General Conference April 2019 Review

The latest general conference of the Church was held a couple of weeks ago now. I certainly enjoyed all of the talks I was awake for (forget the fact that I slept through 1½ sessions on Saturday; but I guess that's why they put them online and also publish them in the Ensign in May).

I'm sure you've dying to hear my take on this latest conference. (Admit it, both of you readers; you have been tossing and turning many a night.) So, here it is.

 - We all need to get our houses in order. That was certainly an overarching theme. Pres. Russell M. Nelson said, "Time is running out." When a prophet of God says something like that, better sit up and listen. And then get up and do something about it.

 - The era of temple building is moving forward boldly, with a number of additional temples announced. JB and I watched the Sunday afternoon session at her parents' home in Grantsville, and when a temple was announced for the Tooele valley, they were overjoyed at the news.

 - In our aforementioned dinner out with the Del Carpios and our other Peruvian friends, Elder Del Carpio (who is an Area Authority Seventy) told us a number of things he learned in the general authority training meeting he had attended that Thursday morning. One of the emphases was on the gathering of Israel, and that theme was certainly reflected in many of the conference talks.

Another is on the reclaiming of the one sheep that has strayed from the 99, which was part of the rationale, as he understood it, in the Church reversing its policy on the baptism of children of same-sex parents (a hot-button topic, to be sure, and one I'll discuss a bit more in a future post here; so, buckle up, both of you). See Chapter 10 of Acts for a reference on how the gospel was spread from the Jews to the Gentiles in New Testament times.

 - According to Mormon Newsroom, another item Pres. Nelson shared at one of the general authority training meetings was this statement: "If you folks are not being persecuted on a daily basis, you are not doing your job very well."

Wow. Are we to expect, then, that persecutions of and against the Church and its leaders will increase? And does this apply to all of the other members of the Church, as well?

It certainly sounds like it.

 - Priesthood session, now a once-a-year meeting, returned for this conference, for which my brothers, my nephew Luke, and I gathered at Mom's house to watch Saturday night. The entire First Presidency spoke, and when Pres. Nelson stepped to the pulpit, I was fully expecting a social media fast, not unlike the one he challenged the sisters to take six months ago, for the brethren.

This did not happen. However, he did speak of something no less important:

"Brethren, we need to do better and be better in how we honor the women in our lives, beginning with our wives and daughters, our mothers and sisters.

"It is the foremost duty of each man to love and care for his wife. Become one with her. Be her partner. Make it easy for her to want to be yours. No other interest in life should take priority over building an eternal relationship with her.

"Nothing on TV, a mobile device, or a computer is more important than her well-being. I invite you to do the following: (1) Take an inventory of how you spend your time and where you devote your energy. That will tell you where your heart is. (2) Pray to have your heart attuned to your wife's heart. (3) Seek to bring her joy. (4) Seek her counsel and listen.

"Her input will improve your output."

It sounds like I have a great deal of homework to work on for (at least) the next six months.