183rd Annual General Conference April 6-7, 2013

Pretty amazing to think that any organization has enjoyed 183 annual conferences!  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has and will continue to do so until the return of the Savior, and maybe even after that, too!

Highlight #1:  The talk about Marriage by Elder L. Whitney Clayton of the Quorum of the Seventy.

He outlines five principles that are common to all successful, strong and satisfying marriages.

1) "In the happiest marriages both the husband and wife consider their relationship to be a pearl beyond price, a treasure of infinite worth.  The best marriage partners regard their marriages as priceless."

2)  "Faith is the foundation of every virtue that strengthens marriage. Strengthening faith strengthens marriage. Faith grows as we keep the commandments, and so do the harmony and joy in marriage."

3) "Humility means that both husbands and wives seek to bless, help, and lift each other, putting the other first in every decision."

4) "Where there is respect, there is also transparency, which is a key element of happy marriages. There are no secrets about relevant matters in marriages based on mutual respect and transparency. Loyalty is a form of respect. They keep their social media use fully worthy in every way. They permit themselves no secret Internet experiences. They freely share with each other their social network passwords. They do not look at the virtual profiles of anyone in any way that might betray the sacred trust of their spouse. They never do or say anything that approaches the appearance of impropriety, either virtually or physically."

5)  “Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave unto her and none else.”⁹ A Church handbook teaches: “The word cleave means to be completely devoted and faithful to someone. Married couples cleave to God and one another by serving and loving each other and by keeping covenants in complete fidelity to one another and to God.”

He concludes with this amazing reminder of the real organization of a marriage:  " Marriage is a gift from God to us; the quality of our marriages is a gift from us to Him."


Highlight #2:  Talks about virtue, chastity and righteousness. 

"In a morally desensitizing world, young women need women and men to “stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places.” Never before has this been more important than now. Young women need mothers and mentors who exemplify virtuous womanhood. Mothers, your relationship with your daughter is of paramount importance, and so is your example. How you love and honor her father, his priesthood, and his divine role will be reflected and perhaps amplified in your daughter’s attitudes and behavior.

Again I renew the call for a return to virtue. Virtue is the strength and power of daughters of God. What would the world be like if virtue—a pattern of thought and behavior based on high moral standards, including chastity—were reinstated in our society as a most highly prized value? If immorality, pornography, and abuse decreased, would there be fewer broken marriages, broken lives, and broken hearts? Would media ennoble and enable rather than objectify and degrade God’s precious daughters? If all humanity really understood the importance of the statement “We are daughters of our Heavenly Father,” how would women be regarded and treated? "  Elaine S. Dalton

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a single, undeviating standard of sexual morality: intimate relations are proper only between a man and a woman in the marriage relationship prescribed in God’s plan. Such relations are not merely a curiosity to be explored, an appetite to be satisfied, or a type of recreation or entertainment to be pursued selfishly. They are not a conquest to be achieved or simply an act to be performed. Rather, they are in mortality one of the ultimate expressions of our divine nature and potential and a way of strengthening emotional and spiritual bonds between husband and wife. We are agents blessed with moral agency and are defined by our divine heritage as children of God—and not by sexual behaviors, contemporary attitudes, or secular philosophies."  Elder David A. Bednar


"We earnestly hope and pray for universal peace, but it is as individuals and families that we achieve the kind of peace that is the promised reward of righteousness. This peace is a promised gift of the Savior’s mission and atoning sacrifice."  Elder Quentin L. Cook

Highlight #3:  Talks about belief verses knowledge, obedience, Jesus Christ and His teachings, and becoming followers of Christ.

Highlight #4: The spiritual and temporal FEAST of Conference Weekend!!!

Plus, sitting at the TV for 4 hours on Saturday and 4 hours on Sunday gives Sariah plenty of time to practice new hair styles.  The first one above is McKenna's creation - the braided ponytail bun.  The next photo is Sariah's first attempt at fish-tail braids.  She did AWESOME!!