General Conference October 2011

We just finished watching another whole session of General Conference.  Each one of us really looks forward to being spiritually uplifted as the week moves toward the weekend.  Of course, there is always candy to get the kids excited as well.  Chloe is always saying, "I wonder what kind of candy we are going to get...but I know, it's not about the candy!" 

Saturday morning session was my favorite and usually always is.  It started out with Richard G. Scott talking about the importance of the scriptures and how they will change our lives as they open the channel to heaven.  I know this to be true.  I need to do better at really studying my scriptures so that everything that isn't going quite right in my life, will get better.  I am excited to improve.

My most favorite speaker this conference was Boyd K. Packer.  One year ago he delivered the most amazing talk about morality and the importance of the Family Proclamation.  He was verbally stoned, like prophets of old, for being so bold and stating the truth.  Because of his testimony, he has become one of my favorite apostles.  He is a hero, to me, like Samuel the Lamanite.  This year he stood back up, not physically~because he is 97 years old and had to sit down to deliver his message, and delivered a brief but direct message about the Family Proclamation again.  It proved to me that he knows the truth and will not back down because what he said is not "socially acceptable" these days.  His talk was about wars and rumors of wars and  how we live in a very literal spiritual war while there are physical wars going on around us.  He talked about how gender was established in the spirit world and all beings who have bodies have power over those who do not.  I have always taught my children that there are only two teams in this spiritual war of good and evil.  There is Jesus's team and Satan's team.  We also know who will win and who will lose, so it is up to us to make sure we are always fighting for the winning team.  I almost burst into tears when Boyd K. Packer said, "The outcome of the battle is not in question...Lucifer will lose!"  This will be a quote in our home from now on.  I believe that Satan knows he is going to lose the battle and the war and so his only desire is to take as many souls as he can down with him.  It is so important that we now prepare ourselves more than ever to continue defending the truth and protecting our families. 

I love General Conference and when it is over, I have a feeling like when you get home from vacation and you have to get back to reality.  But, I am renewed and it is time to get to work making improvements in my life and in our home. 

One sad thing that did happen this morning was that one of my mom's dogs, Popeye, tried to kill a porcupine last night and his whole entire mouth and face was covered with quills.  When she took him to the veterinarian, it was going to be so expensive to take them out and it was one of the worst cases the vet had seen.  So they decided to put him to sleep.  The kids have had a really hard day and I have to admit that it is really sad to have to put an animal down because of financial reasons.  But, we think if it happened in the great wilderness, he wouldn't have been able to eat and would have starved to death or been eaten by another animal...so that makes us feel better.  Oh, what a sad day to see the kids crying endlessly, the older ones writing their feelings in their journals and the younger ones drawing pictures of themselves with tears coming out of their eyes.  It breaks my heart to see them so sad, and I feel guilty because I wasn't really attached to the dog.  These experiences are good for us to go through because then we can talk about the purpose of life and what happens after death and how we need to treasure our relationships with family, friends (and animals) because we never know when it will be time to say goodbye.  Honestly it made me think about my Dad and Uncle Mason today and how we miss them, but we will get to see them again someday.  What a happy day that will be.  Oh, the circle of life...