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175th Annual General Conference - Page 2

Well, I was sick in bed with pneumonia for about a week. I got to watch 4 of the 5 conference sessions on tv, the only one I missed was the Priesthood Session. It was a great conference, they always are. I too was impressed with Elder Eyring's talk. I also liked the sister from the Primary who spoke in the same session, can't remember her name.

Someone on another message board reported a rumor that did not happen. He claimed he got this from a member of the Seventy. Supposedly they were going to announce that the church was going to encourage all worthy men and women age 19 and up to get their temple endowmwnts. The announcement was not made but I wonder if it is something the Bretheren are considering. As it stands now, most people wait until they serve a mission or are married which leaves quite a few people in their 20's who have not been endowed. Maybe with the world growing more and more wicked, this step would be a move in the right direction to increase spirituality among young adults.

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The Virtue of Kindness

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave this talk some days ago in General Conference, I will quote some of the things he said for the purpose of discussion:

What does he exactly means by being "critical"?. What about if your leaders are doing things that is putting in jeopardy your life and the life of others? Are you supposed to just stay quiet and not criticize them and still supporting them even though they may be doing evil things?. I would really like to discuss this because I do not see how you as a member are supposed to try to solve the problem by talking with higher authorities and at the same time without being critical of all the things some leaders are doing.

Again, what he means by not being judgmental?. Joseph Smith translation of that scripture in Matthew said "Judge not unrigheoustly, that ye be not be judged,: but judge righteous judgment". I think sometimes we forget this little part and it may cause (like here where I live) that people committ all kind of sins and evil acts and with the same scripture the leaders try to justify their inaction.

"Love them" what does it mean?. Okay, a person is rude to you...can you tell me what he meant by "Love them" it means to answer kindly? or ignore? or what?. Sometimes the word love in the Church is used so commonly yet I hardly hear any straight definition of what it means to love someone who is both kind and unkind to you. I mean, I think about a member entering my branch with a cutlass and I tell you that the first thing that comes to my mind is not to love him! but to protect my family. Does this principle applied to all things and situations? what do you think?.

To read the full talk, check this link:

https://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5...-520-10,00.html

Edited: LDS_forever on 8th Apr, 2005 - 2:01am

175th Annual General Conference Studies Doctrine Mormon

I don't think he is referring to situations where your life is in danger. However, if we sit through a boring RS lesson, what do we do next? Do we just grumble and complain about it with our friends? Do we stop attending because we don't want to waste our time? Two things I have been tempted to do. Wouldn't it be better to attend, and do my best to help make the lesson more interesting by participating in the lesson with questions, answers and comments?

When someone is rude to us, I believe we are supposed to be loving and kind in return. I think there is little question this is what we should do. That probably is what he means. However, we are all human. So, we react humanly. I think he is just trying to encourage us to work harder at being Christlike more than humanlike.

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I believe he's talking about "murmuring" and speaking negatively or criticizing others about everyday things, and not about urgent, serious issues. For instance: "That guy next door is a real idiot - he can't even mow his lawn right!" or "Look at that sister with her bleached hair - it looks terrible! What is she thinking?" or "Our bishop is so stupid. He can't even see the sins right under his nose!"

If you are taking an issue to a higher authority, you will point out and discuss the sinful or procedural problems -- not how bad the brother's toupee' looks or how he wears his suits or whether or not his wife is overweight. That's being critical.

I think it is the same with judging others - we don't know the circumstances of others on a daily basis. This has nothing to do with righteous or unrighteous judgments, but judging a person who just cut you off on the highway -- are they really being rude and purposely endangering you? Or have they had an emergency that they are rushing to? We shouldn't be so quick to judge others without knowing the circumstances behind their behavior. I'm not talking about sinful acts, but everyday stuff that annoys you. The neighbor down the block maybe hasn't mowed his lawn for over a month... is he lazy, or has he just had a devastating illness or surgery, or lost a loved one, or suffering from depression? We can't judge in these circumstances, and it has nothing to do with righteousness on their part or ours.

The same with loving others who are wayward, obnoxious, or rude. We can love them without condoning their behavior. Do we not love our own children no matter what happens? Will we stop loving a son because he develops a mental illness and threatens someone's life - or worse, kills them? No. We will always love him, and even forgive him seventy times seven.

In my opinion, he's asking us to forgive and be kind about the little things that may annoy us. To choose to soften our hearts towards our brothers and sisters on this earth. To choose to make life a little more pleasant for all of us. And to choose to lighten our own burden of anger and frustration that making an issue of little things can bring. To choose to be more Christ-like.

This is what I understood from Elder Wirthlin's talk.

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But what it means to "love" them for you?. Over the years I have seen that every single person has a different concept of what it is to love. I want practical examples and practical definition if possible. The part of the talk that Elder Whirthlin talks about "loving" those who are rude, etc is so general and I think it can bring so many interpretations (even dangerous ones).

175th Annual General Conference

Love is a verb! It's a choice, a conscious decision:

It's a step on the road to perfection and exaltation, as I understand this scripture.