Early Morning Seminary, Comp Study, General Conference, Flat Inspections, and President Nelson's Funeral

A couple of weeks ago, I volunteered to substitute teach for the Monday morning Zoom Seminary teacher. The school holiday was over so I taught Monday morning. I only had four students show up so the discussion wasn’t quite as engaging as I would have liked. If I called on them directly, they would read or answer questions for me. Overall, it turned out pretty well.

After taking care of some administrative things, we managed to watch the first two sessions of General Conference. I really loved the talks. Here is a brief summary of some of those talks that impressed me.

Elder Gary E. Stevenson encouraged peacemaking. Peacemaking begins first in hearts, then in homes and families, and ultimately spreads into neighborhoods and communities.

Sister Tracy Y. Browning spoke about the power of music in teaching children the gospel of Jesus Christ. That resonated with me. I think music goes directly to our hearts and souls. 

Elder Kelly R. Johnson talked about being reconciled to God. He is a forensic accountant and was able to help me understand how we can be reconciled to God by comparing it to what he does for work. At least it helped me understand it.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf started his talk with one of his airplane anecdotes. He said that “Faith in Jesus Christ is a gift but receiving it is a conscious choice that requires a commitment of all our ‘might, mind and strength.’ It is a practice of every day, every hour. It takes constant learning and a determined commitment. Our faith, our loyalty to the Savior, becomes stronger as it is tested against the opposition we face here in mortality. It endures because we keep nourishing it, we keep actively applying it, and we never give up.” 

In the afternoon session, Brother Chad H. Webb gave a moving talk about how the Holy Ghost is a perfect tutor as we study the gospel. He shared some experiences with a teacher that changed the course of his life. 

Elder Jeremy R. Jaggi is one of the Area Seventies in the Pacific Area. We had a Zone Conference with him a while back. He gave a wonderful talk about altars of the Lord.  

Sister Roylance

I was very moved by Elder Kevin G. Brown. He spoke very passionately about the gift of testimony. He focused his thoughts on three “powerful truths” of the Restoration — 1. God is a loving Heavenly Father, 2. Agency is the gift to choose and act, and 3. A testimony comes through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Elder Cook encouraged members to accept and welcome new and returning members of the Church. He concluded his message by saying, “As we contemplate the challenges of our day, we must remember that the Savior, during His earthly ministry, also lived in turbulent and violent times. His focus was not on the political challenges of the day; it was on the perfection of the Saints. Following the Savior and His doctrine and teachings has never been easy in a world that is constantly in commotion. It was not easy for the Savior in the volatile world during his mortal sojourn, it was not easy for our early leaders and members, and it is not easy for us. Fortunately, living prophets provide the guidance we respectfully need for our day. President Dallin H. Oaks will continue that spiritually powerful legacy.”

On Tuesday we were at early morning Seminary again. This time the Elders taught. We were in Doctrine and Covenants 112. Doctrine and Covenants 112:10 is a verse that really resonates with me. It says, “Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand and give thee answer to thy prayers.” I tend to struggle with pride, so I try to pay attention to everything that talks about humility. I love how this says if we are humble, the Lord will lead us by the hand. Too often I want MY will to be done and not the Lord’s. This reminds me that His will is what is best for me. And if I humble myself and let HIS will be done, He will lead and guide me and answer my prayers. It really is that simple. 

We had comp study with the Riverside Elders later. We studied Mosiah 2-3. We had a very good discussion about King Benjamin’s sermon. We especially talked about when we serve others, we are only serving our God. We shared experiences when we found that to be so true. 

We next had a nice video call with Douhet. We missed it the day before, I’m not sure why. By the time I contacted Douhet yesterday, he was at Holiday Singer’s practice and asked if we could do it today. We talked about the kids, the progress on things around the house, and Christmas plans when we get home. 

We watched the last session of Saturday's General Conference. Then it was time to prepare dinner for the Elders and snacks for our DCM. The Elders had their car in the shop, so Elder Wilcox had to pick them up while I finished dinner. Since I forgot to start the rice when I should have, we did comp study for a while before we were able to eat dinner. It all worked out. Elder Wilcox dropped them off at a member's house that was not too far from their flat so they could get home. I did the dishes. 

I substituted in early morning Seminary on Wednesday. Sister Paratene had to work the night shift and didn’t get home until 8 in the morning. Our lesson was about Healthy Relationships. It went really well. Both kids were engaged and seemed to be into the activities.  

We picked up the Elders on our way home since we had DCM and they didn't have their car. Just before our meeting started, Elder Ihaka got a phone call saying the car was done. It was a whole day early! We had a great DCM meeting. We said our goodbyes to Sister Roylance as she was being transferred to the Cook Islands and headed to Auckland on Thursday. We reminded the missionaries that we would be doing flat inspections starting Thursday so be prepared. After DCM and delicious snacks, we took the Elders to pick up their car.

We got our lunch and watched the two Sunday Sessions of General Conference. They finished just in time for us to head to the Chapel for our Book of Mormon Reading class. We had 5 people in addition to the Elders and us. I am really enjoying our reading each week. We have some wonderful discussions and a lot of fun too. 

We had to leave right at 7 and leave everyone else to continue without us so we could head over to the Snows for our FHE night. Dean was making a chocolate cake for our dessert. We had a pretty good interactive lesson with the kids about the difference between being humble and not being humble. We showed a cute little video from Latter-day Kids about what being humble is. After the lesson, the cake was done, and we had cake and ice cream for dessert. Yum!!!

We had our last early morning Seminary lesson on Thursday. That is my "normal" day. We only had six students. The lesson went pretty well. They were all engaged and answered questions. 

We headed out to do our two flat inspections right after Seminary. We did some training at DCM about the new inspection forms. We also really emphasized that flats are supposed to be clean EVERYDAY, not just once every six weeks. Both flats did a really good job. I told them we might be doing spot checks and hoped they would still look really good. Both sets of missionaries said they would keep it up. 

We got home in time for SPF. We watched President Nelson's Funeral for SPF. It was a beautiful service. All the talks were great. The Zone Leaders came over after SPF for our comp study with them. It was a little shorter because of the longer SPF, but we really enjoyed it. We talked a little about the clean flats, and the Zone Leaders are going to ask for the missionaries to send in a clean flat video every day for a while to see if we can make it a habit. 

On Friday we took care of our normal Saturday stuff since we weren't going to be home. We did laundry and cleaned the house. I also took care of bills. I spent the afternoon working on HawkSoft catching up on ACORD forms. 

After that, it was time to get ready for our Personal Finances Dinner. We started preparing at five to be ready by 6. We had Hawaiian Haystacks. Several class members brought toppings and others brought desserts. I only had to put out a few toppings. We cooked the rice, slow cooked the pork and shredded it, and made the cream of chicken gravy (actually it is just cream of chicken soup. 😉) We also made a yogurt fruit salad. We set up an extra table and set it with dishes instead of paper plates. Everything looked nice. 

Everyone arrived and we visited all night. They had never had Hawaiian Haystacks, but they loved them. The desserts were delicious! We just talked and talked and laughed a lot. Everyone left around 10:00. Thankfully nearly all the dishes were done so it wasn’t much of a cleanup for that. However, we did remember that we needed to take some kai (food) to the Chapel on Saturday for our lunch between sessions of conference. So, we stayed up another hour making Broccoli Salad.

We headed to the Chapel first thing on Saturday morning so we could set up the computer to run General Conference. Apparently, no one had the information on the projector, so we had to use a large screen TV instead. I’m so glad the Ward has its own laptop now, so I didn’t have to use mine. We had it all set up and just waited for the Bishop to arrive so I could make sure he knew how to get back into the system if the screen timed out before he was to start Conference. 

We ran out to Punaruku to the Russell Road flat so we could close it. We met the owner and her mother there and did a walk through. For the most part, everything looked great. However, somehow, we all missed a dent in the wall that wasn’t there when we moved in. Unless you looked closely, it didn’t look like a hole. The house is old, so I’m guessing it just looked like a slight indentation. As we looked at it closer, we noticed that it did indeed break through the wall and was a hole. You just couldn’t see the “black hole” from a distance. It was on the wall where the stairs led upstairs. At that point, we weren’t sure if the Elders did it or if it happened when we were moving furniture out last weekend. Regardless of how or when it happened, we will be repairing it on Tuesday and turning the keys over at that time. 

As soon as that was over, we headed back to the Chapel to watch General Conference. We missed almost an hour. Throughout the day we ended up with a total of 13 people counting us. Seven of us were there from the beginning and stayed clear through to the end. Five came and went at various times. We had a nice kai (food) between the first and second session. We put up some tables and chairs on the lawn near the kitchen. The day was so beautiful, we all wanted to enjoy the outdoors. We had a good variety of food. There was pulled pork, deviled eggs, coleslaw, broccoli salad, fruit, and some little meat pies (at least that is what I think they were). After lunch and visiting, we went back to watch the second session of Conference. Again, I loved all the talks. We only took a 10-minute break between the second session and the evening session. That way we were able to be home before 5:00.  We all enjoyed it very much.

We went to the Stake Center for the Sunday Sessions of General Conference. We had a very good turnout for the morning session. It was a little thinner in the afternoon. 

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland bore a powerful testimony of what he knows to be true. He equated it to the blind man who received his sight from Jesus Christ. When the blind man was questioned, he answered, “whereas I was blind, now I see.” Elder Holland said that he knows in the same manner as the blind man. He has witnessed by the power of the Holy Ghost that he cannot deny the evidence of the restoration. He too said, “was blind, but now I see.”

Elder James E. Evanson said, “Go and do likewise.” He emphasized Christlike service and compassion.

Elder Ulisses Soares spoke on self-mastery and spiritual refinement. 

Elder Peter M. Johnson talked about “the power of ministering to the one.” He encouraged personal outreach and loving service.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson said, “Look to God and live.” He focused on spiritual resilience and divine direction.

Sister Andrea Muñoz Spannaus talked about the “Prophets of God.” She testified of prophetic guidance and sustaining leaders.

Elder Henry B. Eyring quoted “Proved and strengthened in Christ.” He closed the session with a message of enduring faith and divine strength.

We packed a lunch and ate it outside in the parking lot. It was warm and sunny. We also had several ward members at another car in the lot, so we joined them after we finished eating. It was fun to visit with them for a little while.

The afternoon session began with Elder David A. Bednar. He taught that our choices determine our spiritual outcomes and emphasized personal accountability in the plan of salvation. He said, “They are their own judges.”

Elder B. Corey Cuvelier talked about “The Name by Which Ye Are Called.” He focused on the covenant power of taking Christ’s name and living with integrity.

Elder Matthew S. Holland told us to “Forsake Not Your Own Mercy.” He encouraged repentance and trust in divine mercy, referencing Jonah’s story.

Elder Carlos A. Godoy gave a beautiful talk about “Smiling Faces and Grateful Hearts.” He shared insights on gratitude and joy in gospel living, even amid trials among the Saints he is serving in Africa.

Elder Dale G. Renlund spoke about covenant belonging and the transformative power of discipleship when he said, “taking on the Name of Jesus Christ.”

Elder John D. Amos gave a delightful talk he called “The Good News Recipe” He used a metaphor of spiritual nourishment to teach about the gospel’s simplicity and power.

Elder Ozani Farias spoke on “The Book of Mormon — An Immeasurable Treasure on Our Journey.” He testified of the Book of Mormon’s role in guiding our spiritual path.

President Dallin H. Oaks focused his remarks on “The Family-Centered Gospel of Jesus Christ.” He announced a pause in new temple announcements and taught about the eternal importance of family, marriage, and children. He shared a personal story of losing his father at age 7.

All our Love,

Elder and Sister Wilcox