Conference weekend

What a wonderful weekend! It all started when, after a frazzling drive from Provo to Salt Lake, James came and "rescued" me and took me to his dad's house to relax and rejuvenate. We had fun watching The Forgotten (during which James actually jumped during the abrupt and scary parts as much as I did) :) It was an interesting show, although in my humble opinion, the show would have been much better if it had been a little less supernatural, and a little more realistic. After the movie was over we talked until way too late--and I enjoyed every minute of it!

My sister Anna, her friend, Natalie, James and I all headed downtown for the second session of Conference on Saturday afternoon. It was a special experience to be inside the Conference Center. The powerful singing is even more overwhelming when you are actually in the Conference Center. When the choir ended with "Come, Come Ye Saints," it gave me chills. It was so beautiful and the Spirit was wonderful!

Sunday afternoon James and I were both impressed by the talk on pornography given by Elder Dallin H. Oaks. He defined pornography as anything intended to arouse sexual desires and appetites, and boldly proclaimed the incredible damage to spirituality, family relationships, and many other aspects of the pornography-viewer's personal life. He shared the experience of a man who had been addicted to hard drugs and pornography. Shockingly, the man declared that it was far easier to quit hard drugs, than it was to overcome his addiction to pornography.

Elder Oaks also admonished women to dress modestly, reminding them not to become pornography. As a prophet and apostle, he was forthright and straightforward in calling to repentance anyone involved in pornography in any degree. However, he also emphasized the power of Christ's atonement to overcome the effects of sin and enable those caught in the dreadful trap of pornography to escape. The talk was delivered by the power of the Spirit of God, without the slightest fear of what others might think. It was awesome! For those interested, transcripts of the talk will be available Thursday at lds.org. This was, of course, only one of the many inspiring and uplifting talks shared during this two-day conference, but this is the one that left the most lasting impression on my mind.