J's conference thoughts

 

 my thoughts on conference can be simply put in one word: enlightening. coming out of an amazing conference weekend i am filled to the brim with the spirit and i have have been reminded just how much my father in heaven knows and loves each and every one of us. i have decided that my favorite talk was given by D. Todd Christofferson. you can watch it here.

   what i received from the spirit is a testimony of missionary work. the first quote that spoke to my heart is( i won't put these in quotations because i know they're not word for word!) anyways, if the light burns bright within us it will rekindle that of those around us. this sparked an answer in me for a question i have been pondering for awhile now, why don't those around me feel the love our savior has for us as strongly as i do? i came to the conclusion that though i may be fully aware of the perfect love of our savior, because i never talk or share my experiences with others they have no idea! so my first of many goals coming out of this weekend is to be more apt to share my testimony of our saviors love with others.

   the second "quote" i wrote down is very simple yet so so powerful- everyone is worthy an invite. often times the adversary places the thought in our minds that those around us are unworthy to talk to about the gospel, but how sad is that thought! our gospel should be one of love and light that just speaking to one of our faithful members brings joy to those around them. it is so unfortunate that many of us fall pray to those thoughts that prevent us from sharing the gospel. this scenario reminds me of a story i heard while attending efy. two men had been best friends for a lifetime, one man was a member yet the other was not. the member was constantly battling the urge to invite his friend to church, he tried on multiple occasions yet, the adversary always ended up convincing him not too. one day the member got a call telling him that his dear friend had died, and despite all of the emotions that came with death, he couldn't help one very strong regret. why didn't i just invite him to church? i had such a wonderful gift from my savior yet i was too selfish to share! this story has stuck with me and will probably be in my heart forever. the simple invitation into the gospel may seem daunting yet it is a mere six words: will you go to church with me? with that said, my second set goal is  to be more willing to share the gospel and invite people to church.

   my final "quote" i noted is, a lack of interest today doesn't mean it won't be an interest tomorrow, our love is to remain the same. a second thought often placed in our minds from lucifer is, after rejection we must give up. i know it and everyone else knows that after working up the courage to offer an invitation and then being told no thanks can be very discouraging. but like we heard from Joy D. Jones, the Lord loves effort and effort brings rewards. even though you may feel like nothing was accomplished, besides wrecking your confidence, in the lords eyes he is very proud! even though we were told no, we opened that persons heart to allow the holy spirit to do his work and the next time it might just be a yes! so my final set goal is to have courage to be told no.

   when we accept the spirits push towards missionary opportunities our lord sees our efforts and we are blessed. through this amazing conference weekend we heard many truths that could have only come from a loving father in heaven. i encourage you to go and see all of the other talks given this weekend because i can promise they were all great. i would like to end by expressing my testimony of the love the savior has, i feel it constantly and i invite you to pray daily to help feel it too. i love you and so does our savior.