The Only True and Living General Conference Thread (speaking of the thread collectively and not individually), Saturday edition
I have it on good authority (friend of a friend whose mother’s brother does landscaping for a Church employee) that this is the GC when they will ditch Sunday School.
Keep an eye on Bloggernacle Times this weekend. Bloggers will be blogging individual talks. ECS will be blogging on RS/YW hairdos.
Comment by Ronan — September 30, 2006 @ 2:45 am
LOL, Ronan. While there is little that would bring me greater joy and satisfaction this weekend than to swap hairdo comments with bloggernacle readers, I don’t have a TV connection out here in the land of the godless heathens. I think Joan and Melissa Rivers are free this weekend, however. Maybe they’d be up for broadcasting a pre-General Conference “best and worst dressed GA” show from the red carpet. Isaac Mizrahi would love to join them, I’m sure.
Comment by ECS — September 30, 2006 @ 5:54 am
I predict white shirts this conference — and TIES! No button-downs.
Comment by Steve Evans — September 30, 2006 @ 8:53 am
So why is it that the Priesthood Session isn’t ever broadcast online, but the rest of GC and the Relief Society meeting is?
Comment by ECS — September 30, 2006 @ 9:10 am
ECS, it is because of our secret works.
Honestly, I think there is something to that notion — that the Priesthood session is somehow a private one. This is pure silliness of course, for many reasons (among them the fact that the session gets published in the Ensign along with everything else). Other than that specious explanation, I’ve heard of no real reason.
Comment by Steve Evans — September 30, 2006 @ 9:15 am
A message from the BCC Inner Cabal:
In order to allow as much contention as possible on this thread, we are currently buying new server space to allow over 1000 comments. Fire away!
Comment by Ronan — September 30, 2006 @ 9:23 am
Everywhere but the UK.
Comment by Guy Murray — September 30, 2006 @ 9:48 am
[...] Yep, it’s that time again–the first weekend in October, marks the semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Today is the 176th Semiannual General Conference. Around the Bloggernacle there are a few open threads, here, and here, If I find more, I will list them as well. I also have it on good authority that the Bloggernacle Times will be featuring posts on some talks as well, so make sure to check them out. [...]
Pingback by 176th Semiannual LDS General Conference Saturday Morning « Messenger and Advocate — September 30, 2006 @ 9:51 am
Elisabeth, you can’t listen to the Priesthood session live, but you can listen to the archives, so it’s not totally exempt from broadcast. I’ve heard that it is to ensure that men actually go to the meeting, but I hope that’s not true.
Comment by kris — September 30, 2006 @ 10:09 am
An acknowledgement that we “wished we baptised more in the US”?
Comment by Ronan — September 30, 2006 @ 10:20 am
Audio and video archives from the Priesthood session have not been traditionally posted on lds.org. I noticed that last April’s Conference was the first one to feature online broadcast archives, albeit only ASL video.
Comment by Justin — September 30, 2006 @ 10:32 am
Thanks Justin — I actually only looked at last Conference and just assumed it was the norm.
Comment by kris — September 30, 2006 @ 10:36 am
I regret that I am part of a wedding all day today, so I will not be able to participate in what will surely prove to be a history-making thread.
Please, please, please, somebody email me photos of the speakers’ respective hairdos, so I can form bitchy opinions about them, and not feel left out!
Aaron B
Comment by Aaron Brown — September 30, 2006 @ 10:36 am
Nomination for worst metaphor ever: “tentacles of providence.”
Comment by Tom — September 30, 2006 @ 10:48 am
Nice talk, though.
Comment by Tom — September 30, 2006 @ 10:48 am
Scottish accent! (Of course, he lives in England, as most sensible Scots do in the end.)
Comment by Ronan — September 30, 2006 @ 11:00 am
So…
Which Conference thread am I supposed to follow? T&S or BCC?
Which one is true?
Comment by Seth R. — September 30, 2006 @ 11:01 am
Seth, my boy, listen to your heart.
Comment by Ronan — September 30, 2006 @ 11:07 am
I guess tribulation and suffering are our big themes for the morning.
Comment by Seth R. — September 30, 2006 @ 11:09 am
Ronan, I’d prefer a supporting statement from Boyd K. Packer.
Comment by Seth R. — September 30, 2006 @ 11:10 am
Elder Oaks has jumped to the coveted second place spot in my list of favorite apostles. This talk makes him the reigning heavyweight champion. I love his willingness to swim in some pretty deep and challenging waters, and address the vexing issues people are actually thinking about.
Comment by Dan — September 30, 2006 @ 11:15 am
Dan,
Who’s number 1?
Comment by Ronan — September 30, 2006 @ 11:17 am
This is a great talk by Elder Ballard on serving with balance in the church.
Comment by Ronan — September 30, 2006 @ 11:22 am
I love that he says clearly that there is such thing as devoting too much time and attention to Church service.
Comment by Tom — September 30, 2006 @ 11:23 am
Re: Elder Ballard
Now there’s an unusual concept:
Email messages instead of leadership meetings!
Well not really, but I’ve been in several presidency meetings that could be handled entirely by email and phone under Elder Ballard’s criteria.
P.S. My wife is wondering why we don’t have more talks like this at Women’s Conference.
Comment by Seth R. — September 30, 2006 @ 11:25 am
“Gone should be the days when the EQ pres. feels he needs to do the visits the Elders Quorum has missed.”
Amen, amen, amen.
I know of several people who do this very thing and I always felt it was ill-advised
Comment by Seth R. — September 30, 2006 @ 11:27 am
#1 is Elder Packer. I think he is the most misunderstood of all the brethren.
Comment by Dan — September 30, 2006 @ 11:48 am
Personally, I find Elder Packer rather endearing.
Comment by Seth R. — September 30, 2006 @ 11:51 am
#28: Unless you’re a homosexual.
Comment by ECS — September 30, 2006 @ 11:55 am
ECS, what, Packer needs an eye tuck and laser hair removal?
Comment by Matt Evans — September 30, 2006 @ 12:05 pm
At least! I’d also suggest updating his pamphlet “To the One” to correct inaccurate information about homosexuality.
Comment by ECS — September 30, 2006 @ 12:13 pm
Ah, Seth- a man after my own heart. I’m always amazed when I hear how people find Elder Packer to be rigid and dogmatic. I find him to be a really articulate voice for mercy and understanding in the Church.
Comment by Dan — September 30, 2006 @ 12:19 pm
Maybe to encourage men to socialize in person? They might be worried that if they broadcast it online that the church buildings would be empty on Saturday night.
Comment by WillF — September 30, 2006 @ 1:21 pm
The combination of Elder Oaks’ Christ-centeredness and genuine compassion resulted in one of the more memorable General Conference addresses that I have ever heard. Very moving. This discourse, coupled with Elder Ballard’s wise counsel on balance (which, if taken to heart, could transform the lives of most active members of the Church), resulted in a very satisfying morning of General Conference.
Every now and then, I feel a sense of genuine gratitude for my decision many years ago to join this Church. This was one of those times.
Comment by Antonio Parr — September 30, 2006 @ 1:42 pm
Elder Ballard’s wise counsel on balance
I agree, AP. I hope, however, that the institutional church realises that it can also contribute to the problem. After all, it is church programmes that people are serving.
Comment by Ronan — September 30, 2006 @ 2:01 pm
While I have no reason to disbelieve the gay guy Elder Oaks mentioned and the hint that the guy was healed of that problem, as I believe Jesus can heal anything, but what of those who seek healing and aren’t for reasons only Jesus and G-d know? To leave it hanging makes many feel bad and perhaps bitter. I’ll also note that the gay guy had a wife and kids burdened with his problem, likely because the church in his generation encouraged these disasterous gay/hetero marriages. It’s just intellectually dishonest to walk away from the church’s responsibility in these train wrecks and speak as if it’s all the gay guy’s fault. Elder Oaks should be more sensitive in these matters. But to his credit, this was better than that awful Q&A he did.
Comment by Steve EM — September 30, 2006 @ 2:51 pm
Sanitary landfills?
Where on earth is he going with this?
Comment by Seth R. — September 30, 2006 @ 3:01 pm
I just jumped back in and I’m hearing someone talk a lot about Idaho. I hope the talk moves to a new subject…
Comment by Dan — September 30, 2006 @ 3:01 pm
Aaah…
Clever.
Comment by Seth R. — September 30, 2006 @ 3:02 pm
Ronan #35. I could not agree with you more on this point. Rhetoric aside, there are heavy institutional incentives for us to see numbers where we should see people. I’m not sure how to get around that.
Comment by Costanza — September 30, 2006 @ 3:15 pm
Elder Scott apperantly has no intention of shaking the “repentance Apostle” tag. Good for him. “repent…….come back….”
Comment by cj douglass — September 30, 2006 @ 3:54 pm
cj, do you think that Scott’s calling to ex-Mos or to the sinful (or both? or neither?)
Comment by David J — September 30, 2006 @ 6:33 pm
Bulliten from priesthood session via Blackberry: Sunday School abolished; block reduced to 2 hours.
Comment by gst — September 30, 2006 @ 7:18 pm
curse you GST for sowing such vain hopes.
Comment by Steve Evans — September 30, 2006 @ 7:27 pm
David J,
Elder Scott is calling out to the sinful(all of us). The x’d are Packers thing.
Comment by cj douglass — September 30, 2006 @ 8:59 pm
Priesthood Session notes posted here. They are still in their rough stage, but I will be cleaning them up as soon as WordPress’ technical difficulties subside.
Comment by Guy Murray — September 30, 2006 @ 9:34 pm
[...] BCC open thread. [...]
Pingback by Bloggernacle Times » Saturday Conference Links — September 30, 2006 @ 10:36 pm
Does anyone have a reliable podcast link for Conference?
Comment by Dan — October 1, 2006 @ 7:06 am
In case anyone didn’t notice, the postlude music for the priesthood session was “Rise up, O Men of God.”
Elder Christofferson spoke of his mother’s illness that made ironing so painful that she had to take frequent breaks while crying from the pain. His Dad’s solution to the problem was to skip lunch for a year to save money to buy an ironing machine which made the process much easier for her.
A noble sacrifice I guess, but am I the only one who thought, “If it was that painful, WHY DIDNT DAD DO THE IRONING!”? He let her suffer in pain for a year, and in the end, she was still stuck with ironing all the clothes.
He could have eaten lunch, done the ironing himself, and relieved a very painful burden on his wife. Or, if he wanted, he could have skipped lunch and bought the ironing machine for himself.
Comment by Left Field — October 1, 2006 @ 7:35 am
I’m still thinking on that. I’ve seen a number of miracles in my time, yet also seen them not happen. It still gives me pause.
There are clear theologies that deal with no miracles (God sees the fall of every sparrow, but lets them all fall, the only miracle is God’s love and attention) and a God of continuous miracles, but the God of occassional miracles is a more difficult one.
Comment by Stephen M (Ethesis) — October 1, 2006 @ 7:43 am
Left Field,
Maybe he didn’t do the ironing because he was already doing the dishes, taking out the garbage, working 40 hours a week, cleaning the bathroom, etc…
Comment by WillF — October 1, 2006 @ 8:42 am
Has anyone else noticed that there is a distinct method to telling a GC talk, particularly by Seventies:
1. Tell a story from your life (ironing machine, fishing, power of attorney)
2. Find some principle in that story
3. Teach that principle by making three or four suggestions
4. List those suggestions (much like I’ve just done!)
5. Bear testimony
Maybe there’s a handbook.
Comment by Ronan — October 1, 2006 @ 8:53 am
Seems like Cincinnatus had similar thoughts.
Comment by Ronan — October 1, 2006 @ 9:02 am
Hey, if Brigham Young could do it, Lunchless Guy could do it…
Comment by Ann — October 1, 2006 @ 11:39 am
Late comment: General Ballard’s talk was amazing; really blew me away. Right now in my life the church can’t be my top priority, it really has to be work. It was refreshing to hear that they get that…..that they don’t want me to feel guilty about it. I really thought it was the most sensitive thing I’ve heard in a long time.
Comment by rick jepson — October 1, 2006 @ 11:50 am
Well, I don’t know about the ironing, but I hope people don’t interpret Pres. Hinckley’s remarks last night about men not being “equally yoked” to their wives to mean that men shouldn’t marry women who have more education than they do. I think Pres. Hinckley means to encourage men to work hard, stay in school, and stop mouthing off (and wearing baggy clothes), not for men to cross women with advanced degrees off their list. It’s not a competition, after all.
But as a side note, does it seem to anyone else that men are more likely to be chastised for doing too little, while women are chastised for doing too much?
Comment by ECS — October 1, 2006 @ 12:00 pm