I was a little late getting to this meeting. I went to visit my mother. I ended up sitting down at my computer in the middle of Elder Gong’s talk. I know I missed a little bit, but that’s OK.
Conducting – Elder Ronald A Rasband
Prayer –
Song –
Speaker – Elder Gerrit W. Gong
- Mission Call
- Listening to the Spirit
- Taking her father to the temple
- When loved ones pass
- The passing of Elder Gong’s mother
- Yes Please, she would like all the flavors of ice cream
- Which decisions most shaped her life?
- Joining the church and moving to the States
- Three friends came to the Bangkok Thailand Open House. What they each said; Can you feel the sacred power?
Speaker – Sister Kristin M Yee
- Inspired to paint a portrait of the Savior Jesus Christ
- How would she do it? Where would she get the time?
- She is an artist, but it still wasn’t easy.
- She realized she had applied the vanish too soon. The paint was still wet.
- She called her mother. You won’t get back what you had, but do the best with what you’ve got.
- She looked at it in the morning and it looked better than it did before.
- Redeeming power of Jesus Christ
- He can heal the waste places of your sole
- Make your wilderness like Eden
- We can not measure his… mercy and love.
- Through his suffering, he has made a way for us to be forgiven of our weaknesses and sins
- It takes work and sincerity of heart
- CS Lewis defending ourselves from those things that might do us good.
- Weapons of war that we use to defend ourselves from God’s love (wow, those who refuse to see God’s hand)
- Parasite of Pride
- The Lord is not done with us when we make a mistake
- They see you, they know your heart.
- If you are struggling with a situation you should have overcome by now, don’t give up
- Surely the love…. one who desires to come to judgment worthily…???
Wow, what a painting. And what an amazing talk about the mercy and love of Jesus Christ. There are too many beautiful things in this talk to try to write them all down quickly.
Song – The Iron Rod
Speaker – Elder Kyle S McKay
- Knowledge and Testimony of the Savior.
- Outlined the First Vision
- Both the Satan and the Father and Son visited Joseph.
- I found the testimony of James to be true
- It’s the nature of God to give to those who lack wisdom
- He is a God that answers teenagers in times of trouble
- Ask for Forgiveness and Direction for the rest of his life
- For a moment Jesus made them sinless
- They repented again and again.
- Jesus Christ is of a forgiving disposition
- He came to save
- He bled from every pore
- There are conditions to Christ’s mercy
- In 1842 Joseph wrote of amazing things that would happen
- Heavenly and earthly priesthood together
- Joseph died
- Joseph had seen a vision. He knew it and God knew it.
Speaker – Elder Jorge M Alvarado
- Lyrics of the song “I Stand All Amazed”
- Feeling inadequate and worthy
- Return to the savior and repent
- From Ponce Puerto Rico
- Man converted by the Book of Mormon she had in her purse that he stole from her.
- A beautiful letter from a thief asking for forgiveness.
- It is impossible for you to sink lower than the reach of Jesus Christ’s redeeming power
- We need to repent, rewind, and restart the clock every day
- Focus on the redemptive power of Jesus Christ.
Speaker – Elder David A Bednar
- Watched the conference center fill up three times
- The most people since COVID
- Teachings of President Ezra Taft Benson
- The purpose and importance of the Book of Mormon
- Keystone
- Teachings and Warnings of the Sin of Pride
- The Book of Mormon was written for our day. It was not given to the Nephites or Lamanites
- Mormon searched all the records. Each of the major writers testified they wrote for future generations
- We should constantly ask ourselves, why did the Lord inspire Mormon to include this record?
- From the Book of Helaman, anticipating the birth of Christ
- The Nephites began to dwindle in unbelief. The spirit of the Lord began to withdraw from the Nephites.
- All of this happened in the space of not many years
- Pride… this is instructive to us today
- Because of their exceeding great riches and vain things of the world
- Ancient voices from the dust ask us to learn this everlasting lesson
- Prosperity and ease can lead even the righteous to drink the spiritual poison of pride
- We must always be on guard, seeking self instead of serving others.
- Spiritual blindness
- It can also cause us to turn away unto forbidden paths
- Turning Away – Like the Pink Floyd song
- Apostasy at two levels
- Institutional – The church will not be lost to apostasy or be lost. Standard of Truth…. it will roll forth until the work is done.
- Individual – Each of us must beware of Pride. If we believe we are sufficiently strong, perhaps we are already struggling with this disease.
- In the space of not many days, weeks, or months, we can sell our birthright for a pot of porage.
- Beware of Pride.
I see so many today who believe they know better than the brethren and God. I did that. My fall took a few weeks or months. It didn’t take long at all. It was Pride that caused my fall. I admit that.
LINK: Beware of Pride – President Ezra Taft Benson
Song – Come Lord Jesus
Prayer – Elder Robert M Daines
SUMMARY
More themes of repentance. Elder Jorge M Alvarado mentioned that we can’t sink lower than the reach of Jesus Christ’s atonement. As I thought of this, I thought of the deepest darkness depths of the sea. They are much deeper than the heights of Mt Everest is tall. And even there under the immense pressure and total and complete darkness, even there, Christ has power to redeem mankind.
Wow, that last talk by Elder Bednar knocked it out of the park. Pride is the sin of this generation. I have had that witness about my own life and about the time and season we live in. We must be humble meek and submissive before the Lord. Surely I will not enter the gates of Zion if my heart is full of Pride. At least I don’t have to worry about the riches part of pride, but I surely need to check my heart and mind. A man does not need to be rich to be full of pride.