General Conference--What a magnificent spiritual feast!

All the missionaries that are at the Area Office got together to watch conference both Saturday and Sunday.  We brought food and had a pot-luck lunch in between the sessions each day and then discussed the messages that we had heard.  It was a special time.


It was the 181th semi-annual General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints.  Both Saturday and Sunday were filled with messages from our general authorities.   The messages were precise and clear that we, as followers of Jesus Christ and members of His church need to give more service to others in need.   The Welfare Program of the Church will be 75 years old on April 6 and is a magnificant force to administer to the poor and needy.  We were encouraged to be more generous in our donations of time, talents and money and to be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost in our service.    In other words, follow Christ's example.  Every act He did was to help others.  Our actions define us as a people.  We can combat fear with faith in God and our faith becomes part of out children's faith later on.  Here is the poem that Elder Maines told in his talk:

Twas a sheep not a lamb that strayed away
In the parable Jesus told,
A grown-up sheep that strayed away
From the ninety and nine in the fold.

And why for the sheep should we seek
And earnestly hope and pray?
Because there is danger when sheep go wrong;
They lead the lambs astray.

Lambs will follow the sheep, you know,
Wherever the sheep may stray.
When sheep go wrong, it won’t take long
Til the lambs are as wrong as they.

And so with the sheep we earnestly plead
For the sake of the lambs today,
For when sheep are lost, what a terrible cost
The lambs will have to pay!

-C. C. Miller

Pres. Monson promised us that the future is as bright as our faith and to be of good cheer.  

Faithful saints do not have to fight life's battles alone.