A General Conference Odyssey post on the Saturday morning session of April 1981.

The Brethren are conducting “Special Stake Conferences,” where our leaders can cover better the 3500+ stakes in the church. Ours was this weekend and we were given some pretty direct council that correlates well with this week’s General Conference Odyssey report.

First off, our fairly new stake president announced, during this meeting, the vision for our stake. It is to Gather Israel. In his words, “Every individual on both sides of the veil deserves to hear the word of the Lord.” This has always been and will always be the focus of our church.

Marion G. Romney spoke on The Restoration of Israel to the Lands of Their Inheritance. It has been assumed for a long time that this means the Jews will claim all rights and privileges to live in Jerusalem, which they inherited from God. But, as members of Jesus Christ’s church on the earth, we understand this phrase to have more significant meanings. 1) That many of us, of the House of Israel, will be gathered into the restored church of Jesus Christ through baptism. 2) That the children of God will receive all the ordinances necessary to return to the presence of their Heavenly Father, to live with Him forever. This vision announced by our stake president is the very essence of our gospel, and what we believe.

We cannot deny that we are living in the final days of this earth, and this call—to gather—is now of utmost importance. Satan is raging and we, God’s fearless warriors saved for these last days, are called to battle. In particular, parents need to be alert and raise their children in strict obedience so these youth can finally win this war that has seen huge losses of our Heavenly Father’s children.

President Russell M. Nelson has already revealed to us that he gets woken up in the middle of the night, repeatedly, by the Lord with still more warnings, directions, and commands. Can we afford to be apathetic next to a ninety-three-year-old powerhouse?

Spencer W. Kimball spoke, in this long-ago session, laying out his travels for the previous six months. He went from the Philippines, back to the states for the holidays, and then back to the islands and New Zealand; to Atlanta, Georgia to dedicate a temple; and off to several conferences in the Orient, the South Pacific, and the Caribbean.

Our prophet did the same right after our own General Conference. It’s hard to imagine the stamina required and is a marked testimony of how the Lord supports and sustains His prophets physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Because of the growing membership, our prophet is assigning Apostles, Seventy, and Area Authorities to cover the world by having these special conferences, so we can hear—first hand—the important messages of spiritual preparation that will keep us fighting on the right side.

In our conference, we were asked to change. Literally. That we must prioritize our time. That we must prioritize our children’s time. That, by delving into Family History work, prioritizing our time will come more easily. That maintaining a high standard of “The Basics” (Family prayer, scripture reading, and FHE) will help us stay focused on the priorities necessary to gather.

This past week, my husband and I were traveling and stopped at a truck stop. People-watching is always an interesting spectator sport, but it got me thinking. How many of these people have heard the missionaries? How many of these people will recognize Jesus Christ when He comes? (Likely, more of the second than the first.) But the realization sunk in, there are so many children that God wants to save.

Our job isn’t necessarily to stand up in that crowded truck stop and call repentance, but we are asked to pray that the Spirit will show us those who are prepared and interested in hearing the call, to align their lives with Jesus Christ. That is a very simple thing for us to do–sincere prayers and talking about the gospel we love–it can’t get much simpler than that.

And what of those who have passed on without knowing truth, and receiving their saving ordinances? I’ve heard that only 3-4% of the earth’s population has received their saving ordinances. Granted, many records are lost, but there are still millions and millions of records that can be found, and we are related to all of them. We simply have to sort through the puzzle and find the relationships. There is plenty of work for everyone to do. And the church is doing an incredible job making it easier and easier for us to do.

Finally, Jacob de Jager talked about Senior Missionaries. So did we, in our Special Conference. My husband and I have been planning for years how we will spend our retirement. It takes planning. Most of us aren’t independently wealthy, so we have to make the most of our retirement savings and stay healthy long enough to be useful. Debt will wipe out any dreams, and health is always in the balance.

God needs us now. We need God now. We can’t afford to be selfish with our choices if our choice is God. We have been asked, with as much directness as is politely possible, to work hard building the kingdom of God by pressing forward. If we are true disciples of Christ, we need to set our priorities and gather His people now.