Sorta-liveblogging general conference: Priesthood session

So i went to priesthood session at the stake center—not an absolute necessity any more, but i’m apparently a creature of habit.

Anyway, as with the rest of these, the first speaker is at the bottom of the post, and to go from speaker to speaker you’ll need to scroll to up until you get to the last speaker at the top of the post (after this intro).

Closing thought

• Is it just me, or is priesthood session getting progressively shorter? Not that i’m really complaining—i’m evil enough to find ten hours out of a weekend (especially living in a time zone where it all starts earlier than one should really be awake of a Saturday) to be a bit much—but it still seems a bit odd that this one session tends to be so short compared to the others.

Thomas S. Monson (president of the high priesthood)

• The message tonight is straightforward: Keep the commandments.
• Satan is relentless, and a danger to our ultimate goal of salvation—unless we ourselves are relentless in seeking to follow God’s ways.
• Be strong, and don’t be led into false paths by feelings of insecurity.
• Don’t be distracted by the loud voices around us, but pay attention to the still small voice of the Spirit.

Henry B. Eyring (of the first presidency)

• When you do your part, the Lord adds power to your efforts.
• The Lord calls those who can do their part.
• If we know God has called us through authorized servants, we can take courage.
• We can take joy in knowing that God loves us and supports us.
• [Lots of fun stories in this one.]

Dieter F. Uchtdorf (of the first presidency)

• After an extended exegesis of the opening parts of the story of Daniel from the Bible, he asked: Are we like Daniel? Do our daily actions reflect what we claim to believe, or are we “Sunday Christians” only?
• We live in a time of a great outpouring of truth—and we have a responsibility to live up to that.
• It is our work to live our belief in a world of unbelief.
• Daniel could have gone along with everything he was pressured to do—until the day the king had his dream, and then Daniel would have found it was too late.
• “We believe in God because of things we know with our heart and mind, not because of things we do not know.”
• Those who say they wish they could believe the way that you do have been beguiled by Satan’s lie that faith is only available to a few.
• Some seem to think that by placing the burden of proof on God, they can avoid responsibility for living up to the commandments of God.
• Skepticism is easy; a life of faith deserves admiration.

Randall K. Bennett (of the quorums of seventy)

• By being willing to try, and try again if we fail, we can eventually find success.
• God the Father and Jesus Christ are eager to bless us.
• Whenever we make an effort to do as we should, we will be blessed
• Spiritual gifts aren’t limited to those who obey all the commandments, but are available to all those who sincerely desire to do so.
• We must resist the natural tendency to procrastinate or give up.
• “We cannot fail if we are faithfully yoked to the Savior.”

Neil L. Anderson (of the quorum of apostles)

• How strong is your faith?
• Faith is important not just in this life, but in the next.
• We honor the faith of all believers in Christ.
• Be “relentless” in protecting your faith.
• Faith doesn’t seek the answers to all questions before moving forward.
• “Faith is a choice.”