April 2022 General Conference

[Anonymous]

I’ve been through several General Conferences with everyone here on the forum, and I know it can be painful sometimes. There are also gems sometimes (like Dieter Uchtdorf’s Come Join With Us). Most talks are blase (blah-ze), some infuriating, some bring some of us to tears. This conference was no different. I had every session on, although I did not hear every talk and intentionally left during one. I had an interruption during Sunday morning session and missed most of it. I did have a general impression of a bit of retrenchment from some of the talks and that started right in the beginning with Pres. Nelson’s “every worthy young man should serve a mission.” I felt like I was back in 1981, especially with the emphasis on young women mission being optional. In fairness, that talk from Nelson was not all bad, and I generally think his talks are nothing to crow about. He did say something I mostly agree with during the talk:

Quote:

Every person who has made covenants with God has promised to care about others and serve those in need. We can demonstrate faith in God and always be ready to respond to those who ask about “the hope that is in [us].”

That said, there are a couple talks that stood out to me and made it somewhat worth it. I have appreciated in the past when I have been able to come here and find which talks might be worthwhile and which to avoid. (I’ll get to the avoid, most weren’t horrible). I also felt very bad for Elder Ballard. I have not gone back and read the text (I waited for the text to come out to post this), but his delivery clearly showed he is struggling. He was obviously reading, using the wrong word and not always correcting himself, and I’m not all that sure he knew what he was reading some of the time.

So here are my two likes with which I mostly agree (I rarely totally agree):

Like number 1, Reyna Aburto, Saturday morning, We Are the Church. I have made a similar reference it talks I have given – the church is not the building or the institution (it is but those are dependent on your point of view) but it is the people who are really the church.

Quote:

While talking to a friend going through a difficult time, I asked how he was surviving financially. In tears, he replied that his bishop was helping him using fast-offering funds. He added, “I don’t know where my family and I would be if it wasn’t for the Church.” I replied, “The Church is the members. They are the ones who willingly and joyfully give fast offerings to help those of us in need. You are receiving the fruits of their faith and determination to follow Jesus Christ.”

My fellow disciples of Christ, let us not underestimate the marvelous work the Lord is doing through us, His Church, despite our shortcomings. Sometimes we are givers and sometimes we are receivers, but we are all one family in Christ. His Church is the structure He has given to guide and bless us as we worship Him and serve each other.

Quote:

The Church is more than the buildings and the ecclesiastical structure; the Church is us, the members. We are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with Christ at the head and the prophet as His mouthpiece. The Lord has said:

“Behold, this is my doctrine—whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church. …

“And … whosoever is of my church, and endureth of my church to the end, him will I establish upon my rock.”

Like number 2 Patrick Kearon, Saturday afternoon, He is Risen With Healing in His Wings.

Quote:

Perhaps some of you, however, consider the accounts of survivors, and your soul cries out that you are living a survival story right now as a victim of abuse, neglect, bullying, domestic violence, or any suffering of this kind. You are in the midst of your own desperate attempt to survive a situation that feels very much like a disastrous shipwreck or a promising mission suddenly aborted. Will you ever be rescued; will you make it through your own survival story?

The answer is yes. You can survive. You have in fact already been rescued; you have already been saved—by the One who has suffered the very torment you are suffering and endured the very agony you are enduring. Jesus has overcome the abuses of this world2 to give you power to not only survive but one day, through Him, to overcome and even conquer—to completely rise above the pain, the misery, the anguish, and see them replaced by peace.

Quote:

Imagine the Lord speaking these words to you—to you who are surviving—because they are for you:

Fear not.

I know your sorrows, and I have come to deliver you.

I will not leave you.

My name is upon you, and my angels have charge over you.

I will do wonders among you.

Walk with me; learn of me; I will give you rest.

I am in your midst.

You are mine.

(I also appreciated that most of those references were from the Bible.)

Quote:

If you have experienced any kind of abuse, violence, or oppression, you may be left with the idea that these events were somehow your fault and that you deserve to carry the shame and guilt you feel. You may have had thoughts such as:

I could have prevented this.

God doesn’t love me anymore.

Nobody will ever love me.

I am damaged beyond repair.

The Savior’s Atonement applies to others but not to me.

These erroneous thoughts and feelings may have been a barrier to seeking help from family, friends, leaders, or professionals, and so you have struggled alone. If you have sought help from those you trust, you may still be wrestling with ideas of shame and even self-loathing. The impact of these events can remain for many years. You hope that one day you’ll feel better, but somehow that day has not yet come.

The abuse was not, is not, and never will be your fault, no matter what the abuser or anyone else may have said to the contrary. When you have been a victim of cruelty, incest, or any other perversion, you are not the one who needs to repent; you are not responsible.

You are not less worthy or less valuable or less loved as a human being, or as a daughter or son of God, because of what someone else has done to you.

God does not now see, nor has He ever seen, you as someone to be despised. Whatever has happened to you, He is not ashamed of you or disappointed in you. He loves you in a way you have yet to discover. And you will discover it as you trust in His promises and as you learn to believe Him when He says you are “precious in [His] sight.”

You are not defined by these terrible things that have been done to you. You are, in glorious truth, defined by your eternally existing identity as a son or daughter of God and by your Creator’s perfect, infinite love and invitation to whole and complete healing.

Though it may seem impossible, feel impossible, healing can come through the miracle of the redemptive might of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, who is risen “with healing in his wings.”

Our merciful Savior, victorious over darkness and depravity, has power to right all wrongs, a life-giving truth for those wronged by others.

Please know that the Savior has descended below all things, even what has happened to you. Because of that, He knows exactly what real terror and shame feel like and how it feels to be abandoned and broken. From the depths of His atoning suffering, the Savior imparts hope you thought was lost forever, strength you believed you could never possess, and healing you couldn’t imagine was possible.

There may be others to avoid because as I said I didn’t hear some and generally wait for the input of others on reading one I didn’t hear. Most people here will probably want to avoid Pres. Oaks’ Sunday afternoon Divine Love in the Father’s Plan. It actually started out fine and could have been a very good talk similar to Elder Kearon. It was a talk about the plan of salvation/plan of happiness. But Oaks just can’t help himself and turned it into another anti gay marriage (and anti gay) talk. 😥 :thumbdown:

So there you have it, my opinion which is always worth exactly what you’re paying for it. Thoughts from others are encouraged and welcome.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the thread. Ordinarily we’ve had a thread going while conference is in session but I’ve skipped most of the last few conferences. Purposely not tuning in has required some discipline, believe it or not.

I caught about 30 minutes of conference this go-round.

I first tuned in Saturday afternoon and got as far as the first few minutes of the first talk (Holland). He shared a drawing from a child asking why we have to watch conference because of how boring it is. I thought, “From the mouth of babes.” and turned off conference for the day.

I next tuned in mid-session Sunday afternoon, which may have been precisely the wrong time to tune into conference. Oaks and two talks later Klebingat. Oaks is Oaks, he’s got is one note he has to hit. I don’t remember much from Klebingat’s talk other than it being on the orthodox side and with a large section of the talk dedicated to falling into the trap Ralph Waldo Emerson warned against, “Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.”

After those talks I tuned out. I heard snippets of Uchtdorf’s talk and I remember liking some of his half-heard remarks.

[Anonymous]

I did not watch GC and so will only be able to respond to what others have shared here.

I like the idea that Sis. Aburto shared of the members being the church. In this context it makes no sense to say that “the church is perfect” because of course the members are not perfect individually or collectively. This also helps to illustrate how the church is changing or retrenching with the membership. Yes, there is still a lot of top down (waterfall style) direction but the Overton window shifts and also even our leaders come from among the members. Each new leader called is from a different generation than those of the past. And so the church changes, but also usually stays 30-50 years behind the changes in the broader community. This allows the church to be seen as not changing but rather defending the ways and values of an earlier time (hint, hint – also the ways and values dominant during the time when most of the church leaders came of age).

I also really connect with the love that our Heavenly Parents or JC has for the oppressed, abused, and down trodden. In my experience, some other Christian churches have this “Jesus loves and rescues” stuff much more in line with their brand. I think perhaps that I have swam in these waters of mercy and grace for so long that the LDS version seems watered down (where I am sure for some, it is a breath of fresh air and just the lifeline that they needed). That said, I truly applaud Elder Kearon’s talk and I feel that he did a marvelous job threading the needle with mercy, grace, love, and forgiveness on one side and the need to stay true to the existing church culture/paradigms on the other. I do have one suggestion. Elder Kearon said “You are not less worthy or less valuable or less loved as a human being or as a daughter or son of God” I think this would have been better said in the positive. “You are worthy! You are valuable! You are loved as a human being and a daughter or son of God” To be fair to Elder Kearon, he did express this in his talk using other words. I particularly liked when he quoted the Savior in saying that the individual in “precious in [His] sight.” However, I feel like there might have been a missed opportunity to say “You are worthy” that I believe people are hungry for.

One last comment, The reference to “a promising mission suddenly aborted” seems to refer in context to the Apollo 13 mission. I am not sure if Elder Kearon is purposely drawing comparisons to LDS proselyting missions. I assume that he is not and in that context I think that he could have used different words to describe the the Apollo 13 catastrophe to make that clear. Perhaps he could have said, “feels very much like a disastrous shipwreck or being marooned in space with a dwindling air supply.”

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