Twice a year, over 13 million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have the opportunity to listen to our prophet, 12 apostles and other church leaders during what is called "General Conference". It is always the first Saturday and Sunday of October and the first Saturday and Sunday of April. I checked the statistics and it was broadcast over satellite, internet, radio and cable tv to 175 different countries and translated into 95 languages. It is a time to be with family and listen to the word of God through modern prophets and apostles, special witnesses of Jesus Christ.
Ryan has always loved conference, especially as a missionary. He has had many wonderful experiences as he has invited investigators to attend and then seen their testimonies of the divinity of our Savior and His Gospel grow as they have listened to His servants on earth.
I checked Ryan's missionary blog the other day and found that he had posted a beautiful poem about General Conference. When I emailed him this week, I asked him who wrote it because he had not noted the author. This was his answer:
"Just so you know... I wrote that. Surprised? Me too."
I don't know what I did to deserve to be the mother of such a fine son. He has talents and abilities beyond my greatest dreams for him.
The Voice of God
I sit in a pew
I ponder questions and circumstances
that have troubled my soul for days, weeks, months.
I have this moment to myself,
silent witness to my own personal spiritual turbulence.
There is no speaking in this chapel,
to do so would violate
the unspoken decree of reverence at this time,
That moment in time just before the Lord speaks.
I feel transported in time
Back, back, back
to moments when multitudes waited
at the foot of
Mt. Sinai, The Mount of Beatitudes,
at the entrance to Jerusalem.
I am one in that multitude
spread across a hill or a cobblestone street back then,
In chapels, homes, and meetinghouses across the world now
To be here, in this moment, just before the Lord speaks.
God speaks to Man doesn't he?
Doesn't He love us?
Isn't that why He sent His Son?
He spoke then,
why not now?
For this reason I have come to this place
Now, then, across streams of time and generations
of people.
Hungering, asking, seeking.
To know and have my questions answered by the voice of God.
The moment ends.
The reverence is broken.
The session begins, the prophet descends from Sinai
to the pulpit.
God's Word on his lips and the Spirit
bearing record.
The tablets of the law shine eternally bright
through these corridors of time;
their words in full affect now as then.
God does still speak to Man.
My heart is at peace and I recognize
The Voice of God.
Ryan has always loved conference, especially as a missionary. He has had many wonderful experiences as he has invited investigators to attend and then seen their testimonies of the divinity of our Savior and His Gospel grow as they have listened to His servants on earth.
I checked Ryan's missionary blog the other day and found that he had posted a beautiful poem about General Conference. When I emailed him this week, I asked him who wrote it because he had not noted the author. This was his answer:
"Just so you know... I wrote that. Surprised? Me too."
I don't know what I did to deserve to be the mother of such a fine son. He has talents and abilities beyond my greatest dreams for him.
The Voice of God
I sit in a pew
I ponder questions and circumstances
that have troubled my soul for days, weeks, months.
I have this moment to myself,
silent witness to my own personal spiritual turbulence.
There is no speaking in this chapel,
to do so would violate
the unspoken decree of reverence at this time,
That moment in time just before the Lord speaks.
I feel transported in time
Back, back, back
to moments when multitudes waited
at the foot of
Mt. Sinai, The Mount of Beatitudes,
at the entrance to Jerusalem.
I am one in that multitude
spread across a hill or a cobblestone street back then,
In chapels, homes, and meetinghouses across the world now
To be here, in this moment, just before the Lord speaks.
God speaks to Man doesn't he?
Doesn't He love us?
Isn't that why He sent His Son?
He spoke then,
why not now?
For this reason I have come to this place
Now, then, across streams of time and generations
of people.
Hungering, asking, seeking.
To know and have my questions answered by the voice of God.
The moment ends.
The reverence is broken.
The session begins, the prophet descends from Sinai
to the pulpit.
God's Word on his lips and the Spirit
bearing record.
The tablets of the law shine eternally bright
through these corridors of time;
their words in full affect now as then.
God does still speak to Man.
My heart is at peace and I recognize
The Voice of God.