The beautiful music was enough to testify to you the love the Savior has for his children. Hillary Weeks and Cheri Call sang the most heartfelt songs of love, mercy, forgiveness and pain. All of their music was written and put to music by them and from personal experience of theirs or sisters who had written them. If you buy CD's please get copies of their latest ones. Hillary's is called, "If I Only Had This Day".
S. Michael Wilcox(author of "House of Glory"/"When Your Prayers Seem Unanswered")told us a story I want to share with you. He had his scriptures laying out on the bed preparing for a lesson/talk. In the process of reading his scriptures he always marked in them with different colors of pens and wrote in the margins. He left the room and when he came back his young son had gotten up on the bed with his missionary copy of the Book of Mormon and laid it beside his fathers' and began to copy it. Bro. Wilcox put the two scripture pages on the conference room screens. The young son had turned to the exact page Bro. Wilcox was on and copied every line, color, and writing Bro. Wilcox had in his scriptures into his copy. As Bro. Wilcox was praising what his young son had done the boy started to cry. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Bro. Wilcox ask his son. "I'm crying because my lines aren't as straight as yours." the young boy said.
Bro. Wilcox look at us and said with tears welling up, "Do you think I cared if his lines were straight? As long as he is trying, I don't care."
"Well, you're Heavenly Father doesn't care if "your lines are straight". He just wants you to be trying to live the Gospel, communicating with him, reading from his book of remembrance(scriptures), and listening to his prophets. He wants you to be happy and make correct choices. He wants you to go to his house and feel at home and that that's is where you belong." Such a great story!
A few quotes from the conference:
"God died for us, but more importantly he lives for us!"
"Outward expressions(clothes,smile,hair)can tell an inward committment."
"Things are worth doing badly(making mistakes)if they are eventually worth doing well." Making mistakes is part of the process of learning. The Lord wants us to be anxiously engaged in learning.
"When you do all you can, the Lord settles your account."
"God gives weaknesses to make us humble." If we have faith and humble themselves before the Lord those weaknesses will become strengths.
"If we lay our offering out at the Lord's feet he will bless it."
Another short story: A sister in Pennsylvania would get up at five every morning to run. On her route she would run by a men's homeless shelter. She would see all these men already in line for a meal. She wished she could do something to help them. Soon she had collected donated shoes, socks, and clothing for them to join her in her run. Now she has at least sixty men running with her each morning and her efforts have changed some lives because she was willing to do what should could."
To sum up the conference, "God knows mortality is painful...he lived it. He loves us and will care for our needs in all circumstances if we but ask him and we are willing to WAIT for his answer."
I had such a great time and made special friends that touched my life for a brief moment in time in Boise. I'm so glad I made the time to go! It will be on the agenda every year. I will write more later on the blog.
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