eye hath not seen

if i had to sum up the october 2011 conference in one line, it would be this scripture:  Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Cor. 2:9)

what a powerful and encouraging verse! oh how i needed the words and testimonies that were born this weekend. it always puts life back in perspective to listen to the testimonies of the prophet and apostles of God and to know that it's all going to be ok. sure, life has hard and challenging moments, but we are blessed. God loves us, He is aware of us, and He has prepared great things for us.

a few other favorites from conference:
+where is your faith?
+look up!
+trust in the atonement
+the lord is my light, then why should i fear?
+wait upon the Lord. this includes to hope and to continue in patience until you are perfected
+answers to know the Lord's will come line upon line
+His answers will come- don't give up
+read the book of mormon
+the temple is the manner of happiness
+the best thing a father can give his daughter: love her mother
+the laws of God have not changed; He is our constant anchor
+pray. prayer is necessary to weather the storms of life.
+recognize, trust, and follow inspiration
+i believe in Christ, so come what may
+the things that are important to us are also important to God
+the holy ghost teaches us in an intimate and personal way
+the atonement compensates for any and all injustice and unfairness we experience
+be grateful for the tender mercies that come in the midst of suffering

i can say along with president monson that the gospel of Jesus Christ gives meaning, purpose, and hope to my life.

sunday notes

mike and i spoke in church on sunday. mike gave a beautiful talk about developing charity in the home, and i spoke about how simple acts of kindness can help us overcome personal afflictions. every other lesson seemed to tie back to having patience, love and charity in all things. i took lots of notes.

"no pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. it ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. all that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure in patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable." -orson f. whitney

2 Cor. 1:3-4: one reason for our suffering is to offer comfort to those around us. because the Savior has experienced everything and comforts us, we  must in turn comfort others.

"if we are thinking only of ourselves, we may miss some of the most powerful spiritual experiences and profound revelations of our lives. by becoming the answer to someone's prayer, we often find the answer to our own." -president uchtdorf

Moro. 7:45-47 lists the attributes of charity. 4 of the 13 attirubes relate to patience: suffereth long, beareth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things