Former Young Women general presidency—Elaine S. Dalton, Mary N. Cook, and Ann M. Dibb—climbed Ensign Peak for their first meeting, where the view of the Salt Lake Temple gave them a goal and a vision of the work.
This morning, quietly and carefully so as to not wake a sleeping child, I worked my way through my daily Book of Mormon study. I had entered into this study with a question in mind: "How do I help this child get better, and feel better, as quickly and fully as I can?". He had already been quite sick for two days and I wanted to ensure the family would all be healthy and happy for General Conference and for Easter.
I considered the efforts we go through on any given day to live a consistently healthy lifestyle so that we are in better shape should a well-meaning friend, (perhaps earning temporary frenemy status, though still much beloved) shake hands with every coughing, wheezing, member of our congregation, and then, before hand sanitizing, high five my toddler.
I thought about what we had done in the past two days in order to help our child heal. In addition to an abundance of love, attention, water, and nutrients, (Thank you, 1977 Champion Juicer that turns frozen fruit into ice cream!) one thing we had focused on and made great efforts to achieve was getting him to stand still. Standing still would be critical to keeping him safe and helping him recover.
With General Conference approaching in just over a week, preparing for this event was on my mind as well. I thought that, surely, Saints both in Heaven and on Earth stand still for this sacred meeting.
I thought of the preparation that the speakers put into General Conference:
President Uchdorft witnesses of this preparation in this month's First Presidency Message:
I give you my personal witness that long before a speaker in general conference makes that long walk to the podium, he or she has invested immense effort, prayer, and study in response to the assignment to speak. Every conference message represents countless hours of preparation and heartfelt pleading to understand what the Lord wishes His Saints to hear. The Word of God to His Children - Dieter F. Uchdorf
I thought of what we are really hearing through those that speak at General Conference:
They have the right, the power, and authority to declare the mind and will of [the Lord] … , subject to … the President of the Church.” They speak in the name of Christ. They prophesy in the name of Christ. They do all things in the name of Jesus Christ. In their words we hear the voice of the Lord and we feel the Savior’s love. “And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture … and the power of God unto salvation.” The Lord Himself has spoken: “Whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same. Live according to the Words of the Prophets - Carol F. McConkie
I have personally noticed a pattern in members of the church that seems to occur as each General Conference approaches. They seem to have heavier shoulders, due to trials and challenges they are facing, or weaknesses that seem even more overwhelming than usual. I wondered why this seems to be a trend? It could be, perhaps, that having these things in the forefront of our minds, right before an invitation to test the General Conference promise that if we prepare for Conference, and have these questions in mind during it, that whether through specific counsel given in a talk or through the Holy Ghost we will receive direction and divine help. It is possible to sail blissfully into General Conference and still receive revelation in abundance, however, if you feel unprepared for this spiritual feast due to the burdens of life, I would like to point out that you may be more prepared than you realize.
I turned my study to Doctrine and Covenants where a few verses jumped off the page and made me think of General Conference.
These should then be attended to with great earnestness.
Let no man count them as small things; for there is much which lieth in futurity, pertaining to the saints, which depends upon these things.
You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves.
Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed. Doctrine and Covenants 123:14-17(emphasis added)
In Elder Holland's address "An Ensign to the Nations" he shares the following:
Before leaving Nauvoo in the winter of 1846, President Brigham Young had a dream in which he saw an angel standing on a cone-shaped hill somewhere in the West pointing to a valley below. When he entered the Salt Lake Valley some 18 months later, he saw just above the location where we are now gathered the same hillside prominence he had seen in vision.As has often been told from this pulpit, Brother Brigham led a handful of leaders to the summit of that hill and proclaimed it Ensign Peak, a name filled with religious meaning for these modern Israelites. Twenty-five hundred years earlier the prophet Isaiah had declared that in the last days “the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains,” and there “he shall set up an ensign for the nations.” Seeing their moment in history as partial fulfillment of that prophecy, the Brethren wished to fly a banner of some kind to make the idea of “an ensign for the nations” literal. Elder Heber C. Kimball produced a yellow bandana. Brother Brigham tied it to a walking stick carried by Elder Willard Richards and then planted the makeshift flag, declaring the valley of the Great Salt Lake and the mountains surrounding it as that prophesied place from which the word of the Lord would go forth in the latter days.Brothers and sisters, this general conference and the other annual and semiannual versions of it are the continuation of that early declaration to the world. I testify that the proceedings of the past two days are yet one more evidence that, as our hymn says, “Lo, Zion’s standard is unfurled” —and surely the dual meaning of the word standard is intentional. It is not happenstance that one English publication of our general conference messages is in a magazine simply titled the Ensign. An Ensign to the Nations - Jeffrey R. Holland
Knowing what I know about General Conference, the preparation to bring us the word of the Lord, and the divine help that we can receive, personally, there is nowhere else I would find myself than standing still, watching and listening to these proceedings live, with friends and Saints. There is nothing else I'd have my children and my spouse see me do, and join with me for. To the medical professional caring for the sick or injured, and to mother with the untimely fussing child, and to the earnest member in the part of the world without the available technology to hear General Conference as it happens, I thank you for doing your best.
For those of us with much smaller mountains to move in order to participate:
I invite us to PREPARE and then STAND STILL and PARTICIPATE in all of our appointed sessions of General Conference.
No minute of these meetings is more important or less sacred than another.
I wanted to join with President Young, Elder Kimball, Elder Richards, and others and fly my own makeshift yellow banner as a manifestation of my testimony of preparing for and standing still for General Conference. I looked around and noticed a bright yellow bandana bib just happened to be next to me and thought, "That will do!"
I invite all of us to counter the distractions of the world and the mocking of the great and spacious building with a manifestation of our willingness to STAND STILL for all of General Conference by placing your own makeshift yellow banner in your window, or your car, or your business, or by simply wearing something yellow both days of General Conference. I hope this will encourage others to stand still with us for the most sacred event happening in the world over these two days and invite more of the sunshine into our souls that our all-knowing, all-loving Father in Heaven wishes us to come away from General Conference with.
I invite all of us to counter the distractions of the world and the mocking of the great and spacious building with a manifestation of our willingness to STAND STILL for all of General Conference by placing your own makeshift yellow banner in your window, or on your car, or at your business, or by simply wearing something yellow both days of General Conference.
~This would be a fun Sabbath Day activity or you could share the story of Brigham Young for Family Home Evening and make flags as a family or pick out yellow clothing.~
I need the answers and protection that General Conference brings me. I need to prepare and to stand still for ALL of General Conference. I want to spend Easter weekend with the Savior. This is His church, His work, His conference. I won't leave Him - I will stand still.
I hope this will encourage others to stand still with us for the most sacred event happening in the world over these two days and invite more of the sunshine into our souls that our all-knowing, all-loving Father in Heaven wishes us to come away from General Conference with.
Please share this with family + friends & post pictures of your yellow banner/clothing using the tags:
#StandingStill at #LDSConf
#StandingStill at #LDSConf
Love and prayers,
