Monthly Archives: October 2012

GCBC Week 3: “I Know It. I Live It. I Love It.” By Ann M. Dibb

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Welcome to week 3 of general conference book club. Today we will be studying Sister Dibb’s talk from the Saturday A.M. session:

I Know It. I Live It. I Love It.

By Ann M. Dibb

As always, you can find links to watch, listen, read or download from her talk at the link above (Click on the talk title).

Sister Dibb taught,

We are followers of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Such conversion and confidence is the result of diligent and deliberate effort. It is individual. It is the process of a lifetime.

I loved this quote because I think it’s so important that we turn to the scriptures and gospel study to gain insight into whatever it is that we are dealing with or struggling with in our lives.

Please share what you learned from this talk. What do you know? live? and love about the gospel of Jesus Christ? Tell us what this talk encouraged you to do or be.

(A reminder to those of you who are new to General Conference Book Club:  You’re welcome to return to this post any time this week and leave your comment and thoughts in the comment section below. You may also want to see what others are saying about the talk and engage in a conversation for mutual understanding and encouragement. A new talk will be posted each Sunday and will be studied and discussed throughout the week.)

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So I owe you a postcard, right?

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Back in early summer, I made many of my reader/victims watch and vote incessantly for this video that was entered into a contest at Deseret Book to promote their new momedy web series, “Pretty Darn Funny.”  (They really are clever episodes; you should go check them out.)

Behold my entry (which, in retrospect, is public evidence that I have very little pride):

And here is the amazing thing:  I WON. I won, I won, I won!  And so right now, at this very second (Honest to goodness. I pre-scheduled this post the day before I left), I am floating around in the ocean with my husband ON A CRUISE to the Mexican Riviera.

Since I could not have won without your tireless voting– I mean, seriously, some of you went back to that site every day and clicked your mouse over and over again out of pure love. :)– I know I owe you something. I wish I could bring you all back sombreros or something, but this postcard will have to do:

Yay. THANK YOU!!!  You can be jealous for this week, but then you’ll laugh at me when I’m back and I’m crashing and burning and trying to catch up with real life again.  I’ll take pictures. 🙂

GCBC Week 2: “Can Ye Feel So Now?” By Elder Quentin L. Cook

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We will kick of the October 2012 round of general conference book club by studying this first talk from the Saturday morning session:

Can Ye Feel So Now?

By Elder Quentin L. Cook

ALSO, for your viewing pleasure, here is a video of some highlights the entire session of conference. It’s a fantastic crash-course review. Definitely worth watching and sharing:

When you click on the link to the talk up above, you will see a screen where you can read the message in full. It will look like this:

← On the right side/margin of the screen, right next to the talk text, you will see where you can click to watch the talk, listen to the talk, or download it as a .pdf or .mp3 (to listen to on your ipod, etc.).

Anyway, Elder Cook’s talk is a great lesson of how to appropriately deal with the times when we feel our testimony ebb and flow, and when we recognize that we are in a weak spot or plateau in our faith. I love that he gives guidelines of how to find strength in those lower moments and therefore reinforce our testimonies; and, he also points out what kinds of behaviors and attitudes to avoid so that we do not fall into Satan’s traps of disillusionment and apathy.

Here are a couple of quotes I liked from his talk that specifically referred to creating a culture of faith in our homes:

Please take a few minutes to discuss what stood out to you the most in this week’s talk.  How do you think Elder Cook’s counsel can be helpful to you and your family?

(For those of you who are new to General Conference Book Club, you’re welcome to return to this post any time this week and leave your comment and thoughts in the comment section below. You may also want to see what others are saying about the talk and engage in a conversation for mutual understanding and encouragement. A new talk will be posted each Sunday and will be studied and discussed throughout the week.)

Checklist for Clarity

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It’s been a rough morning. Want to see the list? Of course you do.

  • I have a headache.
  • The pile of laundry I need to fold covers a space on my living room floor approximately the size of a Volkswagen.
  • In a moment of profound weakness, I gave in and let my children adopt a kitten that our neighbor found. I actually like her a lot more than I thought I would, but I took her in for initial shots and exam yesterday, and let’s just say I was not prepared for that kind of investment. This morning I got the notice-of-overdraft email from my bank.
  • We had our family picture taken last night, and my children were suddenly possessed by demons. Keep in mind that I do not have any more toddlers or even preschoolers, and yet… YET… I found myself asking them to stop flopping around on the floor and ignoring every bit of instruction offered by the photographer. Here is a photo I snapped with my camera phone during the studio process.
  • We are headed out of town (which is a great thing), but the process of getting everything ready is stressing me out.
  • I keep remembering last-minute tasks that I should have finished before we go.  (When?? will I get them done?)

So while all this stuff was swirling around in my head, I had to stop myself and change the list. I had to look for and recognize the reality that’s happening alongside my stress list.

  • Natalie is putting up Halloween decorations and singing Christmas songs. ?? Whatever, she’s festive.
  • Clark is curled up on the couch reading a book.
  • I still have some leftover caramel sauce that I made for a Relief Society activity.
  • Grant has been helping me switch over the laundry loads.
  • Some parts of the house are mostly clean.
  • We all kind of like each other, and everyone is pretty much content (if you ignore my own personal bad attitude).
  • Our home is warm and cozy, and we’re all enjoying decent health.
  • In less than 48 hours, I will be taking that cruise I WON over the summer. [You do not need to tell me to shut up already; I am at this very moment in a process of self-correction.]

Anyway, that was my clarity checklist. My stress (and probably my headache) is the result of looking at my life in an unbalanced way.  President Uchtdorf JUST said last weekend (I’m a slow learner):

Brothers and sisters, no matter our circumstances, no matter our challenges or trials, there is something in each day to embrace and cherish. There is something in each day that can bring gratitude and joy if only we will see and appreciate it.

So as I hung the picture on the wall today, it struck me as funny how we always look at family pictures and make all these assumptions about how lovely and put-together that family is. We can’t see the behind the scenes meltdown at the photo studio, nor can we see the laundry piles and headaches at home.  But despite all that, I look at it on the wall today and think, “You know what? It really IS a beautiful family.” Because even though I know every single detail of the back-story, I can still see it for what it truly is– the whole package, the gory and the glory all wrapped up in one.  My day will still be busy, and I’m bound to handle things more stressed-out than I’d like to, but I feel my eyes just a little more open to things as they really are … and there’s plenty there that’s better than fine.

General Conference Book Club Week 1

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Welcome to General Conference Book Club. (←Click there if you want to learn more about how it works.)

Full heart. Determination. Gratitude. Love. Longing.

These are all things I feel as general conference draws to a close. The Lord answered many of my prayers and concerns, sent me reassurances, and gently called me to repent and gain more access to his power and protection. These are just some of the reasons I love general conference. I could not be more grateful for living prophets and apostles and the guidance they provide.

Please share some of your thoughts and reactions to general conference in the comments below. This week we will just reflect and ponder on all that we have heard and felt, and starting next Sunday, we will begin to study the talks one by one.  They are already available to watch or listen at gc.lds.org, and transcripts will probably be posted by Thursday of this week.

Here are some things to consider:

  1. Did you notice any themes, patterns, or repetitions throughout conference?
  2. What warnings were given?
  3. In what ways did you feel a call to action?
  4. What testimonies stood out to you, and in what ways was your own testimony strenghthened?
  5. Did you have favorite talks, phrases, or messages?

I have made SEVERAL quote images of some of the messages that stood out to me as I listened.  Feel free to pin them, print them, copy and paste them, share them, etc. I hope they are helpful in retaining the words of our living prophets. (If you’d like to just quickly repin them to Pinterest, you can grab them from this board (for the quotes from prophets and apostles) and this board (for the other general authorities.)