Sorta-liveblogging general conference: Sunday afternoon session

The final session, finally! Since anyone coming to this after it goes up will see this first, a note about the way these are set up:

The speakers are listed in reverse chronological order, so to get the full conference in chronological order you can scroll down to the end of the entry for the first session, and then read upwards. (Under each speaker, though, my notes are listed downward.)

So if you want to get to the beginning of the entire conference weekend, you can scroll down five posts read upwards from there.

Closing thoughts

• Okay, folks, we get it, there’s a lot of tribulation going on right now. I mean, yeah, there is, but it honestly got repetitive. Sorry.
• We’re planning on building temples in two countries (Kiribati and Vanuatu) that are at extreme risk from environmental disasters (respectively, sea level rise and intensifying climate events). Like, we’re building temples to serve populations that may no longer be there in a century (in the case of Kiribati, because the land might not even be there). It’s an interesting lesson: You need to take the opportunity to serve people in the near term, no matter what’s going to happen long term.
• And my favorite address of it all? That’s a tough one, because both Dale G. Renlund and Jeffrey’R. Holland were totally on today. I can’t decide between them, honestly, because the answer depends on whether i’m leaning more toward appreciating a more personal focus (Holland) or a more global one (Renlund). So as i type this right now i’d go with the latter, but five minutes from now it might well be the former, so it’s a tie.
• And that’s it for this time. Not likely to post notes like this again in April, but who actually knows? That’s what i thought six months ago, after all.

Russell M. Nelson, president of the high priesthood

• God has told us to look forward to the glories to come.
• Our challenge is to find a way for each of us to attain our divine potential.
• We often here these days of a “new normal”. So create a “new normal” for yourself! Follow the commandments, repent, prepare for eternal life.
• New temples: Tarawa, Kiribati; Port Vila, Vanuatu; Lindon, Utah; greater Guatemala City, Guatemala; eastern São Paulo, Brazil, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.

Jeffrey R. Holland, of the quorum of apostles

• We are not the first, nor will we be the last, to ask “How long, O Lord?”
• Many of us face suffering to lead us to such an anguished question, both personal and public.
• As we wait for the answers to our prayers, know that they are heard and they are answered—they may not be answered in the time and way we would like, they are answered in the time and way a loving parent would perfectly answer them.
• The calendar is God’s, and for every man healed instantly at the Pool of Bethesda, another man waits forty years to enter the promised land.
• Trusting in God means good times and bad, even if that means that we will have to undergo suffering..
• Alma likens faith to a seed, which if we care for it, it will at some time in the future grow and bear its most excellent fruit—and that takes diligence and patience on our part.
• [Picking up the Neal A. Maxwell alliteration mantle!]
• Know, though, that the blessings will come. That was settled in the Garden of Gethsemane long ago.

Kelly R. Johnson, of the quorums of seventy

• We have access to the power of God.
• Having the word of God deep in our souls allows us to conquer the adversary and resist temptation.
• God’s power diminishes in our lives only if we neglect our covenants.
• We may not have been able to attend the temple due to the pandemic, but we can still remain faithful to our covenants.

Dale G. Renlund, of the quorum of apostles

• Without the blessings that come from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ we cannot return to our God; however, through the atonement of Jesus Christ we can.
• What is necessary for us, then? As Micah says, to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.
• “God delights in mercy and does not begrudge its use.”
• Loving mercy means that we don’t just appreciate the mercy we receive from God, but that we also delight in the mercy that God extends to others.
• A just person recognizes that genuine differences in opinion and outlook don’t preclude love and understanding.
• Differences in race, religion, social class, sexual orientation, [and there were others] are superseded by the love of God.

Milton da Rocha Camargo, of the general presidency of the Sunday school

• An important part of the divine plan is to always be able to seek and hear the word of God.
• God has said that everyone that asketh, receiveth. Asking is simple, but it is powerful.
• We seek because we trust the Lord’s promises.

Gary E. Stevenson, of the quorum of apostles

• The pandemic has resulted in a lot of disappointment and discouragement—so how do we heal and move forward?
• Consider all of those in the scriptures who were blessed of the Lord to accomplish great things in adversity. Paul and Silas were in prison and were still able to preach the gospel, even baptizing the jailer!
• Even as things normalize and we return to worship in our chapels, we will need to retain the habits and skills relating to gospel study in the home that we have developed.
• Ultimately, when we look back at the disappointments and discouragements of the past months, we will see that all has worked for good, and that we have been highly favored of the Lord.

Jeremy R. Jaggi, of the quorums of seventy

• We can make a conscious effort to react to our tribulations with joy.
• Central to such an approach is the gift of patience.
• With all of the political, social, and so on movements that we may be a part of, let the most central be disciple of Jesus Christ.
• “’Be of good cheer’ is the commandment of the Lord, not ‘Be of good fear.’”

Henry B. Eyring, of the first presidency

• Part of the purpose of this life is for us to be tested—and in fact we chose this ourselves—to find out if we would obey the commandments even when out of God’s presence.
• As we go through our own tests of faith, remember that we have been given both a Savior and the ability to choose our own path for ourselves.
• We have access to the comfort of a Savior who understand all of the pains we will ever experience.
• The greatest blessing that will come when we have overcome out trials will be a change in our natures.
• We need not seek tribulations; our mortal lives will naturally provide us ample opportunities to prove ourselves.
• We must always stand ready to help others through their tribulations, even while we are going through our own.