Lessons From General Conference: Part 1

I posted last week about my preparations for General Conference and promised to check back with some of the lessons I learned.  It was an amazing weekend.  My wife was out of town so I took vacation to be home with the kids and for the first time in many years, my schedule was completely clear for Conference weekend, allowing me to watch every session live. It made for an amazing weekend and there were many messages that touched me.  I have chosen a few to share with you all.

One of my goals in any Conference session since I began recovery is to look for messages and ideas that will help strengthen my recovery and my relationship with my Heavenly Father and the Savior.  This came across loud and clear to me during the Priesthood Session during the amazing message of President Uchtdorf.  His talk was; You Can Do It Now.  It was amazing message that speaks directly to all who struggle with addiction or ongoing character weaknesses. He spoke of being skiing with his grandson and falling down on the slopes. He described his embarrassment and how difficult it was to find the strength to get back up. He explained how this experience of falling in our endeavors is something that all of us experience and can be a huge stumbling block;

"No one likes to fail. And we particularly don’t like it when others—especially those we love—see us fail. We all want to be respected and esteemed. We want to be champions. But we mortals do not become champions without effort and discipline or without making mistakes."

Anyone who has lived in addiction knows what it is like to fail.  To disappoint loved ones, to lose sobriety, to lose hope.  I have been there many times in my life.  Fallen again, groveling in the dirt trying to find the strength or even the desire to get back up and be honest about my failures with those I love.  It is HARD and so discouraging.  But there IS hope.   President Uchtdorf goes on to bear powerful testimony that we CAN do it.  We can find hope and strength through the Savior;

"My dear brethren, my dear friends, there will be times when you think you cannot continue on. Trust the Savior and His love. With faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the power and hope of the restored gospel, you will be able to walk tall and continue on."

Another message that seemed to speak almost directly to me was the amazing message of Elder Richard G. Scott titled; Personal Strength Through The Atonement of Jesus Christ.  He spoke at length about how we all need the Atonement. He also talked about something that has plagued me for much of my life. The attempts of Satan to use my past mistakes to tear me down and make me feel inadequate. Elder Scott spoke at length about how we can overcome this weapon of the adversary;

"Many of us have allowed weakness to develop in our character. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we, like the Ammonites, can build spiritual fortifications between ourselves and any past mistakes that Satan attempts to exploit. The spiritual protections built around the Ammonite fathers blessed and strengthened themselves, their families, their country, and future generations. The same can be true with us."

I absolutely love his word choices here. "past mistakes that Satan attempts to exploit."  Because that is exactly what it is.  Satan knows that the Atonement can cleanse us of our mistakes and failures.  But he also knows that we are full of doubt and fear.  He uses this to exploit.  "You can't do it.  You are the worst, you will never get there."   He goes on to bear powerful testimony of how the real solution to overcoming these murmuring of Satan is the be filled with the love of our Father in Heaven and faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ; 

"Because your Father in Heaven loves you profoundly, the Atonement of Jesus Christ makes that strength possible. Isn’t it wonderful? Many of you have felt the burden of poor choices, and each of you can feel the elevating power of the Lord’s forgiveness, mercy, and strength."

No matter how much power Satan attempts to exert over us, the answer will always be to turn to the Lord.  He has already overcome all, he has already overcome Satan and his entire bag of tricks.  We just have to be humble enough to face him and let him take over.  

I have so much more to share, I think I will have to write a part 2 here in a few days.  Conference was so amazing that one little blog post could never do it justice.  Two probably won't either but we'll give it a shot. 

~~~ Tim