Originally published March 30, 2014<\/i><\/p>\n
Do not be surprised to hear talks about protecting traditional marriage, etc. Decide in advance to focus on the uplifting messages that will help YOU grow spiritually.<\/p>\n
In recent General Conferences, there were a number of excellent and spiritually nourishing talks that were given, and many of their uplifting messages went viral on social media.\u00a0 Yet other talks that discussed gay marriage during the second half of conference also went viral and caused some tremendous heartache and pain.<\/p>\n
So, what will we hear this general conference?<\/b>\u00a0 I don\u2019t know for sure, but there is a VERY high probability that we will hear talk about protecting the traditional family, concerns about the growing legalization of gay marriage, and the sin of intimate relationships that are not between a man and a woman.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be surprised when they come up!\u00a0 It is not new and for some general authorities these are very important topics and will be for the rest of their lives.\u00a0 It is unrealistic<\/span><\/i><\/b> to think they would suddenly stop talking about these subjects.\u00a0 Let\u2019s get very real \u2013 it wont change overnight or every 6 months.\u00a0 I liken the increased acceptance and understanding these past few years of LGBT individuals within the Mormon community to the Israelites being freed from Egypt.\u00a0 The freedom was a great relief.\u00a0 Yet, what came next?\u00a0 Forty years<\/b> of ups and downs, trials, suffering, strife, and very gradual progress before eventually entering the Promised Land.\u00a0 It will be the same for the institutional Church \u2013 a very long journey<\/span>.<\/p>\n The choice of what you do with what you hear is YOURS.\u00a0 <\/b>It\u2019s a great blessing to know that we are \u201cfree to act for ourselves and not be acted upon.\u201d\u00a0 We can choose what we listen to or not listen to, what we feel is of value to our spiritual growth and what is not.\u00a0 President Dieter F. Uchtdorf reminded us in recent\u00a0conference that Church leaders are not perfect and there \u201chave been things said or done [by LDS Church leaders] that are not in harmony with our values.\u201d\u00a0 We can listen and then decide how to act upon what we hear.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have to accept everything at face value and we don\u2019t have to approach it with an all or nothing mentality.\u00a0 We can blend our own spiritual experiences with what is said and then figure out what we will take and what we will leave behind using our agency and personal revelation.\u00a0 When I was young, I was like a robot during conference, receiving data that was to be automatically force-fed into my being for blind obedience.\u00a0 I don\u2019t now and will never see it that way again; and I don\u2019t believe my Heavenly Father wants me to be that way either.<\/p>\n During the years when I felt the most vulnerable, I chose for my own mental and emotional health to avoid conference completely or would selectively read conference talks by subject or referral instead of watching conference live.\u00a0 During the years of the church\u2019s involvement with Proposition 8 I had no desire to listen to what anyone from Church leadership had to say.\u00a0 I felt I couldn\u2019t trust them.\u00a0 Occasionally, I would see an article shared on Facebook that sounded good, then read it and be edified.\u00a0 From this I learned that it wasn\u2019t fair for me to see it as \u201call or nothing\u201d and that a number of Church leaders could still inspire me.<\/p>\n About 4 years ago, I was home for Easter and also conference weekend and watched most of conference with my parents.\u00a0 I was pleasantly surprised at how moved I was by the majority of the talks and how edified I felt after that weekend was over.\u00a0 There were a few talks though that within 30 seconds I knew would not leave me feeling uplifted, so I did others things or went out in the yard and enjoyed the sun and spring blossoms.\u00a0 Since then, I have been more open to and appreciated the significant spiritual value of general conference talks.\u00a0 I am fully aware that I can take in what feels right to me and can leave the rest behind.<\/p>\n I invite you to value your agency and the remarkable gift of personal revelation this coming conference weekend.\u00a0 Don\u2019t accept everything at face value.\u00a0 Study what you hear out in your mind, and then ask the Lord if it be right (D&C 9:8).\u00a0 If watching conference isn\u2019t healthy for you emotionally, then find out from others which talks they found helpful and watch or read them later.\u00a0 Keep your life focused on how to become more like our Savior and how to develop the fruits of the Spirit.\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t let the other stuff distract you from growing spiritually and helping to build Zion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Podemos escuchar y luego decidir c\u00f3mo actuar seg\u00fan lo que escuchamos. No tenemos que aceptar todo al pie de la letra y no tenemos que abordarlo con una mentalidad de todo o nada. Podemos combinar nuestras propias experiencias espirituales con lo que se dice y luego descubrir qu\u00e9 nos llevaremos y qu\u00e9 dejaremos atr\u00e1s usando nuestro albedr\u00edo y nuestra revelaci\u00f3n personal.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":71454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_piecal_is_recurring":false,"_piecal_recurring_interval":1,"_piecal_recurring_frequency":"","_piecal_recurring_exact_position":false,"_piecal_recurring_end":"","_piecal_color":"","_piecal_text_color":"","_piecal_global_color_master":false,"_piecal_rsets":"[]","_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1849],"tags":[53,395],"newsletters":[],"class_list":["post-3709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-general-conference","tag-lds-general-conference"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n