LDS 181st Semiannual Conference, Sunday Afternoon General Session; Covenants, Missionary Service, And Prayer

Note: All posts on the October 2011 181st Semiannual General Conference available HERE, with the most recent post appearing first.

During the Sunday afternoon session of the 181st Semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the hot topics were covenants, Jesus Christ, missionary service, prayer, and dealing with tragedy. Elder Russell M. Nelsen's talk served as a tutorial on the Church's doctrine regarding covenants.

181st semi-annual LDS General Conference closes Sunday | ksl.com

Source of the summaries published below is the LDS Church News. Video and audio archives will be posted on the Conference Page as soon as they are available; official written transcripts of each address will be posted on the LDS website in about a week from now.

-- Elder Russell M. Nelson, Quorum of the Twelve: Spoke about covenants. This address is a tutorial on LDS doctrine about covenants. Covenants are sacred promises with God in which He sets the terms, and individuals have the choice of whether they are going to accept those terms. If one accepts the terms of the covenant and obey God's law, he or she receives the blessings associated with the covenant. Because of the renewal of the Abrahamic covenant, all can receive the fullness of the gospel, enjoy the blessings of the priesthood and qualify for God's greatest blessing, eternal life through exaltation. All who make these covenants become part of the Abrahamic family, even if they are not of the physical seed of Abraham. Children of the covenant have the right to receive the Lord's doctrine and to know the plan of salvation. They claim it by making covenants of sacred significance and keep the covenant by obedience to His commandments.

LDS 181st Semiannual Conference, Sunday Morning General Session; Faithfulness, Patience, And Virtue

Note: All posts on the October 2011 181st Semiannual General Conference available HERE, with the most recent post appearing first.

The Sunday morning session of the 181st Semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints focused on faithfulness, patience, and virtue. Church members were counseled to be better witnesses to God, to wait more patiently on the Lord to manifest His purposes in our lives, and fathers were directed to be guardians of virtue in their own homes to better teach their children by example. Members were also reminded that the Book of Mormon is an "either-or" proposition; there is no middle ground.

Sources of the summaries published below include the LDS Church News, the Salt Lake Tribune, and KTVX Channel 4. Video and audio archives will be posted on the Conference Page as soon as they are available; official written transcripts of each address will be posted on the LDS website in about a week from now.

-- President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency: Spoke of the need for all Latter-day Saints to be witnesses to God. Noted that Church members have made three promises to God; becoming charitable, becoming a witness of God and a promise to endure. He concluded that the Book of Mormon can draw an individual closer to God than any other book, and can change a life for the better.

President Eyring also related a personal experience worth highlighting. He had accepted an invitation to give an address at a major university. However, the organizer, knowing of Eyring's Church position, told him he could not witness for Christ during that address because the university "respected people of all religious beliefs, including those who denied the existence of a God". But instead of canceling, President Eyring noted that the university had been honored for doing what the Church had learned to do in its humanitarian efforts across the world. He said that, in his talk, he described what the university and the Church BOTH had done to lift people in need and said that he knew that Jesus Christ was the source of the blessings that come into the lives of those who were served and who had served. He received a standing ovation. So he kept his agreement to speak AND satisfied the demands of his conscience to witness for God.

LDS 181st Semiannual Conference, Saturday Evening Priesthood Session; Missionary Service, Priesthood Service, And Temporal Welfare

Note: All posts on the October 2011 181st Semiannual General Conference available HERE, with the most recent post appearing first.

During the Saturday evening priesthood session of the 181st Semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, various speakers held forth on missionary service, priesthood power, and temporal welfare. While the LDS Church has taken pains to reduce the perceived contrast between it and the rest of the Christian community in recent years, President Thomas S. Monson reminded congregants that there are still times when we may have to act like a "peculiar people", particularly in defense of our core social values.

Sources of the summaries published include the LDS Church News and the Salt Lake Tribune. Video and audio archives will be posted on the Conference Page as soon as they are available; official written transcripts of each address will be posted on the LDS website in about a week from now.

-- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Quorum of the Twelve: Discussed Satan's tactics and put out a renewed appeal for more senior couples to serve missions. The experience of Joseph Smith in being seized upon by a dark power while he was praying in the Sacred Grove is proof of the tangibility of Satan. Elder Holland noted that Satan is real, the very personification of evil. His motives are in every case malicious, and he convulses at the appearance of redeeming light, at the very thought of truth. He knows he will ultimately lose, but wants to take as many with him as possible. Elder Holland also pleaded for thousands of more couples to serve missions of the Church, primarily because they bring a maturity to the work that no number of 19-year-olds, however good they are, can provide.

LDS 181st Semiannual Conference, Saturday Afternoon General Session; Genealogy, Family, And Repentance Get Top Billing

Note: All posts on the October 2011 181st Semiannual General Conference available HERE, with the most recent post appearing first.

The Saturday afternoon session of the 181st Semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints focused upon genealogy, family, and repentance. The Saturday afternoon session is often used to showcase new Seventies who've never delivered a conference address before; they're considered apprentice Apostles from whose ranks future members of the Quorum of the Twelve are selected. Sources of the summaries published below include the LDS Church News and KTVX Channel 4. Video and audio archives will be posted on the Conference Page as soon as they are available; official written transcripts of each address will be posted on the LDS website in about a week from now.

Preceding the addresses was the announcement of changes in the leadership structure. Among the more prominent people involved were J. Willard Marriott and Jon Huntsman Sr., released as Area Seventies. Since Huntsman was not a full-time employee of the LDS Church, the constraints against Huntsman getting involved in his son's Presidential campaign did not apply to him.

-- Elder David A. Bednar, Quorum of the Twelve: Genealogy was Elder Bednar's chosen topic. He discussed how the restoration of the sealing authority by Elijah in 1836 was necessary to prepare the world for the Savior's second coming and initiated a greatly increased and worldwide interest in family history work. As members of Christ's restored Church, we have the covenant responsibility to search out our ancestors and provide for them the saving ordinances of the gospel. For these reasons we do family history research, build temples and perform vicarious ordinances. Elder Bednar encouraged young people to get more involved in these task, noting that one does not need to wait until some arbitrary age to fulfill the responsibility to assist in the work of salvation for the human family. He also touted FamilySearch.org.

LDS 181st Semiannual Conference, Saturday Morning General Session: Five New Temples Announced

Note: All posts on the October 2011 181st Semiannual General Conference available HERE, with the most recent post appearing first.

The 181st Semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began on Saturday October 1st, 2011. Midway through the first hour, President Thomas S. Monson arrived, and announced the Church's intention to construct five new temples: Provo, Utah; Barranquillia, Colombia; Durban, South Africa; Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Star Valley, Wyoming. The proposed Paris Temple had been previously announced by the Church in July after the media first broke the story.

The second Provo Temple will be erected upon the ashes of the Provo Tabernacle; which explains why the Church purchased adjacent properties earlier in August. And the announcement of a Congo Temple is truly remarkable, considering that some parts of that country remain ungovernable to this day and that outbreaks of mass rape and murder in the eastern part still occur.

President Monson announces six new temples and program for temple patrons | ksl.com

The summaries combine highlights from single reports on the session from the Salt Lake Tribune and KSL Channel 5 with individual LDS Church News stories on each speaker to provide a broader perspective. Video and audio archives will be posted on the Conference Page as soon as they are available; official written transcripts of each address will be posted on the LDS website in about a week from now.

-- Elder Richard G. Scott, Quorum of the Twelve: Spoke on the power of scripture. Elder Scott described the scriptures as one of the tools to help us be successful in our mortal probation, and the key to opening the channel of communication with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Scriptures can communicate different meanings at different times during an individual's life, according to their needs; a scripture that someone may have read many times can take on a different meaning when a new challenge in life appears.

Discipleship And Charity The Common Themes Of The 2011 LDS General Relief Society Meeting

Note: All posts on the October 2011 181st Semiannual General Conference available HERE, with the most recent post appearing first.

The 2011 General Relief Society Meeting of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints took place before a capacity crowd of over 20,000 at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on September 24th, 2011, and the common theme promoted by all speakers seemed to be discipleship, although charity was a secondary theme. As expected, speakers referred at times to the newly-released Relief Society manual, "Daughters in My Kingdom: the History and Work of Relief Society" (14 MB file, may take up to five minutes to download).

A video archive is now available HERE. KSL news video embedded below:

LDS women hear messages of faith, worth | ksl.com

LDS Church News has provided summaries of the addresses, while a more personal perspective is available from the live-blogging on Scholaristas. A Well-Behaved Mormon Women also weighs in. Highlights from the LDS Church News provided below; click on the link to go directly to the summary:

-- President Julie B. Beck: Sister Beck explained that Relief Society today is organized after a pattern of discipleship that existed in the Church in ancient times, noting that when the Savior organized His Church in New Testament times, women were vital participants in His ministry. She added that as the Lord began restoring His Church through the Prophet Joseph Smith, He again included women in a pattern of discipleship.

Sister Beck further explained that the Lord inspired the Prophet Joseph Smith to organize the women of the Church under the priesthood and after the pattern of the priesthood, which makes it possible for the presidency to receive direction from the Lord and His prophet for a specific work. Although under the priesthood, the Relief Society has been given authority to teach, inspire and organize the sisters as disciples to assist in the Lord's work of Salvation. One of those works emphasized at this meeting was visiting teaching, which is to be considered an extension of the bishop's charge to care for the Lord's flock. Sister Beck concluded by saying that Sister Beck concluded by noting that these and other essential teachings about Relief Society are now available for study in "Daughters in My Kingdom: the History and Work of Relief Society."

-- Sister Sylvia H. Allred, First Counselor: Sister Allred spoke at length about charity, characterizing it not as a single act or something we give away, but as a state of being, a state of the heart, kind feelings that engender loving actions. Individuals must first have the desire to increase in charity and to be more Christ-like. Then, they must pray to be filled with love. Those who truly possess the spirit of charity are willing to serve and help others even when it is inconvenient, and with no thought of recognition or reciprocation. When charity becomes our very nature, we react when we see a need rather than wait to be assigned to help. Sister Allred also put out a pitch for visiting teaching, noting that through effective visiting teaching, we have many opportunities to love, minister and serve others. She added that it is through the countless acts of charity performed daily by visiting teachers all over the world that individuals are able to follow the Savior and act as instruments in His hands. And it is through providing service and extending charity towards others that individuals are able to overcome their own difficulties, making them seem less challenging.

-- Sister Barbara Thompson, Second Counselor: Covenants were her hot topic as Sister Thompson noted that as individuals cleave unto their covenants, joy and happiness come into their lives. In the scriptures, we learn of men and women who have made covenants with God, who instructed people on what to do to honor those covenants, and then as those covenants were kept, God released the promised blessings. Referencing the new "Daughters in My Kingdom: The History and Work of Relief Society" book, Sister Thompson spoke of the importance of making and keeping sacred covenants and the blessings that come as individuals live worthy of their covenants. Sister Thompson also pitched a subtle reminder that temples still exist, more are being built, and that they've been built to be used.

-- President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency: President Uchtdorf used the forget-me-not flower, which has five petals, as a metaphor to illustrate five things he would like the women in the Church to remember.

(1). Forget not to be patient with yourself.
(2). Forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice.
(3). Forget not to be happy now.
(4). Forget not the 'why' of the gospel.
(5). Forget not that the Lord loves you.

The Money Shot: "My dear Relief Society sisters, you are closer to heaven that you suppose. You are destined for more than you can possibly imagine. Continue to increase in faith and personal righteousness. Accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ as your way of life. Cherish the gift of activity in this great and true Church. Treasure the gift of service in the blessed organization of Relief Society. Continue to strengthen homes and families. Continue to seek out and help others who need your and the Lord's help."

LDS General Relief Society Meeting To Take Place In Salt Lake City On September 24th, 2011

Note: All posts on the October 2011 181st Semiannual General Conference available HERE, with the most recent post appearing first.

Update September 24th: Summaries of the talks now available in this post.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' annual General Relief Society Meeting will be held at the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday September 24th, 2011, beginning at 6:00 P.M. MDT. The meeting customarily includes addresses by each member of the Relief Society Presidency and a member of the First Presidency.

The meeting is only for women 18 years of age and older. For those planning to attend in person, guidelines for dress and behavior are published HERE. Parking and transportation information is available HERE.

For those who cannot attend in person, broadcast information is provided HERE. The meeting may also be broadcast by cable and satellite providers; check HERE, then select your state and follow the instructions.

One of the hot button issues during this year's meeting will be the new Relief Society Manual entitled "Daughters in My Kingdom: The History and Work of Relief Society". This 208-page book is organized by themes such as family, sisterhood and charity. Each chapter includes stories of Latter-day Saint women throughout history and around the world today. It is intended to be an additional resource for personal study, teaching at home, and in Relief Society and other church settings. Each LDS woman will get a personal copy, and the entire manual is now posted online HERE. One unofficial review of the manual from a mildly feminist perspective has already been posted online in The Exponent; a more faith-promoting review has been posted on A Well-Behaved Mormon Woman.

The General Relief Society Meeting is a lead-in to the 181st Semiannual General Conference to be held on October 1-2.