Conference!

The 186th Annual General Conference was held last week, and boy, wasn't it fantastic?! It was sooo nice to feel uplifted and loved and peaceful for eight whole hours. Some of my favorite talks All the talks were great and they definitely resonated with me. And NO, I am not just 'saying that'. It's just a bit hard to describe, you know?

The "book-end" talks were perfect: President Eyring and Elder Holland. Both were a bit emotional and I think that helps the members to realize/internalize that they are really loved and thought about and prayed about by the leaders of the Church, as well as bring the Spirit.

I loved the talks about the temple: Elders Quentin L. Cook and Elder Kent F. Richards.

Elder Gary E. Stevenson spoke to the youth specifically (LOVE it when they do that!!!!!!!!!!) and Elder Mervyn B. Arnold talked about going to the RESCUE. I hadn't heard him before and really enjoyed his talk.

And, of course, President THOMAS S. MONSON gave an inspired, though brief, talk that has a good message and reminder to each of us. Good to hear his deep, assured voice.

Then today I was reading MMM's conference summary (awesome; check them all out!) for the priesthood session, which I didn't have the opportunity to watch this go-around. I searched up President Uchtdorf's talk from that session and skimmed over it. There were humorous parts, because that's President Uchtdorf, but the meat of the talk--wow. Wow. It was directed towards the husbands of today, but I sure hope that all of the future husbands were listening, because it was pretty impressive. Link! Great reminders and tips in that talk.

That's all for today!

Hello Again!

President Boyd K. Packer, age 90, passed away July 3rd at his home.

This has been a busy last week and a half since I last wrote! Just a few hours after my last post, our family piled into the car and drove across the country to visit family in Utah! Yippee!

We arrived last Saturday afternoon and spent some time with my mom's side of the family. On Sunday evening, my little sister was baptized!!! (Read a post about her here.) Monday morning, we got in the car again and drove up to Idaho, where we spent the last five days with my dad's side. Several late nights, a couple of tubing trips, and plenty of cousins later, we made it safely back to Utah and just finished watching lots of great fireworks! 

On another note, President Boyd K. Packer passed away yesterday, July 3rd, at about 2 pm Salt Lake time. He's enjoying the fireworks from a different view this year. :) 

There will now be two new apostles during October's conference. Say prayers for those men and their families, as well as the First Presidency and the remaining Quorum as they prayerfully choose these holy men. 

If you were wondering, here's the new state of things:

President Monson is still the president of the Church and therefore authorized as the only one who can receive revelation for all 15,000,000 of us. President Eyring and President Uchtdorf are still President Monson's counselors. 

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is down two, though there are still thirteen apostles (if you are confused by this, click here). Russell M. Nelson is the new President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, though he hasn't been sustained yet. Can you imagine how he felt when he heard the news? Here are his last three talks: 

The Sabbath is a Delight--April 2015

Sustaining the Prophets--October 2014

Let Your Faith Show--April 2014

Boyd K. Packer has been giving talks for forty-five years! Here are his last three:

The Plan of Happiness--April 2015

The Reason for Our Hope--October 2014

The Witness--April 2014

I love "The Witness" especially!

Here are several articles remembering President Packer and giving the details about the funeral service:

President Boyd K. Packer Dies At Age 90

5 Things We'll Never Forget About President Boyd K. Packer

President Boyd K. Packer, Champion of Families, Master Teacher, Resolute Defender of LDS Doctrine, Dies at 90

24 Inspiring Quotes from President Boyd K. Packer

Funeral Services Scheduled for President Boyd K. Packer

Anyway, I hope you will take some time to ponder on President Packer's life and example, and say some prayers for his family to be comforted at this time in their lives. 

Happy almost-not-fourth-of-July!! (The time on this post is Eastern Time, but I'm on Mountain Standard Time, so right now it is about 11:15 pm for me, even if the post says 1:15 am.)

Okay, this was supposed to be a short post. Sorry! Good night!

Follow the Prophet, Follow the Prophet...

President Thomas S. Monson

I hope you all got a chance to watch the 185th Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!!! It was awesome!!! Seriously, best thing on TV since last October, when conference was last held. ☺

I am not going to write about the talks, it's WAAAAY better if you go back and review them yourself!!!!! But here is a link to it...General Conference

Did any of you hear the opposing votes when the First Presidency was presented for a sustaining vote? Didn't it just make you feel absolutely sick????? I think that the intermediate hymn, We Thank Thee O God, For a Prophet, was certainly an inspired pick. Thank you so much to whoever was guided to choose that song!!

I was so excited when they announced the THREE new temples in the Ivory Coast, Haiti, and Thailand! The work is rolling forward.

We are so very blessed to have living prophets to guide us through this sometimes frightening 21st century. We thank thee, o God for a prophet--YES!!!!
Tell me in the comments what you liked about conference!

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As Sisters in Zion We'll Gather Together...

Did you watch the General Women's Session last night?? Wasn't it just fabulous? What was your favorite talk? Tell me in the comments. 

LDS.org now has the highlights of each talk here so that if you didn't get to watch it or you want to keep it fresh in your minds till the talks come out in print, you can review them now. 

***I'm not going to comment on every talk. You'll just have to do that yourself in the COMMENT section. ;) It's there for you!***

There was a strong emphasis on defending and building the family, especially since this year we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of Family Home Evening and the 20th anniversary of The Family: A Proclamation to the World, and because that is our main role as girls and women. 

Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson, Young Women General President, said, “The proclamation on the family has become our benchmark for judging the philosophies of the world and I testify that the principles set forth within this statement are as true today as they were when they were given to us by a prophet of God nearly 20 years ago.” (emphasis added) The family is being attacked from every angle! Sister Oscarson challenged each of us as sisters to commit to boldly defend the Proclamation on the Family and keep those values alive. 

President Henry B. Eyring was the concluding speaker. I really enjoyed his talk. It was sweet, and you definitely need to go back and read/watch it when you have the time. He spoke about the Holy Ghost and its role in comforting Heavenly Father's children.

He told about a little boy who died at the age of five unexpectedly on a family vacation. He visited with the boy's family and testified that the Holy Ghost was there, in that room with them. 

He also spoke about a young lady who was at the funeral. She told President Eyring that she had come to the funeral to possibly offer comfort, but she was also seeking comfort. She had recently lost her own child. The woman was holding a little girl in her arms. President Eyring leaned over to look into the child's sweet eyes. "What is her name?" he asked the young mother. 

She replied, "Her name is Joy. Joy always comes after sorrow." Joy does come after sorrow. The Holy Ghost will bring us peace, joy, and comfort beyond imagination. 

I hope every covenant sister in the Church got to enjoy this broadcast! It is always so wonderful. 

Also, don't forget to watch General Conference this coming Saturday/Sunday (info), and have a lovely Sabbath afternoon!

P.S. Can you think of some Personal Progress ideas? You can write a few of your own in Faith (faith in living prophets, faith to follow prophets, etc.), Individual Worth (along the lines of 'prophets speak to you and answer your questions in General Conference'), Knowledge (increasing your knowledge of the gospel), and so forth. But don't limit yourself to these! Be creative!

You can share That Little Pink Book through email, Twitter, YOUR blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Google+ using the gray bar of buttons at the bottom of each post!

Special Edition!!!

I know, I posted only yesterday, but I wanted to share something really neat. My cousin, Lily, who is a family history guru, has started a blog on the Spirit of Elijah and how youth can get involved, their purpose in being here on earth in the last days, etc. Anyway, I was very impressed by her thorough knowledge and explanation. You can read her blog here.

Well, I am very excited for this new resource to help youth in their quest to find their ancestors, but I also noticed that this correlates closely with some Personal Progress Experiences. And, of course, I am always looking for fun ways to get involved with Personal Progress. ;)

Individual Worth Elective Experience #6 says:

When you participate in family history, you come to understand your identity and individual worth. Visit with your living relatives to learn as much information about your family history as possible. Then complete a pedigree chart of your family and list the temple ordinances that have been completed for each person.

Well, this is pretty self-explanatory, at least to me, but if you have questions, please ask in the comments!

Knowledge Elective Experience #4 says:

Select a gospel principle you would like to understand better (for example, faith, repentance, charity, eternal families, or baptismal covenants). Read scriptures and the words of latter-day prophets that relate to the principle. Prepare a five-minute talk on the subject and give the talk in a sacrament meeting, in a Young Women meeting, to your family, or to your class. Record in your journal how you can apply this gospel principle in your life.

If you are curious about genealogy (the fancy-schmancy word for family history), you can research that using the resources they have suggested and prepare your talk on what you have learned!

Good Works Elective Experience #6 says:

Spend at least three hours giving service outside your family. Ask your ward or branch Relief Society president or a community leader for suggestions for service. For example, you might take care of children while parents attend the temple; collect, make, or recondition toys or games for a nursery; accept an assignment to clean the meetinghouse; or perform errands for or read to a homebound person or others in need. Record in your journal the reactions of the person you served and possible goals for future service opportunities.

Family history is SERVICE!!!! Finding names, taking them to the temple, and doing their ordinances may be the one of the biggest, most important services you will ever do for other people. I mean, it's their SALVATION we're talking about here, people! Who KNOWS how long people have been waiting to cross from Spirit Prison into Spirit Paradise?! 

You can also do family history and temple work for a project in many of the values. Be creative!

If you want to get more involved in the work of salvation for the dead (who are NOT actually dead!), familysearch.org is a wonderful resource! Create an account (or log in with your LDS account) and start searching! I promise that you will experience the Spirit of Elijah for yourself and feel your ancestors smiling down on you. 

Here are some great recent conference talks on family history. You don't have to read them all in their entirety, but skim over them and if something catches your eye, read it!

Elder Bednar's "The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn" from the October 2011 General Conference is probably my favorite: The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn. If you don't read the whole of this one, please read these:

I now invite the attention of the young women, young men, and children of the rising generation as I emphasize the importance of the Spirit of Elijah in your lives today. My message is intended for the entire Church in general—but for you in particular.

Many of you may think family history work is to be performed primarily by older people. But I know of no age limit described in the scriptures or guidelines announced by Church leaders restricting this important service to mature adults. You are sons and daughters of God, children of the covenant, and builders of the kingdom. You need not wait until you reach an arbitrary age to fulfill your responsibility to assist in the work of salvation for the human family.

The Lord has made available in our day remarkable resources that enable you to learn about and love this work that is sparked by the Spirit of Elijah. For example,FamilySearch is a collection of records, resources, and services easily accessible with personal computers and a variety of handheld devices, designed to help people discover and document their family history. These resources also are available in the family history centers located in many of our Church buildings throughout the world.

It is no coincidence that FamilySearch and other tools have come forth at a time when young people are so familiar with a wide range of information and communication technologies. Your fingers have been trained to text and tweet to accelerate and advance the work of the Lord—not just to communicate quickly with your friends. The skills and aptitude evident among many young people today are a preparation to contribute to the work of salvation.

I invite the young people of the Church to learn about and experience the Spirit of Elijah. I encourage you to study, to search out your ancestors, and to prepare yourselves to perform proxy baptisms in the house of the Lord for your kindred dead (see D&C 124:28–36).And I urge you to help other people identify their family histories.

As you respond in faith to this invitation, your hearts shall turn to the fathers. The promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be implanted in your hearts. Your patriarchal blessing, with its declaration of lineage, will link you to these fathers and be more meaningful to you. Your love and gratitude for your ancestors will increase. Your testimony of and conversion to the Savior will become deep and abiding.And I promise you will be protected against the intensifying influence of the adversary. As you participate in and love this holy work, you will be safeguarded in your youth and throughout your lives. 

Elder Cook's talk, "Roots and Branches" from the April 2014 conference is a popular one: Roots and Branches.

And Elder Richard G. Scott's "The Joy of Redeeming the Dead" from the October 2012 conference--The Joy of Redeeming the Dead.

Thanks for reading my rambling!