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LDS General Conference October 2014


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With 5 munchkins in the house, it's hard to keep the noise level down enough for me to pay attention and understand what's going on. Thank goodness we can go back and listen later.

 

I loved Elder Holland's talk yesterday. He mentioned how President Monson would literally give people the shirt off his back. A few years ago I read Pres. Monson's biography and I was amazed at how he so often was an instrument in the Lord's hands to serve others. As he traveled the world he was often inspired to bring certain things or say or do things without fully understanding why, only later to learn he was able to very personally touch someone's life because he had listened to those promptings of the spirit. I want to be able to recognize and act on those impressions to help people around me.

 

Yesterday I was talking with my kids about Elder Holland asking us to help and care for the poor and DD asked "How do we know who is poor?"  I feel like I get so caught up in my own little world, taking care of the endless needs of my own children, that I feel very unaware of the needs of those around me. But I wish I could do more to help. I know there is so much need in the world and yet most days I just feel lucky to shower. I would like my children to find joy and happiness in serving others and I know I need to lead by example.

 

There is a family down the street who does this so well. Their children are often tending the lawns of their neighbors and when I see them at church they ALWAYS open doors for us or ask if there's anything I need. One daughter always makes sure to sit with us during Sacrament Meeting when DH is gone for Guard Duty.  I am so impressed with their cheerful, giving attitudes. 

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With 5 munchkins in the house, it's hard to keep the noise level down enough for me to pay attention and understand what's going on. Thank goodness we can go back and listen later.

 

I loved Elder Holland's talk yesterday. He mentioned how President Monson would literally give people the shirt off his back. A few years ago I read Pres. Monson's biography and I was amazed at how he so often was an instrument in the Lord's hands to serve others. As he traveled the world he was often inspired to bring certain things or say or do things without fully understanding why, only later to learn he was able to very personally touch someone's life because he had listened to those promptings of the spirit. I want to be able to recognize and act on those impressions to help people around me.

 

Yesterday I was talking with my kids about Elder Holland asking us to help and care for the poor and DD asked "How do we know who is poor?"  I feel like I get so caught up in my own little world, taking care of the endless needs of my own children, that I feel very unaware of the needs of those around me. But I wish I could do more to help. I know there is so much need in the world and yet most days I just feel lucky to shower. I would like my children to find joy and happiness in serving others and I know I need to lead by example.

 

There is a family down the street who does this so well. Their children are often tending the lawns of their neighbors and when I see them at church they ALWAYS open doors for us or ask if there's anything I need. One daughter always makes sure to sit with us during Sacrament Meeting when DH is gone for Guard Duty.  I am so impressed with their cheerful, giving attitudes. 

 

 

I wonder about finding ways to serve others. It's hard to know how to reach out when just taking care of my own family seems to require more time and energy and abilities than I have.

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Hah! This speaker (can't remember his name) must be my brother's former mission president. B mentioned he would be speaking this afternoon and predicted he would say something about health and fitness; guess he knows him well.

 

 

Elder /President Klebingat was my son's mission president just this year in Kyiv. 

 

I love conference!

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Does anyone else feel like the female speakers have been tackling heavier doctrinal topics (in this conference and the last one) than they have in the past?

 

DianeW--I'm watching the LDS News and World Report and they're interviewing a professional ballerina who also works with underprivileged kids. Anyone you know? :D

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Does anyone else feel like the female speakers have been tackling heavier doctrinal topics (in this conference and the last one) than they have in the past?

I was thinking that this morning! I liked the one about the Sacrament yesterday. I also liked the one about the widow and Elijah and sustaining the prophet. I'm excited to back and review those and the other talks on those subjects.

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I really am loving the native languages with English voiceover.  It's so cool.

 

We started this afternoon's session on ASL because my daughter is learning it and was curious.  The interpreter finger spelled Thomas S. Monson and then made a big grin and gave a thumbs up.  So cute!

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Oh, wow.  My daughter felt prompted a couple hours ago to invite two of her non-member friends (who she often talks about the church to) to watch this session of conference.  She texted them and provided the link to view on-line.  One of her friends agreed to watch (and is watching).  And then here comes Elder Bednar to the pulpit saying he is specifically addressing those who are not members.  How awesome is that?!?!

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Does anyone else feel like the female speakers have been tackling heavier doctrinal topics (in this conference and the last one) than they have in the past?

 

DianeW--I'm watching the LDS News and World Report and they're interviewing a professional ballerina who also works with underprivileged kids. Anyone you know? :D

 

I didn't see it, but was it Whitney Jensen?

 

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Is anyone else excited to see this? I can't wait. Hopefully, it will dispel some myths about who we really are.

These people depicted are hardly typical Mormons. I think it's nice that the church is encouraging members to break out of the typical stereotype and be more proactive in the world but really....how many non-members will actually be interested in watching this movie?

 

It's mostly only screening in Utah cinemas anyway....what about the rest of the world?

 

I've never met a Mormon that was anything like these people....now if they wanted reality ...where is the stressed out mum of 6 kids with the Dad never home cause he is always at church meetings.....that's a Mormon family that is more typical.

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Too much to comment on, but I did notice that Pres. Monson looked very sad or concerned or maybe he didn't feel well, but I have NEVER seen him NOT smile except for this conference. I didn't watch the priesthood session so I don't know if he was happy there or not.

Three of the talks in the first session today were about prophets and more specifically living prophets.

 

I liked Elder Ballard's talk on staying in the boat, always wearing a life jacket, and holding on with both hands.

 

Elder Scott's talk...some of us who have been members a long time or were born in the covenant don't need to be reminded or have it impressed upon our minds, or do we? We assume everyone knows this, but we forget to do the basics. Prayer, family prayer, study the word of God and the living Prophets; weekly family home evening and, last, going to the temple. My life has worked out best when I follow that counsel.

 

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These people depicted are hardly typical Mormons. I think it's nice that the church is encouraging members to break out of the typical stereotype and be more proactive in the world but really....how many non-members will actually be interested in watching this movie?

 

It's mostly only screening in Utah cinemas anyway....what about the rest of the world?

 

I've never met a Mormon that was anything like these people....now if they wanted reality ...where is the stressed out mum of 6 kids with the Dad never home cause he is always at church meetings.....that's a Mormon family that is more typical.

 

Huh, I know more than a few exceptional families around me doing extraordinary things.  Maybe because I'm in Utah, I see more LDS people than the average, but most folks around me are not the type of family you're describing.

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it's going to be showing in my seattle suburb.  

We've got quite a few theaters all around Texas showing it, including here in San Antonio.

 

 

and some are curious.  there are people who've joined the church after watching the Book of Mormon musical too.  (prompted them to investigate the church and learn more.)

 

and Utah may have density - but most Mormons do NOT even live in the US.

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I think it is so neat to have people speaking in their native languages, and indicative of the truly global congregation--but I wish they would use subtitles instead of the voice over! I am hard of hearing and rely somewhat on lip reading in understanding what I hear, and I found that I couldn't understand the translators while watching the speakers and faintly hearing some of their speech in the background. I found I had to turn up the volume and look away to be able to understand it, and even then it was more difficult with one voice over the other.

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I think it is so neat to have people speaking in their native languages, and indicative of the truly global congregation--but I wish they would use subtitles instead of the voice over! I am hard of hearing and rely somewhat on lip reading in understanding what I hear, and I found that I couldn't understand the translators while watching the speakers and faintly hearing some of their speech in the background. I found I had to turn up the volume and look away to be able to understand it, and even then it was more difficult with one voice over the other.

On the LDS.org site, there is a drop-down menu that lets you change the language on the right side above the video window. You can switch to the native language being spoken, then turn on subtitles (which default to English).

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Too much to comment on, but I did notice that Pres. Monson looked very sad or concerned or maybe he didn't feel well, but I have NEVER seen him NOT smile except for this conference. I didn't watch the priesthood session so I don't know if he was happy there or not.

 

From the moment President Monson was sustained as the prophet I've noticed he's seemed sad and like the weight of the world is on his shoulders (well, I suppose it kind of is).  Then his wife died and he got even sadder.  I noticed at the women's broadcast and then again this weekend, he had a big guy walking with him and his walk is stiff and looks a bit painful.  I wondered if the man was with him to make sure he didn't fall or something.  President Monson just looks like he's in pain to me.

 

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I think it is so neat to have people speaking in their native languages, and indicative of the truly global congregation--but I wish they would use subtitles instead of the voice over! I am hard of hearing and rely somewhat on lip reading in understanding what I hear, and I found that I couldn't understand the translators while watching the speakers and faintly hearing some of their speech in the background. I found I had to turn up the volume and look away to be able to understand it, and even then it was more difficult with one voice over the other.

 

I think the reason just using subtitles would have been impractical is because many people listen on-line (possibly with one family member watching the video feed and the rest listening - we've done that before we got the Roku) or on the radio and don't actually see it on the TV.  I believe closed captioning still would have worked even with the voice over.

 

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While I would have loved to hear the talks in other languages and read subtitles, I think there are a lot of good reasons like the one Heather mentions dubbing other languages.  You can't switch back and forth from an audio to a visual broadcast. People who need to know the broadcast will be entirely accessible. Not everyone listening to the English broadcast reads English for a variety of reasons.  It's also slower for most people to read subtitles than to listen.

 

But in addition to all those practical reasons, I think it's good for English speakers to hear what everyone else is always dealing with because most everything in the church starts in English.  Yes, we have lots of translation now and we're getting much better at producing things in other languages and avoiding voice-overs, but it's still the reality for most members.  It is harder to listen.  It's disappointing that many members don't recognize the voice of the prophet (I know a man who usually did the voice-over for President Hinckley in French and people would recognize his voice as the prophet's when he traveled with other people and translated for them).  It's different to listen to a talk being read rather than given at the pulpit.  I think it's good for English-speaking members to experience that.

 

So even though I wished I could hear the talks and my niece who returned from her mission in Portugal less than a week ago was sad to not hear the Portuguese talk, I think the voice-over is the best option for a lot of reasons.

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While I would have loved to hear the talks in other languages and read subtitles, I think there are a lot of good reasons like the one Heather mentions dubbing other languages. You can't switch back and forth from an audio to a visual broadcast. People who need to know the broadcast will be entirely accessible. Not everyone listening to the English broadcast reads English for a variety of reasons. It's also slower for most people to read subtitles than to listen.

 

But in addition to all those practical reasons, I think it's good for English speakers to hear what everyone else is always dealing with because most everything in the church starts in English. Yes, we have lots of translation now and we're getting much better at producing things in other languages and avoiding voice-overs, but it's still the reality for most members. It is harder to listen. It's disappointing that many members don't recognize the voice of the prophet (I know a man who usually did the voice-over for President Hinckley in French and people would recognize his voice as the prophet's when he traveled with other people and translated for them). It's different to listen to a talk being read rather than given at the pulpit. I think it's good for English-speaking members to experience that.

 

So even though I wished I could hear the talks and my niece who returned from her mission in Portugal less than a week ago was sad to not hear the Portuguese talk, I think the voice-over is the best option for a lot of reasons.

Amira, see my post above about how to get the native language when watching on LDS.org; I did this for the Spanish talk and enjoyed listening to it. I just switched back to English when the talk was over.

 

I do think it is good for English speakers to experience a taste of what an English-dominant church is like for non-anglophones. I read something one blogger posted about the voiceover being awkward and maybe practice with the technology would improve matters--it sounded like she had no concept that the church has been using voiceovers in other languages for decades.

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Amira, see my post above about how to get the native language when watching on LDS.org; I did this for the Spanish talk and enjoyed listening to it. I just switched back to English when the talk was over.

 

I do think it is good for English speakers to experience a taste of what an English-dominant church is like for non-anglophones. I read something one blogger posted about the voiceover being awkward and maybe practice with the technology would improve matters--it sounded like she had no concept that the church has been using voiceovers in other languages for decades.

 

We've learned not to mess with a good thing when we get a broadcast going overseas, so we didn't want to try switching to a different broadcast.  Also, some members of the family had heard enough Spanish talks recently. My niece was listening over the radio so she couldn't switch to the Portuguese broadcast.  :(

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I have a hard time differentiating sounds - so hearing the V/O on top of the original speaker's voice did make it harder for me to understand and I really had to focus my listening. 

 

I can understand the reason for the dubbing - but the fact you could still hear the speaker in the native language underneath the dubbing . . . .it's like two people talking at once.  

 

2dd didn't have to deal with that . . . she's in the Spanish branch and went to the church building to watch it in Spanish . . . .

 

I think it is so neat to have people speaking in their native languages, and indicative of the truly global congregation--but I wish they would use subtitles instead of the voice over! I am hard of hearing and rely somewhat on lip reading in understanding what I hear, and I found that I couldn't understand the translators while watching the speakers and faintly hearing some of their speech in the background. I found I had to turn up the volume and look away to be able to understand it, and even then it was more difficult with one voice over the other.

 

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I do think President Monson's health is not good; I imagine he prefers the privacy of not having details of his personal health challenges broadcast to the entire church, but I am sure he knows we love him and pray for him.

 

Falling...reminds me of stories about how unhappy President Hinckly's doctors were over his persistence in using his cane to wave to people with rather than to lean on :D

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It must be very troubling for you guys to see President Monson not in the best of health.  Sending some Muslim prayers his way.

 

Question, in past years, I seem to remember being able to read the talks.  This time, I'm only seeing video and audio.  Am I missing something?

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It must be very troubling for you guys to see President Monson not in the best of health. Sending some Muslim prayers his way.

 

Question, in past years, I seem to remember being able to read the talks. This time, I'm only seeing video and audio. Am I missing something?

The transcripts will be up eventually, they just take longer to process. Check back in a few days.

 

I am sure President Monson appreciates all sincere prayers :)

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I do think President Monson's health is not good; I imagine he prefers the privacy of not having details of his personal health challenges broadcast to the entire church, but I am sure he knows we love him and pray for him.

 

Falling...reminds me of stories about how unhappy President Hinckly's doctors were over his persistence in using his cane to wave to people with rather than to lean on :D

Yes! I loved that about Pres. Hinckley. I think one of the most touching tributes at his funeral was the members of the church lining the road to the cemetery, waving white handkerchiefs... and canes. lol

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It must be very troubling for you guys to see President Monson not in the best of health.  Sending some Muslim prayers his way.

 

Question, in past years, I seem to remember being able to read the talks.  This time, I'm only seeing video and audio.  Am I missing something?

 

Thank you for your prayers.

 

You're not missing anything. It takes longer for them to post the print version of the talks.  I see that the General Women's Meeting has the print versions available. The rest of conference should be available soon.

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yes - you're missing a week or two.  ;p

 

the printed versions should be up by then.  =D

 

 

It must be very troubling for you guys to see President Monson not in the best of health.  Sending some Muslim prayers his way.

 

Question, in past years, I seem to remember being able to read the talks.  This time, I'm only seeing video and audio.  Am I missing something?

 

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It must be very troubling for you guys to see President Monson not in the best of health. Sending some Muslim prayers his way.

 

Question, in past years, I seem to remember being able to read the talks. This time, I'm only seeing video and audio. Am I missing something?

We've actually had a relatively long stretch with a president who in good health. President Hinckley was remarkably healthy and vigorous and President Monson has been until the last few years, but President Hunter only lived less than a year after he was become the Prophet, and President Benson was sick for a long time, as was President Kimball. So it's not really troubling to see President Monson not well, especially since you expect it at the ages our prophets are, but it is sad. At least he's still able to speak in Conference and I hope he'll be able to for a while.

 

And I happen to think there are just prayers, not Muslim prayers or Mormon prayers or any other kind. :)

 

The website says the text should be available in English within two days of Conference.

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Yes! I loved that about Pres. Hinckley. I think one of the most touching tributes at his funeral was the members of the church lining the road to the cemetery, waving white handkerchiefs... and canes. lol

 

We were living in downtown Salt Lake along the route when he died and were able to be there for that. The best part for me was hearing the bells of the Cathedral of the Madeline when his hearse drove by.

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Having worked in a nursing home I think the 15 are all in great health for their ages. Most men at 90 are not as active as these men are or working as hard. For a 90 yo being able to get out of bed IS good health lol.

 

Poor prophets...it seems like every GC people always make a comment about when they think he will pass away lol. My DH always says...."looks like he won't be here next GC" and he always usually is ;)

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So, is there a set succession? I didn't know that.  I always assumed that the Council/Quorum? of Twelve (may have their name wrong) kind of prayed/fasted and came up with the next President.

 

Does it go to the one of the guys in the First Presidency? 

 

Curious. :)

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Yes! I loved that about Pres. Hinckley. I think one of the most touching tributes at his funeral was the members of the church lining the road to the cemetery, waving white handkerchiefs... and canes. lol

I was watching the funeral broadcast, feeling mostly happy for Pres. Hinckley that he got to be reunited with Marjorie; then they showed the people waving canes as the procession went past, and I burst into tears with the realization that he really was gone from us, with the twinkle in his eye and smile on his face.

 

I thought it would be hard to adjust to Pres. Monson as prophet, he was so different, so much more formal than Pres. Hinckley; then I heard him speak at the next General Conference and it just felt right for him to be there, to be taking the helm. I could see the weight resting on him and wanted to do whatever I could to sustain him.

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