaders and leaders of big companies are incredibly corrupt. But I was also thinking about how little actions can add to or take away from our integrity. For example, I constantly have people tell me they will be to an activity, but then they are either really late or they don't show up at all. I have always tried to be the type of person that can be counted on for anything. When I say I am going to do something, I want people to know that I will actually do it and that I will be on time to do it. It used to be a social norm that a person's word was his bond, and to question a person's word was a very big deal. Unfortunately, we now live in a society where people say a lot of things, but don't back up their words with action.
Anyway, those are just my first thoughts after General Conference. I didn't consult any notes or anything, so I might get something different out of the talks when I listen to/read them again. That is the great thing, though. The messages are both universal and personal, and you can get something new out of every talk when you visit it again later.
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