new blog and saturday am general conference highlights

So I started a family blog for the siblings to post on..hopefully sometime they will it is http://www.becomingmckinney.blogspot.com/.

General Conference is such an amazing experience; I always come away: more committed to the gospel, uplifted and filled with a love for all my brothers and sisters, feeling our Heavenly Father's love for me, gratitude for the restored gospel, and joy!

Saturday we YSA's watched conference at our institute building. It is always a pleasant experience. President Monson opened conference talking about the temple dedications. He said," each temple dedication is a time for re-evaluation of ones own performance and sincere desire to do better."

Elder Hales then spoke of agency and that we need to use it to be PROVIDENT PROVIDERS. One of my favorite quotes from him was " Each temptation is to strengthen us not destroy us" also that we need to be "joyfully living within our means" as well as " only through the atonement can we have mighty change of heart and mighty change of behavior." He talked about distinguishing between our wants and needs. That we can get into debt for education, a basic automobile, and housing. I need to do better at distinguishing between my wants and needs and to save more of my money for a rainy day.

Then Sister Lifferth spoke of respect and reverence. I really enjoyed this talk. She spoke of how reverence is taught in the home. She asked us to think if we were examples of reverence and respect? Do we show respect for our scriptures and teach the doctrine from them. Then she said we need to teach by example because harshness begets hard feelings; she mentioned that we teach it by being patient over time and being consistent in our efforts. She quoted someone with this one "reverence invites revelation." She closed by saying that an increase in reverence reflects our deepest love for Him.

Brother Neider (who was a counselor in my mission presidency SLCS Mission) spoke about Aaronic Priesthood quorums and how they should operate..with more youth leadership and adults supporting the youth leaders. I am pretty sure I heard him say one of the purposes of the YM program is to eliminate sloth. I thought that was great! It will be interesting to see what he did say. He said that we need to be "students of God's commandments" and that we need to obtain His word.

Elder Allan Packer of was up next. He spoke about receiving revelation. He said we live in the fullness of times and these times are times for preparing for the Saviors coming and to workout our own salvation and that if we are to do this we must build on the bedrock and we must know and know that we know. He taught that we need to become acquainted with the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Then he spoke of Alma 32 and the process by which revelation can come

Elder Christofferson spoke next and his message was one that touched me deeply. I can't wait to print this talk and study it out!
He said we need "strong Christians" who can persevere through adversity and make important things happen through our faith. He said that we can access this power through our covenants and that our covenants are to exalt us and they manifest our commitment to become a covenant people and inheritors of exaltation where we can obtain all the divine possibilities God can give us. He spoke about how obedience to covenants give us greater control of our lives and enhances our capacity to deal with challenges because we are blessed by doing so. He said that once we know our course is right and in accordance with God's will then our faith becomes unbounded..and that it takes faith to make covenants. He taught that covenants bestow divine power into our lives. That the power of godliness can flow into our lives. He said, " Strong covenants make strong Christians." He asked us for our obedience to be exact and that then we can ask and He will sustain you, He will stretch for the His hand and say here am I. God will keep His promises. He will bless you and strengthen and finish your faith, deliver you from want, anxiety and stress!" Wow. I know I want to be a strong Christian and have the faith to perservere. I need to go to the temple more often and review the covenants I have made. In fact I thought this temples/temple attendance was a theme of this years conference.

President Eyring spoke about adversity and that it comes to all of us at some point or another on our journey and that it is normal and necessary. He said" we can only faintly comprehend the infinite atonement that can comfort us when we have to wait in distress." ( this has been something I have learned as I feel that not only am I waiting on the Lord but on some fella to make up his mind to want to be married and then to want to be married to me. I am learning to wait on the Lord's time) He then went on to teach that the Savior could have known or infirmities by the power of the Holy Ghost but that instead He chose to learn by His own personal experience how to succor His people. Alma 7. He said that even when you feel the truth of atonement that the test may still test your courage to endure. "He will give us strength to rise with every trial"