As we’ve done in the past, here’s a space to share any thoughts, inspirations, insights, and/or revelations that come to you through general conference. Enjoy!
As we’ve done in the past, here’s a space to share any thoughts, inspirations, insights, and/or revelations that come to you through general conference. Enjoy!
Looking forward to it.
So far, this has been the best conference ever.
No way has this one matched Oct’97 by this point. But impressed as I am by Oct’97, even I admit Ap’88 set the modern standard; it’s the only one that can go toe to toe with Oct’49 and ’65. What I wouldn’t give to see them all go mano a mano. Being a man of reason, and being reconciled to the implausability of time machines, however, I’ve learned to content myself with simulated matchups.
The simulations aren’t enough to quiet my wife about Ap’04, though. Enough already about Ap’04! Puhlease.
Personally, as a recent convert, last year’s April Conference has this one beat, albeit by a small margin.
Drift, I’ll grant you that the camera work in Ap’06 really pushed the envelope, especially the Saturday Afternoon session. I’m not holding my breath, but I’ll be watching to see if the April Saturday Afternoon session crew can catch lightning twice.
But did we really need to hear from the Utah West Jordan multi-stake choir, AGAIN? It’s not like we’d forgotten them from Oct’90.
My apologies, Brother Evans, I should have thoroughly researched all modern General Conferences before stating my opinion on last April’s. In my defense, however, I wasn’t even an embryo in my mother’s womb in October of 1990.
Sustaining in the morning session! Too bad for those who planned some disruptive behavior in the afternoon…
Where were Elders Uchtdorf and Wirthlin?
Were there people who planned disruptice behavior in the afternoon?
Correction: … who might have planned some disruptive behavior…
Why the change from afternoon to morning for the sustaining?
I believe the change may be due to the Tabernacle being dedicated this afternoon — perhaps they’ll be done concordantly?
* shrugs *
When Elder Scott described a time when he knelt in fervent prayer, he added a statement that it was not about a transgression. Until then, I had not considered that it might have been, nor that it would have mattered to the topic.
Why did he mention that? Apostles must transgress from time to time, and then pray about it. Was it added at the suggestion of someone else?
@Clair
I missed that. I’d have to hear it again to make a fair comment on it, but I would say in general it’s not good PR to portray GAs as transgressors.
Clair- my impression is that by adding that his concern was not rooted in transgression he was making it clear that a person can have serious concerns that are not caused by sin or lack of faith– something I’ve known people to forget or overlook.
Speaking of hymns, does anyone know when the next hymnal might come out? The last upgrade was in 1985, I think.
Does anyone think that saxophone is appropriate for Sacarament meeting? (If an LDS song is played).
Anybody else having trouble with the video? I’ve tried watching it repeatedly (I have DSL) and it keeps stalling. I’m now listening to audio only. Annoyed…
Yeah, the video was lagging a lot so I too have been listening to only audio. In result I’ve missed about twenty minutes of it trying to sort it out. >.
Yeah, I’m having problems with stalling too. I have the audio streaming as backup.
@Ryan:
Yes, my video stalled on Firefox. Now I’m doing audio-only.
Hymn book 2.0 anybody?
@madera verde
It would need to include the 1997 hymn “Faith in Every Footstep.”
I liked the advice about sacred music, but I was a little concerned that the strong emphasis on hymns might encourage an ultra-orthodox notion that only hymns are appropriate music in sacrament. There are many other musical numbers that can be appropriate in sacrament, even classical music, when tastefully and humbly performed.
@Carl Youngblood
What about certain musical instruments? Someone played a primary hymn on a saxophone in Sacrament meeting not too long ago in my ward.
Should LDS students pay tithing on scholarships?
Tenor sax, a la Kenny G, is OK.
I don’t think saxes would be appropiate. Or guitars. Just my gut reaction.
How was the sax rendition by the way?
It was a good primary song, I think the title is “My Heavenly Father’s Favorite Things.” It was somewhat spiritual, I guess.
I have a feeling that Elder Holland is referring to the rhetoric of the 2008 Elections.
I have heard a saxophone as well, and it was glorious. They are reeds, you know. I have heard English horns, oboes, even trumpets. I’m a fan.
Elder Holland just made reference to the Apocrypha.
cool, an apocryphon quote. I like it. Can we cannonize that verse now?
what are you doing typing comments, when you could be listening to Conference? ;)
We do have an open canon.
With kbyu-tv stalling I find the best thing to do is refresh the page instead of waiting for it to correct itself.
Nothing beats the wow feeling of being in front of a full band. But I’m not sure I would approve of that in sacrament meeting. Perhaps a triumphant millenial song.
Elder Holland is hitting on something that most Latter-day Saints are guilty of.
Excellent talk by Holland, and it’s not done yet.
#38
He’s hitting on something most bloggers are guilty of.
Does anybody know if the General Authorities select the topics of their talks themselves, or are they assigned from the First Presidency?
Elder Holland’s stinging rebuke is still ringing in my ears. I offer a heartfelt apology for recently uttered negative remarks here. Great sermon, points well taken.
Elder Holland, “Please hit me again, I can still hear you,” and “No problem is so big that whining can’t make it worse.”
Hurray! Mormon stoicism needs a shot in the arm.
What could be more Mormon than canned cherries?
Connor (41), they are obstensibly on their own to select topics, but I would guess there are occasions where a deeply suggestive hint is given.
re Saxophones, guitars, music from outside the hymnal, see the frequently asked questions at http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,6755-1,00.html
I think Elder Bednar just announced the doctrine of baptism by immersion for pickles.
Is he going to compare pickles to exaltation? cucumber > pickle : mortal > perfected.
@DavidH
Thanks for the link. Here’s a quote from it:
“May the guitar be used in sacrament meeting?
“Organs and pianos are the standard instruments used in Church meetings. If other instruments are used, their use should be in keeping with the spirit of the meeting” (“Music,” 289).”
So basically it’s as clear as the caffeine issue.
Elder Holland once again demonstrates his ability to forcefully, yet humorously, point out exactly where many of us are weakest. A sobering sermon, indeed, one that I will need to read again.
Amen RAF.
Salt brine… Great Salt Lake…
This talk by Bednar is probably Larryboy’s favorite conference talk ever.
I can see it now on the next anti-Mormon DVD: “Mormons believe that God is a pickle and that they may become pickles like unto Him. Heresy!!!”
Why is that Jacob J?
Um, he’s a cucumber, not a pickle.
Okay, so what’s the rhetorical form of the object lesson? The speaker just called it a “parable,” but I’m thinking allegory, or analogy?
“Parable of the Pickle” ???
Actually, that deserves more ??????
From wikipedia:
“A parable is a brief, succinct story, in prose or verse, that illustrates a moral or religious lesson. It differs from a fable in excluding animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as actors that assume speech and other powers of mankind.”
I’m not sure if there was a story with Elder Bednar’s talk. Maybe it was an analogy.
#57.
Yeah but allegory or analogy of the pickle just doesn’t alliterate
Oh come on.
An Apostle actually takes the time to rag on the women in the Church for a change and no one notices?
Anti-Mormons might have a field day with “The Parable of the Pickle.”
Rosalynde, I called it an analogy when telling my wife it was “probably the most unfortunate analogy I’ve ever heard at conference. God wants to take us fresh, crisp cucumbers and turn us into sour, shriveled mealy pickles?!” I think it would have been better to re-use C.S. Lewis’ shack-to-palace analogy.
Stats analysis here, for those interested.
Poetry is a foreign language to me.
@Seth R.
I did have a hard time thinking of Mormon women as being negative during Elder Holland’s talk.
An excellent reference for Elder Bednar’s talk is the Greek lexicon for baptizo, the Greek for baptize.
http://www.biblestudytools.net/Lexicons/Greek/grk.cgi?number=907&version=kjv
Pickles aren’t made by mere bapto, a dunking. They need baptizo, a total immersion that produces a structural change from a cucumber to a pickle.
Matt, I agree that the anaology (or whatever) was aesthetically lacking.
@John Dehlin
Thanks for the link. I sure didn’t have 5.1 baptisms per year in France.
Who is he quoting?
Well, admittedly, he did leaven the criticism with lots of statements about how this is at odds with the inherently sweet spirit of LDS women. So it could easily get lost.
#49 My sister just told me of a fireside given by the church music chairman (I think — whomever it is that’s in charge of music for the church) that her husband (recently?) went to. He played a CD of an electric guitar and said, If it isn’t this, it’s okay.
I think we have a tendency to take those guidelines — piano and organ and choir– much too seriously. I’d love to hear a flute or a french horn or an acoustic guitar in church. As I would love to hear something other than hymns sung (notwithstanding the talk on hymns that was just given.)
Men and women are both guilt of gossip in the LDS Church.
He started with taking men to task for verbal abuse. It was an equal opportunity rebuke
It seems that Death and resurrection is a common theme of Monsons.
@John Williams
Well….we were a bit more blessed where I went. :)
But that’s another story.
I’m happy to see the church continuing to grow. Healthy growth is healthy. :)
@John Dehlin:
Actually, I have listened to your story on I-Tunes.
Ah, “Come Thou Fount” — you can’t end a session better than this.
I watched the ksl.com beta video feed and it only stalled twice for a few seconds early in the broadcast. It recovered quickly. Might be an option for those who are experiencing problems with byutv…
(It’s a small picture, but better than audio only)
Does Elder Bednar’s talk mean that it is now part of the “unwritten order of things” that we have to like pickles to be a good member of the Church?
I really liked Elder Holland’s talk… it was entertaining and so relevant.
After he started ragging on the men, I looked at some friends and said “I’m still waiting for the smackdown on the women.”
Sure enough, he started at that exact moment.
I do like it when they stop telling us we’re so wonderful. Refreshing change
Actually, LDS women are probably the most dignified subset of people there is. The praise is merited.
It seems like that instead of trying to stream video to the masses, they might try and broadcast as a slideshow. Just send a photo once in a while to show who is talking, and then show the visuals that the speakers have added to their talks. This would require much less bandwidth, and would be much better than audio only.
I agree Will. Anyway, we will miss you at Bajio tonight!
I love Elder Packer’s frequent theme about the “ordinary people”. One can tell he cares about it deeply.
I am just curious but why is it that the L.D.S church didn\’t allow black people to hold the priesthood until 1978?
@Brain:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blacks_and_The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints
Brian- See also http://www.blacklds.org and http://fairlds.org/apol/ai080.html
Costanza, I am sorely missing my Bajio right now. Of course they will someday migrate here like everyone else. ;-)
Was anyone else bugged by the rather slow and contemplative rendition of “Put Your Shoulder To The Wheel” ? It sounded more like “Shenendoah”. My husband remarked that if the pioneers had sung it like that, they would only have made it to Iowa!
Was anyone else bugged by the rather slow and contemplative rendition of “Put Your Shoulder To The Wheel†?
“Now Let Us Rejoice” was done a bit slower than I’m used to hearing it at the Priesthood session tonight, but I tend to think that when you’ve got a conference center packed with 21,000 people all trying to sing the same thing at the same time, you’ve got to slow it down somewhat or it’s going to end up sounding like a big muddled mess.
The choir sounds great in the Tabernacle. The Lovely One and I both commented.
A slideshow is a good idea. We listened to the audio but refreshed the video feed every time a new speaker came on and then paused the image.
President Holland’s talk is an eye-opener. “Be of good cheer is a commandment.” Woops.
I like pickles.
(Sorry about the out of place comment in #92).
I like slower renditions of the hymns.
What bugs me is the typical zippy LDS tendency to rush through a song a fast as they possibly can without enjoying the meaning, sound or circumstance of a song.
Maybe it’s because a lot of your average LDS churchgoers don’t have very good breath control…
Or maybe they’d rather be doing something else than singing…
We looked up President Monson’s scripture afterwards. It’s D&C 42:45–
Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die
We get an all-new RS Gen Presidency and no one in the Bloggernacle notices??
My daughter’s singing “I am a pickle of God, and He has brought me here, given me an earthly vine with farmers kind and dear…”
Dear mate is advising that investigators should head to church with a salt-block and ask “Where’s the font?” and that baptisees might need to be held under for two months or so…I prefer: “given me a pickle jar with brine so bright and clear.”
If we are to become like God, then in the natural progression of things that would mean, yes, God is already a pickle and we must needs become pickles, too.
These guys don’t have editors look over their talks? You mean somebody actually had to type that whole thing into a teleprompter and try to keep a straight face?
That’s admirable.
“We get an all-new RS Gen Presidency and no one in the Bloggernacle notices??”
They aren’t exactly “all new,” though. Julie Beck was in the general YW presidency, and spoke in conference several times during that tenure. So she is a known entity, and I like and admire her. And I note that she speaks at least Portuguese, while her first counselor speaks Spanish. Certainly a presidency for the current worldwide church.
No, I definitely think the new RS presidency is NOT getting enough pub.
Here is the deseret news announcement: http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660208052,00.html
So one counselor was born outside the US? That’s a positive sign for the continued internationalization of the Church. And one counselor is unmarried/no kids? That’s ought to send some sort of signal about the potential for singles within the Church, right?
Had a funny thought last night.
A few months ago, on M*, someone did an analysis of the odds of certain Q12 members of ascending to the presidency (and it mentioned that Bednar had a better-than-average chance of becoming a President of the Church).
So, in 60-70 years (after Bednar has been deceased about a decade or 2), will the priesthood and relief society manuals one year be dedicated to “The Teachings of President Bednar”? And will one of the chapters have an account of the Pickle Principle?
And will that generation’s Julie M. Smith have a blog outlining a lesson plan around it?
These things keep me up at night.
It was an analogy. It would help if you listend to the message instead of looking for criticism\\
agntdl08