The Power of Jesus Christ in Our Lives Every Day.

 Today my gratitude is for the amazing leaders of the church and the very wonderful addresses they give us to use as a guide in our lives.  I have really done a great job in reading them the last week and I sometimes read them twice or more just because they touch some part of my life that I hadn't thought about.  The theme from General Conference of October 2023 was, "The Power of Jesus Christ in our Lives Every Day".  The addresses I read over the past week are:

1.  Opening the Windows of Heaven by Elder Neil L. Andersen.  This is essentially about paying 10% of our our increase to the Lord.  This really touched home for me.  I have always had a very strong testimony of the importance of paying tithing and the blessings that come from it.  This time Elder Andersen gave some specific blessings.  He said, "the windows of heaven open in many ways.  Some are temporal, but many are spiritual.  Some are subtle and easy to overlook.  Trust in the Lord's timing; the blessings always come".  I testify of the truthfulness of this and am so grateful to know of it.  

2.  Abide the Day in Christ by Sister Amy A. Wright.  This was so touching to me.  It covers the parable of the 10 virgins and Sister Wrights gives her own personal story of cancer and healing and she stated, "Jesus Christ makes it possible for us to abide the day."  She taught of simplifying our lives and be gatherers of the light of Jesus Christ.  It is such a beautiful sermon.

3.  Brothers and Sisters in Christ by Elder Ulisses Soares.  This Elder has become one of my favorite people to listen to.  This address was so pertinent to some of the issues of the time and I just love the words he spoke.  He reminded us of President Nelsons' declaration: "I call upon our members everywhere to lead out in abandoning attitudes and actions of prejudice.  I plead with you to to promote respect for all of God's Children."  This talk just gives reason and reason to join together in love and friendship to all of God's children and it fills my soul with joy at the thought of all the things that are going on in our world and ways to show a better way, loving ways and meaningful ways to promote respect.

4.  More Than A Hero by Bishop W. Christopher Waddell.  Bishop Waddell addressed the pioneers and some of the things they went through in the early days of the church.  He spoke of our heroes from when we were children and today.  It really made me think about the heroes in my life.  He stated, "As adults, what was once innocent childhood fun can become a stumbling block when Hero worship of politicians, bloggers, influencers, athletes or musicians causes us to look beyond the mark and lose sight of what is truly essential".  He goes on to reveal that which should not need revealing our true Hero is Jesus Christ.  This is one of my favorites and I will be reading it again.

5.  How Great Will be your Joy by Elder Ronald A Rasband.  Elder Rasband always presents such a spiritual message.  This address is about missionary work and the importance of it.  It was a nudging to get senior members of the church to go on missions and to experience the joy and blessings that can come from it.

6.  Hallmarks of Happiness by Elder Gary B Sabin.  He speaks of finding happiness in our lives.  He speaks of a man he met who had a job with the title, "professor of happiness" and he learned from the gentleman what his teachings included and he also added to his teachings to have some answers to questions he did not have answered before.

7.  Promptings of the Spirit by Elder Gary E Stevenson.  This address really hit home for me.  I have experienced first hand some of the amazing things he spoke of.  I found his address to really invite all people to recognize when they have a spiritual experience and the guiding principles he gave to assist are tools that I have used before in my life.  This was very enjoyable and will get a second read for sure.

8.  In the Path of Their Duty by Elder David Bednar. This one is a little harder to express my thoughts after reading it.  It relates to several descriptions of what In the Path of Their Duty describes/means.  All of which have something to do with bringing the teachings of Christ into our lives and having faith to do so.

10.  Think Celestial! by President Russell M Nelson.  I am only going to say that this address is being read now weekly if not daily because I just get so uplifted when I read it.