Hi! General Conference was fantastic!! I thought back to the blessing it has been in my life to have General Conference a priority every April and October. The Words of the Prophet and the Apostolic witnesses shared are a source strength that we can draw from. I have met many people in and out of the church that have not had the blessing of General Conference in their lives. When I see this I often wonder "Why wouldn't you make General Conference a priority?! To make sure you can watch every session you can! It's my favorite two weekends of the year!" I have realized that we learn by experience. Something I still struggle to recognize right away in a situation. The choices we make after experiences shape our lives. Elder Oaks said, "Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. The desires we act on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming." As we listen to General Conference, not just hear but listen, we recognize the things we need to improve in our lives. Our desire to change comes as we are humble enough to realize we are not perfect. That we can continually improve, and indeed that is what the Atonement is all about. Improvement, change, progression towards aligning our will with Gods. Just as Elder Patrick Kearon taught in the October 2010 General Conference, "to survive in a minefield, you must follow exactly in the tracks of the vehicle moving ahead of you. Any deviation to the right or left could—and indeed did—prove fatal." Elder Packer said that we are "growing up" and indeed living in "enemy territory." If we align our will with Gods we will not leave the path set before us. We will not find any land mines. We will be able to make it through this life with joy in our journey. Matthew 10:39 teaches us that "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." Lose yourself in the service of God and you will find Joy in this life and the life to come.
Maybe that helps you understand why I love General Conference so much. Three different conferences. Three different leaders in the church. One message that we can all benefit from. General Conference is for everyone!
Something else I've realized is, when we don't tell people we love them they often forget. Like Joe shared with us "Doubt enters our lives when we forget. " When it's not on the forefront of your mind it seems to drift away and becomes forgotten. Always remember the counsel of the Prophet, President Monson, "Never let a problem to be solved, become more important than a person to be loved." President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, "Love is really spelled T-I-M-E." For me, love is really spelled S-N-A-I-L M-A-I-L. For me, showing your love is great and very important, but saying it, is a way of expressing your love that cannot be replaced.
I love you and hope and pray that we will feast upon the words of Christ. Be it through the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, or General Conference. All are the words of God. As we learned from Elder Richard G. Scott we should make all of the standard works a part of our studies. "To memorize scripture is to forge a new friendship." That is a friend we can always call on, depend on, draw from to get through a situation.
I love all of you and thank you for your concern, prayers, love, letters, and everything else.
Love,
Elder Ben Fagersten
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