A Special Opportunity

Let me begin this post by not apologizing, but just saying that I do occasionally like to blog about my religion and spiritual feelings, and since this is my personal blog, that's what I'm gonna do.  That said, I know many of my readers are not of my same faith, so I hope that you don't mind.  My Mom recently shared some thoughts like this with our family, and in discussing that with her, I decided to go ahead and blog about this, since these are experiences, thoughts, and feelings I'd like to share with my family and friends as well.

The weekend of Feb 9th-10th was Stake Conference for our ward.  In Mormon lingo a "ward" is the local congregation of around 80-100 families, a "stake" is a group of wards geographically located close to one another, usually comprised of 5-8 wards.  The stake meets twice a year for a worship meeting where we get to hear from our Stake President and his counselors, as well as various leaders and members, male and female, of our stake.

Anyway, this Stake Conference was special for us because rather than having just the usual speakers, we had several prominent church leaders come to speak--Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and M. Keith Giddens our Area Authority Seventy.  If you're interested in knowing more about Russell M. Nelson, you can follow the link above.  Having an Apostle of the Lord come to speak in person to our stake is a unique thing because usually when we hear an Apostle speak, they broadcast a video conference from Salt Lake City, UT, or they come in person, and we have a multi-stake event.  But this time it was just our stake, approximately 2,000 individuals who got to hear and see an Apostle in person.  I can count on one hand the number of times in my lifetime that I've seen an apostle or prophet of the Lord in person, so I was excited and anticipating this for weeks.  It wasn't seeing these leaders in person, although there is a little bit of a celebrity status, I was excited to hear what they had to share with us

We couldn't find a babysitter for the Saturday night adult session, and so we took Cooper with us and sat in an overflow room where they had audio and video set up for the next day.  We were the only ones in that room, and Cooper was past bedtime and crazy, so it was hard to listen to the speakers that night.  The one thing I was able to take notes about was Elder Nelson talking about the pressure we put on ourselves to be perfect, as the scriptures say, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).  He explained this scripture using the Greek word for perfect "telios," which direct translationia to be perfected, or in the distance. Rayher than thinking we have to be perfect all at once, the Lord has asked us to work toward being perfected, "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little" just as the scriptures say. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is what provides us the means to be perfected over time, as we repent and strive to be a little better each day.

The Sunday session of the conference was uplifting.  There were many good speakers from male and female members of our stake, but with Cooper acting out during the 2-hour meeting, I didn't take notes except for the three most poignant speakers.  Our Stake President, Ladd Hall, spoke about establishing your own "personal righteous behavior."  He said that when obedience to God's laws no longer becomes an irritant, in that moment you are endowed with power from on high.  That really struck me, especially thinking about not major things, but the small things, like patience in parenting.  Parenting in a way pleasing to the Lord (i.e. not yelling at kids), is a hard thing for me as Cooper has gotten older.  But in those moments when I have more patience, and stop and occasionally pray for help, I do feel the inspiration and guidance from the Lord.  How many other aspects of my life could be improved in small increments like that?  Reminds me of that scripture that says that by small and simple things, great things are brought to pass.  President Hall also quoted Yoda from Star Wars, who said, "Do or do not; there is no try."  There is a lot of wisdom in those words.  President Hall also challenged us to be knowledgeable about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Elder Keith Giddens of the Seventy spoke about two words: submit and surrender.  He said you can read thousands of self-help books and books on business and success, and not once will you find those two words. However, the scriptures are full of examples of how submitting and surrendering to the will of the Lord will bring blessings and successes far beyond what we could attain on our own.  These two words have to do with the sanctification process.  Paul said he was given a thorn in the flesh, and he asked the Lord to remove it three times.  The Lord responded, "My grace is sufficient for thee."  We should find strength in turning to the Lord for help in overcoming weaknesses.  We need to humble and submit ourselves to the Lord for weaknesses to become strengths.

Lastly, we were blessed to hear from Elder Russel M. Nelson again.  To begin his talk, he said he'd met with and heard from all members of the stake from all ages and auxiliaries, but hadn't heard from the Primary children yet (children ages 3-12).  He asked all the children to stand up on their chairs and sing "I am a Child of God."  I was SO disappointed that moments before Cooper had decided to throw a fit about something, and Nate had taken him out of the room.  I ran to the hall, since we were sitting right by the door, frantically looking for them, but couldn't find them.  Currently serving in the Primary presidency in my ward, I didn't want to miss it, so I went back in the meeting as the children started singing.  It was so sweet to hear their little voices singing:

I am a child of God, and He has sent me here,
Has given me an earthly home with parents kind and dear.
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do to live with Him someday.

The spirit was so strong as they sang, and by the time they were done with that little verse, tears were streaming down my face.  I felt the magnitude of the responsibility I have as a parent and a Primary leader to teach these children about their Savior and God's plan of happiness for us.  Elder Nelson admonished parents to teach the children the significance of being a literal spirit child of God, and the significance of Sacrament ordinances we partake of each week at church, and how that is part of the blessings of the Atonement.

Elder Nelson spoke about some other things, but it was my turn to entertain/wrestle our restless son, and so I didn't get to take notes on those.  The last thing I took notes about was the special apostolic blessing he left upon our stake.  He said to feast upon the words of Christ, and those of your friends and family not of our faith will be attracted to you.  He promised that if we read and study the scriptures daily, the church membership in the Charlotte area would grow in an unprecedented way. He promised there will be many stakes in Charlotte yet to come, and temples will be made available closer to us.  He left a special blessing upon those in the stake who are sick.  He blessed us with joy in service and joy in our homes.  He admonished our husbands to be kind to their wives and children, and that it would bless generations to come.

It was quite an incredible meeting, and the spirit was so strong that I didn't want it to end.  It felt like I was in the temple, and I could feel my spirit being fed and uplifted by the spirit of the Lord.  I was so thankful to have this special opportunity to listen in person to a living apostle of the Lord.