Ward Conference

Yesterday, February 9th,  was Ward Conference. First the stake Relief Society secretary (I'm sorry I missed her name) spoke on the theme:

"Back to where you last saw the light"

She did a demonstration on things carried in a hand-bag, and then posed the question, "What do you carry in your heart bag?" She then spoke of the three things that she carries in her "heart bag" and spoke on how they help her in her life. Her three things were:

1. Carry a song
2. Bring lots of prayers
3. Her testimony

She used the scriptures following scriptures in her talk:

Joshua 1:9
Exodus 14:14
Psalms 30:5

She was followed by President Mark E. Beecher--the second counselor in the stake presidency. President Beecher started by talking about how much he loves the relief society. He shared that his mother passed away at 30 and despite having a lot of other choices it was her diligent visiting teacher that gave the eulogy and that has always impressed  Beecher who could remember her coming every month and doing her visiting teaching. He invited all the sisters to continue to develop love for one another.

President Beecher then asked everyone to get out something to write down impressions. He quoted Elder Scott on the importance of writing down our impressions and how we can be given more knowledge when we do write them down.

He then asked for every woman to write down the three things that weigh most heavily on her heart--her biggest concerns. After everyone wrote theirs down, he read three scriptures and he didn't discuss them or say anything, he just read them and then asked us to ponder these scriptures for a few minutes and write down any impressions that we may have. Those three scriptures are:

2 Timothy 1:7-8
Moroni 8:16
Doctrine and Covenants 6:32-37

After a few minutes he asked those who wanted to share something that they had written down.
Answers:
"Peace."
"Perfect love for Him. I can be the person I want to be if I draw closer to Him."
"Heavenly Father doesn't want us to be a victim of our fears."
"What can I do now? Rather than focus on things beyond my control."
"Helps me realize the love of God."
"Analysis is paralysis-think about the simple things we do every day."
"Focus on having a perfect love for our Father/ Let Him be the center."
"Stay in the light and positive."
"Get beyond fear to empowerment."

He then had us look at chapter 26 in Alma with the focus on the question "How much has he done for us?" President Beecher feels that we have no idea how involved Heavenly Father is in our day-to-day lives. He also pointed out that all the joy that comes in this chapter comes through people reaching out to others.

President Beecher concluded by saying that "God is mindful of every people."