This is a General Conference Odyssey post for the Saturday Afternoon session of the October 2008 General Conference. 

It has been such a great experience to read through the past conference talks. They teach us such marvelous things, including this session. I will have to share something of every talk given, because, wow, just wow!

Come What May, and Love It

Elder Wirthlin shares the now famous story of how his daughter assumes the older man at the door is her blind date instead of someone picking up her younger sister for babysitting. Life is full of unpredictable, embarrassing, and devastating experiences. But, his wise mother taught to accept everything. “Come what may, and love it.” 

So many people today wonder why bad things happen and why there is so much suffering in the world. Elder Wirthlin teaches us, “But I do believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life. If we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be times of greatest growth, which in turn can lead toward times of greatest happiness.”

The Ministry of Angels

We love Elder Holland, and we all remember this talk about angels among us. This is a little of what he teaches:

“I ask everyone within the sound of my voice to take heart, be filled with faith, and remember the Lord has said He ‘would fight [our] battles, [our] children’s battles, and [the battles of our] children’s children.’ And what do we do to merit such a defense? We are to “search diligently, pray always, and be believing. [Then] all things shall work together for [our] good, if [we] walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith [we] have covenanted.” The latter days are not a time to fear and tremble. They are a time to be believing and remember our covenants.”

God watches over us and He, who already rescued us, sends angels down to rescue us still.

Even a Child Can Understand

Bishop Caussé reminds us how simple the gospel is, even a child can understand it. With all the scholars, all over the world, trying to decipher the Bible, we teach our Primary children concepts that are magnificent, but simple enough for them to recite back to us in song, or their little 1 ½ minute Primary talks. 

We simply need to get out of the way and let the Spirit teach all of us, so that we can all become as little children, for these are who make heaven.

The Way

Today, more than ever before, Pres. Nelson is teaching us to focus on Jesus Christ. This talk, by Elder Corbridge, teaches us truth:

“Life is hard, but life is simple. Get on the path and never, ever give up. You never give up. You just keep on going. You don’t quit, and you will make it. There is only one way to happiness and fulfillment. Jesus Christ is the Way. Every other way, any other way, whatever other way is foolishness.”

Come to Zion

This church is full of good people, Terrestrial people, but Pres. Nelson is trying to make us into Celestial people. Elder Christofferson is teaching us about how to be a Zion people, or Celestial people:

“Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom,” said the Lord; “otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself” (D&C 105:5). The law of the celestial kingdom is, of course, the gospel law and covenants, which include our constant remembrance of the Savior and our pledge of obedience, sacrifice, consecration, and fidelity.”

No wonder Pres. Nelson is emphasizing the temple so much. If you look carefully, you’ll see, listed, a reminder of all the covenants we make in the temple to become the people we need to become.

Pray Always

I learned something profound that I missed the first time I heard this talk. Elder Bednar relates prayer to the Creation:

“The spiritual creation preceded the temporal creation. In a similar way, meaningful morning prayer is an important element in the spiritual creation of each day—and precedes the temporal creation or the actual execution of the day. Just as the temporal creation was linked to and a continuation of the spiritual creation, so meaningful morning and evening prayers are linked to and are a continuation of each other.”

So, in our morning prayer, we map out (spiritually create) what we’re going to do during the day. During the day we do it (physically create.) In the evening, we judge ourselves how our day went and spiritually prepare for the next day.

Sometimes, conference talks simply blow the mind with their profundity.