General Conference
Since General Conference 2 weeks ago, Amy and I have been watching and re-watching various talks. We first watched Elder Uchtdorf's talk "The Infinite Power of Hope". The things we hope for and the things we hope in. I love how simply he presented the system we are all in. We live in a Faith-based system that also involves hope and charity. Faith = the things we hope for. Charity = the things we hope in. Namely, Jesus Christ our savior. When we place our hope in Him, he teaches us Charity. With hope in the savior we have an unshakable foundation that can never fail and is an eternal source of stability. Faith is hoping for things... But it is an action. The things we hope for are salvation and exaltation. Through our active faith, and hope in the Savior we will realize these blessings.
Yesterday we listened to Elder Oaks talk "Sacrament Meetings and he Sacrament". In not so subtle words, we are told to arrive at sacrament meeting early, and sit quietly listening to the music until the meeting starts. He also specifically mentioned the use of cell phones for texting during Sacrament Meeting. This, he says, is innappropriate. I very much appreciate Elder Oaks no-nonsense way of speaking, and his simple expressions of concern for the ever increasing list of contemporary issues facing the church.
During August I watched a lot of the Olympics. I was excited about a number of events, but none as much as men's basketball. I've followed the USA basketball team for a number of years now; long enough to know our terrible international record of late. We hadn't won Olympic gold since 2000. While this may not seem very long to many of you, I would equate our gold medal drought to England not even qualifying for Euro 2008. It just shouldn't happen! So, needless to say, I was ecstatic when we won gold in Beijing. However, due to the time difference, all the U.S. games were broadcast live at 2 or 3 in the morning. I DVRed all of games to be watched later on. All but the gold medal game, that is. I just had to watch it live. My sacrifice of sleep was worth it.. what a game! This may have been the funnest sports viewing experience of my entire life.