April ‘07 Confcast, part 4/5

My thoughts on the Sunday morning session of General Conference.

James E. Faust. The story of Amish forgiveness was really touching. I especially liked Pres. Faust’s description — “anguish, but no anger; hurt, but no hate.” That’s a motto to live by. I’ve noticed that when I hold a grudge, I feel like walls have closed in around me. But as soon as I decide to forgive, my world opens up again. It’s almost tangible.

Dallin H. Oaks. Divorce is a sad thing. Sometimes it’s necessary (in the case of abuse), but I wish it didn’t ever have to happen. I don’t see myself ever getting divorced, but I also realize that most of those who do get divorced also felt the same way. No couple is immune — they all have to keep working at marriage, loving each other and sacrificing for each other. If they don’t, then it doesn’t matter how great their love was to begin with — it will, in the end, fizzle and die.

Neil L. Andersen. I’m noticing a trend here. It seems like I tend to fall asleep during the middle of the session, but only for one talk. This was the talk. My roommate said it was something about the Restoration, but I sense that he fell asleep, too. I feel bad about konking out like this. Sure, I can go back and read the talks later, so it’s not like missing my own wedding or anything, but I’d hoped to show more respect to the Lord than this.

Vicki F. Matsumori. We talk of first-generation members, but not of first-generation nonmembers. :P (Or unmembers, rather.) Her mention of the Isaiah chapters got me thinking. I really think the Isaiah quotes in the Book of Mormon are among my favorite parts of the book, and nowadays it’s hard for me to see why people would get bogged down in them. People need to read more poetry. During Sister Matsumori’s talk, I realized that there haven’t been any family history talks yet. History in general, yes, but family history? Nada. Not even that much about temples. Maybe during the afternoon session…

Glenn L. Pace. This reminded me of an afternoon in the MTC when I was sitting at my desk, reading my scriptures and listening to the Legacy soundtrack. (Which, as it happens, I’m listening to right now as I write this. But that’s completely coincidental.) I was reading in the Doctrine & Covenants, and with a flash I just knew that it all was true. I’d known before, but I think that was the first time the Restoration as a whole hit me like that. (I had felt the burning in the bosom in seminary a few times, but nowhere near as frequently as I’d hoped. Hmm, this would be a good blog topic. I’ll stop here and post more about it later. :))

M. Russell Ballard. I love the Bible. I don’t read it as much as I should, but I absolutely adore it. Elder Ballard’s talk renewed my interest in studying Greek and Hebrew. And I’m going to start reading God’s Secretaries, a book about the translation of the KJV. And I think I’ll start collecting more Bible translations — so far I have the English KJV, English NIV, Thai, Lao, Burmese, Latin Vulgate, Greek New Testament, German (Luther), and Spanish Bibles. Eventually I’ll have a full wall of Bible and Book of Mormons. (Yes, Book of Mormons.)

President Hinckley. His comment at the beginning about his age — “in light of my age…” — set off a small warning bell in my mind. It may be completely unsubstantiated, though. Anyway, the lady who did 20,000 endowments was quite impressive, and I loved the image of her reception in the spirit world when she passed away. I haven’t done nearly as much family history and temple work as I ought. That’s something I really want to start on, now that I’ll be graduated and have more free time. When thinking about President Hinckley’s age, I couldn’t help but wonder: have any of the modern-day prophets died of anything other than old age and/or disease? I can’t think of any accidents claiming their lives, other than Joseph Smith. Interesting.

I too, was touched when President Hinckley spoke of that sister who had done the work for 20,000 sisters within the holy Temples of God! For the last few weeks I have felt the desire and need to go to the temple more oft. Now I am even more inspired to do so. I am excited for the summer, where I will live closer to the Temple, and have greater opportunity to do so.

When I received my Endowments on my 22nd Birthday, as a present my mother gave me a Temple Journal. Since that day, whenever I go to the temple to do work, I make an entry. I record where I went, who I went with (if anyone), anything special that occured…, and the names of the sister’s for whom I went through for. Then in the back of the journey I have a section where I keep track (through tally marks) of what I have done. (I have a section for each of the different temple ordinances). This Journal has been a blessing in my life. Whenever I am having a particularly hard time I will go to my temple bag and pull out that Journal, and reread what is recorded within. Every time I have done so, without fail I have felt my burdens lift, and a sense of peace and strength enter into my heart.

I am so thankful that I live in a day where temples dot the earth. How blessed I am to have so many of those temples so very close to me…(Did you catch the program shown right after this morning’s session about the dedication of the Helsinki Finland Temple? To see how it is not just uniting generations, but nations as well was so beautiful to see.)

I keep a temple journal, too. I started shortly before I got married. My mom gave my fiance and me each a small notebook, and showed us hers. It was the first I’d heard of it, but I started using it right away. Fortunately, I was still able to recall every time I had gone to the temple (post-endowment), since for 2 years I was in a mission without a temple. My entries are usually only one or two lines, because this isn’t my journal journal, but rather a record of the temple work I’ve done. I enjoy the challenge of remembering the name of the person (when it’s not a family name), and I try to remember their birth year and their birthplace as well. I record the type of ordinance, and if I can’t remember who, I write down how many (since I’m afraid I won’t be able to recall a single name from the 50 sealings my wife and I did with a Cantonese-speaking sealer in Hong Kong!) It’s great to look back at it, and especially to see the progression of certain family members. For example, I’ve done every ordinance for one of my great-grandfathers. I make a special note for any family names. It’s simple, and I keep the book in my temple bag so I can write it down as soon as possible. I highly recommend it.

BookS of Mormon
………That’s all.

I haven’t got a temple journal, but around November I realized that I really ought to be keeping a record, so I have a logfile in my Google Docs account where I record the names. But I rather like the idea of taking the journal with me, so I can record impressions and have it more accessible. Sounds like the perfect reason to get a new Moleskine… ;)

Amy: Nope, it’s Book of Mormons. You wouldn’t say Hearts of Darkness, now, would you? “Book of Mormon” is a single unit (it’s a title), and to pluralize it you add the plural marker (-s) to the end of the unit. Mormon didn’t have more than one book. Tales of Two Cities? The horror! ;)