The semi-annual LDS General Conference season kicked off with the General Women's Meeting on September 27th, 2014. This is a fair statement, since President Dieter F. Uchtdorf actually stated tonight that he considered this meeting the opening session of Conference. This is the second consecutive General Conference at which all the sisters eight years of age and older meet together instead of separating into Young Women and Relief Society meetings as in the past. The sisters were addressed by a member of each of the women's presidencies, along with a member of the First Presidency. In keeping with the LDS Church's increased commitment to multilingualism, a group of Primary children in Seoul, Republic of Korea singing "I Love To See The Temple" in Korean was featured.
Audio and video archives will be available on the October 2014 General Conference Archive Page, to be followed by written transcripts around mid-week. The entire meeting is also available on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BACP_4BqkFo
Media stories now published by KSL Channel 5 and the Salt Lake Tribune; summaries based upon Deseret News stories are provided below. Click the speaker's name to go to the specific Deseret News story.
-- Sister Linda K. Burton, Relief Society General President. "Prepare For The Temple". Put forth a pitch for more vigorous and sustained temple activity, promising that LDS women who prepare themselves to worthily enter the temple and remain faithful to temple covenants will receive a multiplicity of blessings from the Lord. Sister Burton added that personal worthiness is an essential requirement to enjoy the blessings of the temple, and because Latter-day Saints come to the temple to receive eternal blessings, it should be surprising that a higher standard is required to qualify for those blessings. Those who wish to qualify for exaltation in the celestial kingdom are expected to live a higher standard of obedience that comes by practicing the virtue of obedience day by day and drop by drop.
-- Sister Jean A. Stevens, First Counselor, Primary Presidency. "Covenant Daughters of God". The takeaway was when daughters of God focus on the temple and on their sacred covenants, God is able to send blessings in personal and powerful ways. Sister Stevens noted that beginning with baptism and continuing on the path to temple covenants and priesthood ordinances, individuals are promised the blessing of eternal life if they are prepared and keep the covenants they make throughout their lives. Temples are an expression of God's love.
-- Sister Neill F. Marriott, Second Counselor, Young Women General Presidency. "Sharing Your Light". The primary takeaway here is that as faithful women proclaim truth and share their light, they are able to push back the darkness of the world. Sister Marriott said that each woman carries two important responsibilities; to add gospel light and truth to their own life, and to share that light and truth with others. She added that we must go to the source of light -- to our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the scriptures, and added that the temple is yet another way to get closer to the light. To counter accusations that the Church is biased in favor of married homemakers, Sister Marriott added that each woman has her own role to play on the earth -- whether it is daughter, mother, leader, teacher, sister, wage earner, wife and others -- and each role is influential and has moral power. This should reassure LDS women that ALL women are welcome within the Church -- married or single, homemaker or wage-earner.
-- President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor, First Presidency. "Live The Gospel Joyful". Perhaps the real takeaway here is that we should project the appearance that living the Gospel is joyful. If we act like it's a chore or a drudge, people won't be as attracted to it. President Uchtdorf expressed the hope that LDS members will experience a renewed and an expanded measure of the love of God in their lives, to find the faith, determination, and commitment to learn God’s commandments, treasure them in our hearts, and live the gospel joyful.
President Uchtdorf also put forth a very important reminder, saying that while it is good to be a child of God, divine parentage alone does NOT guarantee a divine inheritance. Our Father in Heaven is an eternal being whose experience, wisdom, and intelligence are infinitely greater than ours, and He not only knows what is best for us, but wants us to voluntarily choose what is best for us. The commandments of God are more than a bunch of feelgood memes; they are divine counsel, based on eternal truths. Finally, President Uchtdorf took a friendly shot at "checklist Mormonism" by saying when Church members treat God’s commandments and their part in building His kingdom like something to check off on a to-do list, they miss the heart of discipleship.
Reaction from the Bloggernacle:
-- Millennial Star: Temples and covenants appeared to be the overarching theme of the meeting. Characterized the talks as excellent, giving great examples of covenants and the spiritual and revelatory power of the temple.
-- Feminist Mormon Housewives: Good summaries of the talks, and it appeared these hard-bitten feminists were for the most part impressed.
-- Exponent: Appeared particularly impressed with Sister Stevens' talk, noting that she used regular Church members and especially women as examples, repeatedly emphasizing that we all have different paths. This is important to Exponent since they find there are comparatively few quotes from women in the Scriptures and often go through whole Sunday School or Relief Society lessons without any quotes from women.
-- Times & Seasons: Julie Smith was particularly impressed with Sister Marriott's talk, not only praising her inclusive attitude towards a wider variety of Mormon women, but also by her ability to talk to the younger set without tslking down to them.
Showing posts with label General Women's Meeting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General Women's Meeting. Show all posts
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Walking A Covenant Path Back To God The Theme Of The Historic LDS General Women's Meeting
Heralding the upcoming LDS General Conference meeting was the General Women's Meeting on March 29th, 2014. For the first time, the Young Women and the ladies of the Relief Society assembled together, along with Primary girls as young as age eight. A representative from each of the Relief Society, Young Women, and General Primary Presidencies spoke, along with the customary member of the First Presidency. A multi-generational choir of women representing over 290 stakes within a 100-mile radius of the Conference Center provided the music. The overall message was an invitation to women to unite and walk a “covenant path” back to our Heavenly Father. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, two of the spokespersons of Ordain Women, Hannah Wheelwright and Suzette Smith, were in attendance, but they avoided pushing their agenda and instead praised the concept of intergenerational mentoring that was promoted, and appreciated the balanced discussion between sisterhood and discipleship.
Those who missed the broadcast can watch it on the General Conference Archive page. Here's a YouTube embed of the entire video playlist for the meeting; the forward and back arrows on the bottom permit you to toggle between the talks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mpBw7SAWSQ&list=PLClOO0BdaFaNWGTdSq0_EgcD8yrwsutTO
Short summaries of each talk are provided below, linked back to the designated Deseret News article:
-- Sister Rosemary Wixom, Primary General President: Sister Wixom expounded on how covenants can protect, prepare and empower. She explained that entrance to the path of eternal life comes through the gate -- the ordinance and covenant of baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. With baptism comes a life-changing transition. As individuals partake of the sacrament and renew their baptismal covenant, they are able to look to the temple, and other ordinances they will participate in that, when coupled with the Atonement, can lead to exaltation in the celestial kingdom. Furthermore, as we strive to keep our covenants, our feelings of inadequacies and imperfection begin to fade, while the ordinances and the covenants of the temple come alive.
-- Sister Bonnie Oscarson, General Young Women’s President: Sister Oscarson called upon women to relax and rejoice in their divine differences. She said that the adversary motivates women to be particularly hard on themselves, and that when they compare themselves to one another, they will always feel inadequate or resentful of others. She reminded the audience that there is no other group of women in the world who have access to greater blessings than Latter-day Saint women. LDS women can all enjoy the full blessings of priesthood power through keeping baptismal and temple covenants. We have living prophets to lead and teach, and we also enjoy the great gift of the Holy Ghost, which serves as a comfort and guide in our lives. LDS women are blessed to work hand in hand with righteous brothers as we strengthen homes and families.
-- Sister Linda K. Burton, Relief Society General President: Sister Burton addressed the topic, “Wanted: Hands and Hearts to Hasten the Work". She noted that together as sisters and in unity with living prophets, seers and revelators with restored priesthood keys, women can walk as one, as disciples, as servants with willing hearts and hands to hasten the work of salvation, becoming like the Savior. She asked women, young women and girls to answer the Savior’s call to become part of His work — the work of a disciple. In what might be considered by some to be a gentle reproof to the Ordain Women movement, Sister Burton told the women in attendance, “I have seen your strength. I have seen your faith. You have something to give and you are willing to give it. You do this without fanfare or publicity, drawing attention to the God you worship not yourselves, and with no thought of what you will receive".
-- President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency: President Eyring spoke about the path that women, young women and girls must take on the journey back to our Heavenly Father. Addressing the topic, “Daughters in the Covenant,” President Eyring said a number of girls in the meeting were baptized recently and received the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. Although the memories of the feelings associated with baptism may be less clear with the passage of time, some of those feelings come back whenever we listen to the sacramental prayers. But although no two Latter-day Saints will have the same memories of the day they were baptized, we all felt God's approval, the desire to forgive and be forgiven, and an increased determination to do right. President Eyring also credited his mother for preparing him to make the baptismal covenant and all other covenants that would follow.
President Eyring also noted that we were tutored by our Heavenly Father before mortality. The Father helped us understand and accept that we would have trials, tests and opportunities perfectly chosen for each of us. We learned that our Father had a plan of happiness to get us safely through those trials and that we would help bring others safely through theirs. This plan is marked by covenants with God, and it is a free choice to make and keep covenants.
Those who missed the broadcast can watch it on the General Conference Archive page. Here's a YouTube embed of the entire video playlist for the meeting; the forward and back arrows on the bottom permit you to toggle between the talks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mpBw7SAWSQ&list=PLClOO0BdaFaNWGTdSq0_EgcD8yrwsutTO
Short summaries of each talk are provided below, linked back to the designated Deseret News article:
-- Sister Rosemary Wixom, Primary General President: Sister Wixom expounded on how covenants can protect, prepare and empower. She explained that entrance to the path of eternal life comes through the gate -- the ordinance and covenant of baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. With baptism comes a life-changing transition. As individuals partake of the sacrament and renew their baptismal covenant, they are able to look to the temple, and other ordinances they will participate in that, when coupled with the Atonement, can lead to exaltation in the celestial kingdom. Furthermore, as we strive to keep our covenants, our feelings of inadequacies and imperfection begin to fade, while the ordinances and the covenants of the temple come alive.
-- Sister Bonnie Oscarson, General Young Women’s President: Sister Oscarson called upon women to relax and rejoice in their divine differences. She said that the adversary motivates women to be particularly hard on themselves, and that when they compare themselves to one another, they will always feel inadequate or resentful of others. She reminded the audience that there is no other group of women in the world who have access to greater blessings than Latter-day Saint women. LDS women can all enjoy the full blessings of priesthood power through keeping baptismal and temple covenants. We have living prophets to lead and teach, and we also enjoy the great gift of the Holy Ghost, which serves as a comfort and guide in our lives. LDS women are blessed to work hand in hand with righteous brothers as we strengthen homes and families.
-- Sister Linda K. Burton, Relief Society General President: Sister Burton addressed the topic, “Wanted: Hands and Hearts to Hasten the Work". She noted that together as sisters and in unity with living prophets, seers and revelators with restored priesthood keys, women can walk as one, as disciples, as servants with willing hearts and hands to hasten the work of salvation, becoming like the Savior. She asked women, young women and girls to answer the Savior’s call to become part of His work — the work of a disciple. In what might be considered by some to be a gentle reproof to the Ordain Women movement, Sister Burton told the women in attendance, “I have seen your strength. I have seen your faith. You have something to give and you are willing to give it. You do this without fanfare or publicity, drawing attention to the God you worship not yourselves, and with no thought of what you will receive".
-- President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency: President Eyring spoke about the path that women, young women and girls must take on the journey back to our Heavenly Father. Addressing the topic, “Daughters in the Covenant,” President Eyring said a number of girls in the meeting were baptized recently and received the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. Although the memories of the feelings associated with baptism may be less clear with the passage of time, some of those feelings come back whenever we listen to the sacramental prayers. But although no two Latter-day Saints will have the same memories of the day they were baptized, we all felt God's approval, the desire to forgive and be forgiven, and an increased determination to do right. President Eyring also credited his mother for preparing him to make the baptismal covenant and all other covenants that would follow.
President Eyring also noted that we were tutored by our Heavenly Father before mortality. The Father helped us understand and accept that we would have trials, tests and opportunities perfectly chosen for each of us. We learned that our Father had a plan of happiness to get us safely through those trials and that we would help bring others safely through theirs. This plan is marked by covenants with God, and it is a free choice to make and keep covenants.
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