Yesterday in Sacrament meeting, my Bishop stood up and gave us all a challenge in leading up to Stake Conference next week and General Conference next month. He asked all of us, for the next five days, to read a talk from the October 2009 General Conference, write down our thoughts and feelings after reading the talk, and then email it to the member of the Bishopric we were assingned to. The Bishopric member will then respond to us with their response to the talk they had chosen to read for the day. This challenge was again emphasized by a member of the Bishopric during Relief Society. Today was the first day of that challenge -and I already love it!
I generally don't read Conference talks after Conference. Occassionally I might when I am bored, but generally it just isn't something that I make a priority to do. But today I decided to read the talk that I remembered the most from General Conference, and that was Elder Holland's talk entitled "Safety For The Soul." I loved reading this talk and being reminded of Elder Holland's undeniable testimony of the Book of Mormon. Here are the thoughts and feelings I had after reading the talk that I sent on to Brother Markham:
I was in the conference center when Elder Holland gave this talk. I remember a change occur in the feeling of the room when he began speaking. It seemed that everyone started listening more intently and they were truly absorbing what Elder Holland was saying. Elder Holland delivered this talk with such intensity, anyone who witnessed it could testify that he was speaking truth and bearing testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel. Reading this talk nearly six months after I first heard, tears came to my eyes as I read Elder Holland’s words proclaiming that Joseph and Hyrum would not have died defending the Book of Mormon if it were not the word of God. While I was reading that paragraph of the talk, I kept thinking to myself “Would I be willing to die in defense of the Book of Mormon and in defense of my testimony?” And the answer to that is YES! I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that Christ lives and that He died for me. That is something that I cannot deny, and I cannot imagine myself ever denying that. Elder Holland said, “For 179 years this book has been examined and attacked, denied and deconstructed, targeted and torn apart like perhaps no other book in modern religious history.” The Book of Mormon is one-hundred percent doctrine of Christ. It was not fabricated. It was written for us in this day and age. It was written for me. As Elder Holland said, I too want “it absolutely clear when I stand before the judgment bar of God that I declared to the world, in the most straightforward language I could summon, that the Book of Mormon is true.” For me, this was one of the most powerful talks given at the last General Conference. This is the talk that I want to strive harder to live by, because I never want myself or anyone else to question my testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the Book of Mormon.
I already love this challenge and it is only Day 1. It is going to be a wonderful week! :)
