Saturday afternoon, first address at the bottom of the post, the remainder in reverse chronological order.
M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the quorum of apostles- Knowing God helps us know who we actually are, and gives us a sense of belonging because we know we are part of one great family.
- “Believing that God loves us and we are his children is comforting and reassuring.”
- We need to help those who feel they don’t belong.
- “Waiting on the Lord” is an action, and requires action.
- We tend to make divisions for administrative convenience (e.g., Single Adults, Young Single Adults…), but we’re all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that encompasses everybody in one.
- [Telling the story of growing up in an inharmonious family, but then the gospel helping them have a change of heart that led “truly [becoming] a family”.]
- If we follow Jesus Christ we will have light, and will be changed into what we should be.
- [He may have been the happiest-looking and most expressive general authority i’ve seen speak in a long time.]
- Our eternal perspective not only helps us know that those who have died continue to live, but also that those who are newly born are continuing an ongoing journey.
- [This led into an extended anti-abortion address. Not a lot of individual bits to pull out of that.]
- [I really do just worry that people are going to hear the “no abortion” message, since it matches their point of view, but are going to miss everything else in it.]
- For many, suffering and brutal unhappiness can seem in conflict with the reality of a loving God.
- Sometimes our perception of unfairness can disappear when we learn more—but some unfairness cannot be explained away, and that is reasonably enough infuriating.
- Unfairness is baked into mortality—but Jesus Christ both understands unfairness, and can provide a remedy through his compassion, healing, and help.
- When we are faced with unfairness, we want to know when and how God will fix it. The when and how have, however, not been revealed—but they will happen.
- Even though unfairness is part of our existence, we should fight against it in whatever ways we can.
- “How we deal with [our] advantages and disadvantages is part of life’s test.”
- [Dang, even being thousands of miles away from the conference doesn’t get you out of speaking anymore!]
- We need to be aware of each pobrecito ‘poor little ones’ around us, and remember to see them as God does.
- We are all the body of Christ, and every member of the body is necessary, especially those that we may think of as weaker.
- “Violence and conflict [are] a signature feature of relationships in the last days.” [That’s an interesting (and mildly disturbing) framing.]
- There are “real deficits” of faith, hope, and charity all around us, but we need to develop an economy of goodness.
- [I don’t know if he means this address in terms of what we normally think of as economics (e.g., money flows and such) or in terms of something more figurative, but i like to think that it’s meant both ways.]
- We need the powers of heaven, which can be exercised via principles of righteousness (recognizing the difference between powers and principles).
- [He called out sexual harassment directly, and in the context of broken covenants. And then he called out abuse of all kinds (including ecclesiastical abuse!)—and he got a little (righteously) angry about it. Way more direct than you usually hear.]
- Everyone has the right to have love, peace, and safety.
- [Seriously, why do we even do the audit report bit anymore? Back in the day it actually had content, but nowadays, not so much…]
- New general primary presidency! And a lot of new general authority seventies.
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