Sorta-liveblogging general conference: Priesthood session

Priesthood session. I wonder if they’ll eventually call it the “men’s session” and invite the 8–11-year-old boys, like they did with the former relief society and young women sessions. Anyway, here’s my notes, as taken on my tablet, but with typos (hopefully!) corrected.

So: The speakers are in reverse chronological order, as if they were each a separate blog post, but the comments are in forward chronological order (since each “post” is by speaker). So now to the end, and…

Thomas S. Monson (president of the high priesthood)

• The “unsinkable” battleship Bismarck met its doom because a torpedo damaged its rudder—just a very small part of the ship.
• “A man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder—unlikely to reach home port.
• We have the responsibility to be worthy of all the blessings God has for us, no matter the confusion in the world around us.
• Remember that the greatest power in the world today is the power of God
• If we do not turn to God, we lose out ability to chart a wise and proper course through life.

Henry B. Eyring (of the first presidency)

• The Aaronic priesthood is also called the lesser priesthood, and the preparatory priesthood. Tonight’s topic: That preparation.
• The time of mortality is a time to prepare to meet God; similarly, time spent holding the Aaronic priesthood is a time to prepare.
• Those with experience in the priesthood have a responsibility to mentor those with less experience.
• “In priesthood preparation, ‘show me’ counts more than ‘tell me’.”
• Show trust in less experienced priesthood holders—it will help them later.
• Remember that correcting someone requires an increase of love afterward—this implies that there was already love there before.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf (of the first presidency)

• When Jesus said that one of the apostles would betray him, they looked inward as asked “Is it i?” Would we do the same, or would we assume he was talking about someone else?
• A reminder of the analogy of the beam and the mote.
• We aren’t good at recognizing our own incompetencies—even successful people tend to overestimate their own contributions and underestimate the contributions of others.
• Doing that, particularly in our homes and at church, robs ourselves of blessings and opportunities.
• He gave a description of a ward with every outward statistical measure showing success, but then a sudden spate of marriages disintegrating, at least in part due to individuals there believing that they were special cases who didn’t have to devote effort to doing what they were supposed to do.
• Are we focused on the treasures of this world, or on Jesus Christ?
• If you desire to develop Christlike attributes, God will use you to save many souls.
• “None of us likes to admit when we are drifting off the right course…but being able to see ourselves clearly is essential to our spiritual growth and well-being.”
• Those who do not wish to improve probably will not; those who seek to improve themselves “will experience the miracles of the Savior’s atonement”.
• We need to put aside our pride and ask “Is it i?” And then if the Lord says it is, there are things we can do to improve.

Dean M. Davies (of the presiding bishopric)

• Caring for the poor and needy is an essential part of the gospel
• Caring for the poor and needy includes both acts by the church as an organization and acts by individual members.
• Fast offerings are a central mechanism for doing this.
• Paraphrasing: I can think of no commandment that is easier to keep and brings greater blessings than the law of the fast and the associated giving of fast offerings.
• The giving of fast offerings completes our adherence to the law of the fast.
• There are some areas where it is inadvisable for holders of the Aaronic priesthood to go door to door to collect fast offerings, but bishops in those locations should still work to determine how to involve them in the process.

Craig C. Christensen (of the presidency of the seventy)

• We may need to start out by relying on the testimonies of others, and that is a good place to begin, but we need to get to the point where we know for ourselves.
• Great revelations have come from simply a sincere desire to know.
• A testimony is less like a light switch (simply off and on) and more like a tree (passing through several stages of growth and development).

Quentin L. Cook (of the quorum of apostles)

• Rise up above the rationalizations that stand in the way of following Jesus Christ.
• We need unequivocal adherence to commandments.
• Expressing belief in a principle but not acting in accordance with it is not a positive course of action.
• He’s calling out people who pretend to be happier than they are on social media, and then spend their time comparing themselves to others (who may also be pretending to be happier than they are), which creates a rather destructive cycle.
• Even worthwhile pursuits require continuous evaluation to make sure they’re not distracting from more worthwhile things.
• Our daily conduct should be consistent with our goals.
• There is a need to have fun and enjoy unstructured time with friends and family, but when doing such things diminishes faith in Jesus Christ, it is a tragic course.

Missionary Training Center men’s choir

• A medley of missionary songs from the Children’s Songbook—not a bad idea, particularly given the members of the choir.