RS Broadcast and Church

The general Relief Society broadcast was last night. Last year I actually went to the conference center and listened to Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf spoke and gave one of the most amazing talks I have heard at a RS broadcast (that might be because I haven't always been in the habit of listening to them, but it is hard to say). If you don't remember the talk, I suggest you click here, and reread it.

This year the general Relief Society presidency talked a lot about why Relief Society is important and why we should attend and what we can get out of it...yadda yadda yadda. The thing is, I have not always been a fan of RS. I go. But I don't always enjoy it. A few years ago that changed enough to where I at least didn't want to leave - the lessons were always so good. But there's something about being in a room with a bunch of women that you view as competition or fake or just uncomfortable with that makes you want to get out of there as soon as possible. Anyway... Sister Barbara Thompson gave probably the best talk of the night and she talked about MINDING THE GAP.

The gap between "What we know vs. what we do" or "What our goals are vs. what our actual accomplishments are."

She didn't even have to say anything more about those two topics. I know them well. My whole life is about saying, "I KNOW!" and then doing the opposite and then setting goals and not accomplishing anything. So needless to say, she had me hooked from the beginning. Sister Thompson went on to talk about the gap between believing that we are daughters of God and knowing that we are.

Nothing separates us from the love of God. We need to accept His love, love ourselves and love others.

She talked about the gap in believing in Jesus Christ and being valiant in the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Basically she talked about the tube in London (their subway system) and the gap between the deck and the train. The paint on it says "mind the gap" in order to remind passengers not to get their feet stuck in there or to drop things. By minding the gap, they are kept from danger. And if we mind the gaps between the things Sister Thompson listed above, I think that we are kept from danger of losing our testimonies or losing in our war against sin.

*****

Now, as far as church today, I just have to say that I enjoyed it very much. The elders had a 7:30am meeting today and I was so impressed when they got up in Fast and Testimony meeting and bore their testimonies about that meeting. Why? Because they got up. Because they made it to so early a meeting. On top of that, the apparent topic of discussion was the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how it has affected their testimonies and their lives. There is nothing more uplifting than listening to the brethren of the church talk about the Atonement. The Spirit was strong in Sacrament Meeting. Sunday school was good, even if cut short (Sacrament meeting ran long...guess the congregation had a lot to say about the Atonement. This is not a bad thing). And then our RS President taught the lesson in RS.

I have to say how much I like Crissy. She's very genuine. She obviously loves the sisters in the ward. She had a wonderful lesson about how the Savior knows us individually. Loves us individually. And using that knowledge to keep us from the bondage of sin - out of Satan's clutches. She brought a very sweet spirit into the room.

And I realize, this is why we have Relief Society. Because even in an over-estrogened room, there is a sweet spirit that is there too. The Lord loves the sisters of the church, and He is aware of all of us.

*****

On a lighter note -

Jason is this guy that is basically the only friend I have in the ward, besides Becca (which, by the way, we were really funny today). Of course, we don't see him except for on Sundays and the occasional ward activity, but he manages to give us a hug every week. Since I had to fight my way down the auditorium in order to pay my tithing, Becca had met up with Jason before me. After a minute, he was like...why haven't you given me a hug yet? To which I replied, I was waiting for you to make the first move. He joked about how I shouldn't deny what I wanted and all this other stuff and we moved on...

After a few more minutes of talking he must have gotten sick of pretending that he doesn't want me and grabbed me and gave me a big hug and then kissed my cheek.

I, of course, had no adequate response except to smile coyly* at him and then head to Sunday School. It was after I had time to think about it that I was delighted. After more time, I came up with some better reactions. Next time I will just turn my head and make sure it isn't my cheek that he's getting...

Just kidding, Dad.

*For the record, I'm sure my smile was not coy at all. Probably goofy. I'm retarded when it comes to things even as innocent and simply as this.