Following Up...

As a follow up to my previous post, check out Rebecca's blog for her stake conference message from Elder Richard Scott, and cjane's blog (under "My New Identity") for her take on Elder Holland's message to our stake.

Who Doesn't Love A Good Stake?

This weekend was Stake Conference. For those of you who are members of the LDS church, that makes sense. For others, it's a meeting where we get to meet on a larger scale than just the members of our smaller congregation. I remember when my family first became members of the LDS church and were told that Stake Conference was coming up. I thought, "Hot Dog! We all get steak?!" However, there is no meat involved and the only feasting we do is in a spiritual sense of the word.

We were privileged to have Elder Jeffrey Holland come and speak to us, and it was amazing. Those who attended the Saturday evening adults-only meeting were rewarded with a wonderful testimony of God's love for each of us, no matter what our current situation in life. Elder Holland spoke of the many trials that any one of us could be facing, and the challenges that come with those trials. We can, in a sense, feel broken. He then shared with us that God loves broken things and knows how to fix them. We only need to have faith in his love and let him heal our broken hearts and broken spirits. He reminded us that clouds must be broken to shower the earth; grain must be broken to produce bread. So when we feel like all hope is gone, like there was never a time we have been truly happy, we need to just endure & save ourselves for the days of happiness that are inevitably ahead.

My favorite quote from the Sunday meeting (besides Elder Holland's remark that, "I've seen maternity wards, but you have a Maternity Stake!" There are a lot of kids in our Stake. I am fairly certain that they outnumber the adults.) was that the gospel of Jesus Christ can be summed up in one phrase for the youth of the church - the title of a Bryan Adams song, "Everything I do, I do it for you." Leaders, parents, isn't that what it's all about?

I love talks that make you really think.

And man, do I love a great Stake.