01 April 2012

. . . conference gems . . .

. . . i cannot tell a lie . . .
. . . music is my favorite part
of general conference . . .
. . . i look forward
to every single number
the mormon tabernacle choir
performs . . .
. . . the arrangements
sometimes leave me breathless . . .
. . . i stand in awe
of the three hundred plus voices
that blend so beautifully
into the most glorious sound . . .
. . . watching and listening
to the tabernacle organists
always makes me happy, too . . .
. . . what can i say? . . .
. . . music always speaks to my spirit . . .
. . . my favorites from this weekend were:
1) "you can make the pathway bright", and
2) "come thou fount of every blessing"
{i have a tiny pet peeve - please don't call it
"come thou FONT of every blessing"}


mormon tabernacle choir


. . . don't worry, though . . .
. . . i also love
hearing the words
of our leaders . . .
. . . here are my top four talks . . .
{in order of when they were given}

. . . first up -
president henry b. eyring . . .
. . . he spoke about
building a strong foundation
of faith . . .
. . . we'll need it to help us
through life's trials . . .
. . . ain't that the truth? . . .


president henry b. eyring

. . . i swear - every talk
elder jeffrey r. holland
gives is an instant classic . . .
. . . this time,
his explanation of the parable
of the labourers in the vineyard
made so much sense to me . . .
. . . let's not waste time or energy
worrying about
perceived problems encountered
during the day's labours . . .
. . . don't be hurt or envious
of the good fortune of others . . .
. . . at the end of the day,
it's all about the goodness of god
and the atonement . . .


elder jeffrey r. holland

. . . good call to invite
an mtc choir to sing
in the saturday afternoon session,
because . . .
. . . oh, hello elder archuleta . . .
. . . and hey - no pressure at all
elder anderson! . . .


elder anderson and elder archuleta

. . . president uchtdorf . . .
. . . enough said . . .
. . . please let him
read all the names
of the church leaders
for our sustaining vote
every time . . .
. . . because everything sounds better
with a german accent . . .
. . . am i right? . . .
. . . also - his talk was amazing . . .
{even though he was wearing an orange tie}
. . . "the topic of judging others
could actually be taught
in a two-word sermon -
when it comes to hating,
gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing,
holding grudges,
or wanting to cause harm -
please apply the following:
stop it!" . . .


president dieter f. uchtdorf

. . . and what about
elder ronald a. rasband's talk? . . .
. . . did you cry as much as i did? . . .
. . . did you think of several friends
who are going
through the heartache
of discovering
their child will require them
to learn special lessons? . . .
. . . did you feel the deep love
his family has
for their little grandson paxton? . . .


elder ronald a. rasband


. . . the icing on the cake
was a text from my sweet daughter
after his talk . . .
. . . she has taught me special lessons
and brought us special blessings . . .
. . . she's amazing . . .

. . . i'm sure you had
favorite conference moments, too . . .


8 comments:

Nanette Merrill said...

You really hit on the goods. My family loved seeing Dr. Archuletta. And those were the talks that really got to me, too. Of course Elder Rasband's was our family favorite. He was speaking right to all of us. It was so inspired.

Nedra said...

I had to stop my handwork and just listen when the Tab Choir sang Fount of Every Blessing. The most beautiful rendition I've ever heard. Took my breath away.
And I can't pick a favorite talk yet. I have to read them several times and absorb them first.

marilynl said...

Steph,
I'm one of your customers and I'm in the choir. We LOVE singing Come Thou Fount. When I found out we would be singing it, I knew everyone would be thrilled. It is a favorite.

•stephanie• said...

marilyn . . . all the numbers were fabulous. i also enjoyed "let us oft speak kind words."

and i forgot to mention "lead kindly light" by the mtc choir. that's another one i absolutely love. our ward choir performed that arrangement at our last stake conference. i was the organ accompanist. we did a good job, but nothing compares to the conference choirs!!

p.s. i hope your grandbaby is doing well and growing like a weed. {i also hope the oops! were a hit.}

marilynl said...

My daughter loves loves loves the oops! and her baby is so cute! Just like your grandchildren. :) He has had reflux, so the oops! have been well used. And they look just as good as when they arrived. The tab choir was supposed to sing Lead Kindly Light for Music and the Spoken Word Sunday morning but made a change during the week so the MTC choir would be able to sing it. I thought they did a great job. And I would have been intimidated to be sitting next to Elder Archuletta too!!

becky+cade said...

it was a great conference and i love and agree with our recap. (: i stayed awake for almost the entire thing too, which is pretty awesome for me.

chris+amber said...

This conference was amazing. Even what I got out of the "Spanglish" captioning. I can't wait to read the talks in next month's Ensign.

Jennifer said...

Wow, I just loved this conference too! What a spiritual feast. And I just have to second all of your favorites, especially Elder Rasband's talk. I was a crying mess during the whole thing. His words describe exactly what is in my heart! So grateful that we get to be so uplifted every six months!