General Conference

So this session of general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I decided for the first time that I was going to write down the impressions I felt during EACH talk. I have tried taking notes in the past and usually give up. But I am proud to say I made it through all sessions taking notes. Instead of writing down what the speaker said, I made an effort to write down what I felt I needed to hear. Here is a brief summary of what I have decided the Prophets of the Lord were saying to me:
1) Faith in Christ requires exactness, even in the small things. Therefore, I need to work harder to do the small things the Lord has asked of me (ex: personal scripture study, personal prayers) I felt that a reoccurring theme in all the talks was encouragement to do the small and simple things that we have been taught in primary. Pray, read scriptures, love one another. Along with this, I felt impressed that the Lord has blessed me greatly this past year. When Jon was laid off, it only took a month of stress for the Lord to bless us with a job in TN. I felt impressed to live more worthy of my blessings. It is not enough to be passive in the church, just attending my meetings and reading/praying with my husband are not enough to show my true devotion to the Savior. I want to live my life even closer to Heavenly Father by doing the small things I often forget to do. I have no excuse to neglect my spiritual nourishment.
2) Quinton L Cook stated that we get what we focus on consistently. That simple statement caused me to reflect on what I focus on. I want to strive to improve my attitude. Instead of feeling sorry for myself in this new town where I am slowly making new friends, I must find the good things happening. Instead of sitting around wishing Jon did not work such long hours, I need to focus on the good of his job. After all, in an economy where home building has all but stopped, we have a job! I need to stop letting myself get down. I hope that through focusing on the simple commandments of the Lord I will find this task easier. (I want to note that I dont sit around the house all day crying about how sad my life is, I just have thoughts of complaints) I want to be one of those really optimistic people and get rid of my pessimistic thoughts.
3) Temple attendance is greatly important for me. Sadly, my husband and I have not been to the temple since we left beautiful Rexburg. Oh how I miss having a temple 20 minutes away, or as it became our last semester, 5 minutes away. For those of you who still live so close, please go OFTEN for me. I wish I lived so close now. I would spend time in the temple alone now, since I still dont have a job. I miss the feeling the temple gives you. Jon and I have decided that we need to set a goal to make it to the temple much more often. This once a year attendance is just plain sad. Getting to the temple becomes so much harder to achieve when it is 3 or so hours away, and you actually have a full time job. But I should not complain about 3 hours, there are still saint in the church who travel for days to attend the temple, or those who never make it. I have been so blessed, I just need to make it more of a priority.
4) Finally, I was so touched by Jeffery R Holland's message that we will never be left alone or unaided. At times this past year I have felt so alone that it hurt, but I know that I never really was. My Heavenly Father always sent comfort in one form or another. Our Father lives and Loves us! I know that although I am imperfect, and working to be more deserving, that my Father loves me. I was so blessed by the uplifting messages of this session of General Conference! I hope you were too!