Answers from #LDSConf

Despite being uber pregnant, having what feels like a displaced tailbone, and nurturing a sick toddler, this General Conference weekend went by faster and easier than any other I can remember.  What a blessing!

Swiftly too came answers to personal questions I have about my life--answered by one talk after another.

I hope the same was true for you.

I'm going to list some of the talks that held answers for me more as a way to remember the feelings I felt, so I can remember which talks I want to really hone in on in my personal study, although they all were great!

You can listen to or watch the talks at this link: General Conference Oct 2017.  

(I will also link to each talk below. If you'd like to listen to it in full just click on each speakers' name.)

Elder Rasband's talk touched me the most by far, but I'll just organize the talks as they correspond to my personal questions.  Also I tried not to put quotes around most of the quotes because they are only from my notes and not official transcripts:

Question 1:

1.  Why did You move our family away from the place we knew and loved to this new unfamiliar place? 

Answers to Question 1:

Elder Rasband: 

"Looking back, I realize I did not orchestrate any of those moves, the Lord did.  Just as he is orchestrating important moves for you and for those you love."

"Allow Him to make more of you than you can on your own."

"Treasure His involvement.  Sometimes, we consider changes in our plans as missteps on our journey.  Think of them more as first steps to being on the Lord's errand."

"Heavenly Father can put us in situations with specific intent in mind.  He has done so in my life and He is doing so in yours."

"Each of us is precious and loved by the Lord who cares, who whispers, and who watches over us in ways that are unique to each of us."

You and I may call these intersectings coincidence, but coincidence is not an appropriate word to describe the inner workings of God.  His workings are by divine design.

Looking back, we can see His hand in our lives.

The Lord is guiding you. By divine design He is in the details of your life as well as the major milestones.

John C. Pingree: 

"Does the Lord have a work for you to do? Yes!"

You have been reserved and preserved for this time in the world. Focus on serving others. (Approach decision points in your life by thinking of how you can make decisions that will help you to serve others.  Use your talents to build others.  Use your trials to grow.  Rely on God to help you.  Don't be distracted by worldly things. Don't be discouraged by Satan. Remain humble by deflecting personal praise.  Give the glory to God instead.

Stanley G. Ellis:

Hard is good.

Hard strengthens us, humbles us, and draws us to Him.

Hard is the constant.  We all have challenges.
The only variable is our reaction to hard.

Question 2:

How can we re-strengthen our family relationships and increase the holy spirit and the spirit of unity in our home?

Answers to Question 2:

David A. Bednar: 

He explained that Sabbath Day observance and Temple worship (making and keeping sacred covenants) are a sacred time and place where we can become partakers of the "exceedingly great and precious promises" of God, and that as we take what we learn from these two practices and apply them in our homes, we can make our Homes the ultimate combination of these two holy spaces & times.

He advised us to try to escape the corruption of the world and warned us to overcome the casualness of the world.

Bonnie L. Oscarson:  

"Do you childrean realize how much your parents need your help and how much they appreciate your help at home?

She urged us all to change our attitude from "what will we get out of an activity" to "what can I contribute in a given situation.  Who can I help at home? Who needs my friendship at church or at school, etc.

Question 3:

How am I to treat personal devices, social media, and technology use in my life and in the lives of my family/children?

Answers to Question 3: 

Bonnie L. Oscarson:  

To the Youth: "Put down your phone and ask, "Who needs my help right now?"

Jose L. Alonso:

Leave your devices behind and use your hands to help others.

D. Todd Christofferson:  

"We all are the product of all we see, all we do, all we think."

Service is the very fiber on which a sanctified life is built.

"Holiness to the Lord" is to be our moto. "Put out of our lives anything that is inconsistent with a holy life."

Gary E. Stevenson: 

Any virtue taken to the extreme can become a vice.  Social media can be too time consuming, it can present an idealized version of reality, and cause us to make unfair comparisons between ourselves and others.  Success in life doesn't come down to how many likes we get on social media.  

Let us teach and demonstrate the righteous use of social media to the rising generation.  He warned us of indulging in pride which is so evident on social media.

Quentin L. Cook: 

Called attention to 'the humble brag" on social media. Some use "authenticity" as a way to celebrate the "natural man."  We need more modesty and humility.  It is foolish to underestimate the Christlike attributes including humility.  Humility is a sign of spiritual strength.

Question 4:

How am I supposed to interact with people who I perceive live or understand the gospel differently than I do?

Jeffrey R. Holland: 

Don't gloat. Give your help to anyone trying to walk the path back to God.

M. Russell Ballard: 

Embrace anyone who is making the trek back to God, no matter where they are on that journey.

Quentin L. Cook:

We are all equal before God.  All are invited to come unto the Lord.  Anyone who claims superiority is morally wrong.

W. Craig Zwick:

We need to look 'beyond what we can see' in others. 

We must look past our own assumptions about others.
We need to widen the tiny lens of our own experience.

Instead of seeing others through the lens of social media, we need to see them with a spiritual lens. We must see others through the eyes of the Savior.


Aren't we ALL different, come from different countries and backgrounds, etc??  We need to look inward at the Godly qualities of others.

Differences should never be a barrier to kindness.

Truly loving others requires accepting the best efforts of people whose life experiences and limitations we may never fully know.

Joni L. Koch:

In the church, the Lord expects us to be one.  Leave behind perceived differences and concentrate on our common spiritual objectives.

How we act when we are apart, how we talk about each other can detract from the unity of our wards.

We have no right to portray anyone as a badly finished product.  (Doing this indicates our lack of faith in the Atonement.)

Jeffrey R. Holland: 

Refuse to let the flaws of others make us question the truthfulness of the Church.

Our only hope for perfection is receiving it as a gift from heaven.  We can never "earn" it.  Remember that "perfection" in the New Testiment definition means to be "complete."

Gary E. Stevenson:

As with viewing the total solar eclipse, we need protective gospel glasses in order to inform us what is truly important and to keep a "spiritual eclipse" from blocking out the light of Jesus Christ and His gospel.

Steven W. Owen:  

Speaking of the Prodigal Son, he said: We are all prodigals. We all have to "come to ourselves" usually more than once in our lifetimes.

Repentance puts us on the right path and keeps us on the right path.  Being constantly nourished by the good word of God will keep you in the right way.

Russell M. Nelson:

Conversion is an individual matter. Each individual receives a witness and a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Book of Mormon clears up false religious practices.

M. Russell Ballard:

Eliminate any racism, sexism, or nationalism.

President Eyring:

Acknowledged that, like we all, church leaders are imperfect, but we cut our own power when we criticize church leaders who are trying their best.  Jesus Christ is at the helm. He leads this church and His servants.

Question 5:

How can I strengthen myself to deal with my problems and the problems of our day?

Russell M. Nelson:

As you study the Book of Mormon every day and you will make better decisions every day.  You will find answers and direction for your own life.  You will be immunized against the evils of the day, including pornography and other mind-numbing addictions.

We need to feel that the Book of Mormon is true so deeply that we would never want to go a day without it.

The Book of Mormon teaches what it really means to be born again.  It teaches more thoroughly and powerfully about the Atonement of Jesus Christ than any other book.

"The full power of the gospel of Jesus Christ is found in the Book of Mormon. Period."

Jean B. Bingham:

Learn about, have faith in, and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When life gets hard, do we look for answers in a 'how-to' book or search for a blog post?  Instead, study the life of Christ, ponder the words of the prophets, pray, and come to know Jesus Christ.

Study the Living Christ.

W. Craig Zwick:

We need to heed our personal spiritual alarms.

Henry B. Eyring:

Faith always overcomes fear.

M. Russell Ballard:

Keep the doctrine of Christ pure.

Warned against get-rich-quick schemes, healing for money, and following those who set themselves up as spiritual leaders, but who are not ordained.

Adilson de Paula Parrella:

We should always act quickly when a prophet speaks.

Ian S. Arden:

Warned against cleverly disguised "caterpillars" who eat away at our spiritual roots.  We must do all we can to fortify ourselves against misinformation by prayerfully reading and pondering the Book of Mormon every day.

"Unless you are fully engaged in living the gospel...you cannot generate enough spiritual light to push back the darkness." - Elder Hales

Neil L. Andersen:

Trusting and believing in the words of His Prophets is vitally important.