Jay-B's Reflections: General Conference

General Conference - October 2017 - Priesthood Session

Elder Dallin H. Oaks --> spoke about the family and the proclamation of the family and how it came to pass. He was very direct and nailed home where and why the church stands so firm and strong on that sacred and inspired proclamation.
General YW President --> great talk on youth and the importance of serving as a youth. She had a great comment about mutual --> when a youth states that they don't think they get anything out of mutual, the response is --> "who says that your attendance at mutual is supposed to benefit you in anyway?" AWESOME!
Elder Jeffery R. Holland --> again - he's always one of my favorite conference talks. He spoke on "perfection" and did it in a very eloquent and inspired way. All of us needed his fantastic message

Elder Russell M. Nelson --> one of the best conference talks so far, he spoke about the Book of Mormon and the power of that sacred book. That's two talks in a row about the BoM from basically our prophet!!

Compares the priesthood that we hold to a rocket and the atonement of Christ as the rocket's payload
The priesthood delivers the opportunities for each of us to received the "payload" of Christ's atonement!!
D&C 84 --> "In the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest"
Great story about a man that fully repents after being excommunicated. He had 2 assignments that weekend --> organize the first stake in a country and meet with the young man that needed his blessings restored. He felt more profound joy and happiness from being a part of the direct application of the atonement than he did being a part of the historic moment of creating a country's very first stake. Very cool story!!
Take home --> Christ and his atonement are the key to every aspect of the priesthood.

Story of his own conversion and the power of Moroni's promise and how he applied it in his life
He asked many missionaries about their testimonies and most stated that their testimonies were built upon their decisions to read the book of mormon from the beginning. Elder Evans needed to read the ENTIRE book of mormon before he received his witness of the truth --> very good insight and I need to share this with several of the youth I'm working with
More revelation for my calling --> i have several youth that are struggling with testimony and feel like they are not "ready" to engage in administering the sacrament. Going back to Elder Renlund's talk --> the power of godliness is manifest through the ordinances of the priesthood. These young men will NOT move forward without faith in the Atonement of Christ and in the ordinances of the priesthood. I'm looking forward to meeting with several of my young men

We must be fully yoked with our wives before moving forward with any aspect of our 3 responsibilities of fatherhood. Unrighteous dominion is not an option!
His daughters commented on trust in a marriage and family

Having trust in someone is similar to having faith in someone. Without trust, there is fear and doubt, which is NOT what promotes peace and happiness in the home.

The principle of trust is paramount to the success of a Christ-centered home.
Shared a story of going on a business trip with his father and seeing first hand an executive trying to bribe his father in order to win the business and get a little extra money out of the deal. His Father refused to sacrifice his integrity for the deal.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf --> this talk MUST be read and studied WITH the youth

Just because spiritual trails are real doesn't mean they are incurable...
Whatever causes our spiritual ailments, they all have one thing in common - the absence of divine light!

When we are in darkness, we are more likely to lose hope
Lightness allows us to discern between truth and error and see things how they really are. Frankly - it allows us to see truth!

The more we understand and apply the doctrinal concept of light, the better we will be and the more we will be able to serve as true priesthood holders
The word of god is truth, whatever is truth is light, whatever is light is the spirit.
If we can open our heart and mind to receive the light of Christ, we will receive more light and more light and it will eventually vanquish the darkness and we will receive a "new heart", being reborn into a newness of life in Christ!!
Action for this week: make several copies of this talk and schedule 30-45 minutes with certain youth. Ahead of time, mark special passages and then read this talk together with the youth.
So what is night? It is a shadow - not darkness or lack of light. Nighttime just means that we are not in the right place to receive light - it doesn't mean that there is no light.
Just like the sun, spiritual light continues to shine on all of God's children. But Satan will try to force us into a spiritual eclipse so that we receive NONE of the light of Christ and we never feel the spirit. Super awesome analogy!
We must seek light and then share our experiences with light with youth. Youth are seeking light and they need all the help they can get.

Christ is the Head
Uses prophets to lead and guide the church
Reveals his will and direction to his prophets
Confirms revelation through the spirit for all those that serve under the prophets

Our goal is to make sure we can receive revelation and act on it feverishly!! I have received revelation tonight on what I can be doing better as a Bishop. Time to step it up a bit!
For Christ's church to run effectively, all members must have faith
Uses the example of a Deacon's Quorum President to teach the important of faith

More revelation --> as a Bishop - I need to "raise the bar" with my youth at BYC and make sure that each quorum/class president has agreed to serve/love someone each month (or to make an assignment to someone to do the same)

Action: have Alyssa start helping me do the binders for the quorum presidency training meeting
Action: make sure that the meeting is scheduled and announced
Nice analogy - there is a thread that binds each of us through the priesthood up through the leaders above us and all the way up to the prophet. If we lose our faith and are unwilling to sustain our leaders, it cuts that thread and leaves us dangling, but doesn't change the "web" of the priesthood - which stays intact - and Christ's church continues to move forward!

Jay-B's Reflections