Day 22: Stake Conference

For those of you who don't know much about the Chuch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the church is separated into different areas called Stakes.  Each stake has approximately 6-8 wards, also divided up by area based on the number of priesthood holders in the area.  My ward, San Diego 12th ward, is in the San Diego North stake. All 88 stakes in Southern California had Stake Conference this weekend.  It started yesterday with a Priesthood leadership meeting at 4pm, the adult meeting at 7pm, then today's broadcast at 10am. Stake Conference is always a great opportunity to hear some wonderful guidance from leadership in the church and this weekend was no exception.

Yesterday, I was really tired when I got home from the temple (not very shocking since I had to wake up at 5am.  Around 2:30PM, I feel asleep, but didn't set an alarm, since Stake Conference didn't start until 7pm.  I woke up in a panic hours later because it was dark outside and I thought I had missed the meeting.  Luckily, it was only 6pm, so I got dressed and headed over to the Mt Abernathy building (typically buildings are named after the street they are on). Last night's session was great.  The stake presidency spoke on charity and keeping our hearts open to our ancestors.  The stake has been asked to work on geneology.  A lot of my family work has been completed, but I know I could help with my mom's family....looks like I need to start learning how to use ancestry.com. 

This morning, I met up with friends about 9am to get seats on the comfy pews (plus we brought each other snacks...best row ever!!!!).  Today's broadcast started promptly at 10:15am, with opening prayer, song, and a little stake business for 15 minutes prior to the broadcast.  Elder Steven E. Snow, Sister Barbara Thompson (2nd counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency), Elder Paul V. Johnson, and Elder L. Tom Perry all spoke and it was fantastic.  The importance of family prayer was a major focus of the conference and Elder Snow's talk.  Below are the highlights:

- Family prayer should be scheduled at a regular time
- Assignments should be rotated amongst family members
- Prayers don't need to be long
- Whoever is giving the prayer should really think about what to say
- Ask for specific blessings
- Be specific in gratitude (which fits really well with my thankfulness blog)
- Take time to listen for an answer

I also really enjoyed Elder Johnson's talk about faith.  Faith is the power of God and can only be used to do his will, so we must make our requests in harmony with his will. 

Overall, stake conference was really uplifting and I am looking forward to working on the guidance we all received.