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I'm a few hours late in opening the thread. I remembered halfway through the General Women's Session (I still love to say that…) and then forgot as soon as it ended. Better late then never! Please leave your thoughts and insights here!
General Women's Session
- Rosemary M. Wixom – “Discovering the Divinity Within“
- Linda S. Reeves – “Worthy of Our Promised Blessings“
- Carol F. McConkie – “Here to Serve a Righteous Cause“
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf – “A Summer with Great-Aunt Rose“
Saturday Morning Session
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf
- M. Russell Ballard
- Richard J. Maynes
- Neill F. Marriott
- Larry R. Lawrence
- Francisco J. Viñas
- Quentin L. Cook
Saturday Afternoon Session
- Robert D. Hales
- Jeffrey R. Holland
- Bradley D. Foster
- Hugo Montoya
- Vern P. Stanfill
- James B. Martino
- Dallin H. Oaks
General Priesthood Session
- Neil L. Andersen
- Randall K. Bennett
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf
- Henry B. Eyring
- Thomas S. Monson
Sunday Morning Session
- Thomas s. Monson
- Ronald A. Rasband
- Gary E. Stevenson
- Dale G. Renlund
- Russell M. Nelson
- Gregor A. Schwitzer
- Claudio R. M. Costa
- Henry B. Eyring
Sunday Afternoon Session
- D. Todd Christofferon
- Devin G. Durrant
- Von G. Keetch
- Carole M. Stephens
- Allen D. Haynie
- Kim B. Clark
- Koichi Aoyagi
- David A. Bendar
Alison Moore Smith is a 61-year-old entrepreneur who graduated from BYU in 1987. She has been (very happily) married to Samuel M. Smith for 40 years. They are parents of six incredible children and grandparents to two astounding grandsons. She is the author of The 7 Success Habits of Homeschoolers.
I thought the women’s session was very good (I like saying that, too). Probably Wixom was my favorite. I don’t usually like feel-good talks, but the basic idea that we are valuable because we are children of God PERIOD is a good one for women AND men.
I’m still sad that men have to be the final authority speaker. I like Uchtdorf, it just feels wrong since women never speak in priesthood session. Don’t men need our perspective as well? I don’t have any young women so admit I did not know who Carol McConkie was but the first thing I thought was, “Another McConkie? Can’t they get any new families in the mix?”
Cameroon, I get the “keynote problem.” I like having a first presidency member speak but also wish a woman’s voice would be welcomed and respected in the priesthood session. I think it would do the men good to hear from us. And I wouldn’t mind if the male speaker were not always given the prime spot—as if we could see our own auxiliary’s president as our own leader. :/
As for McConkie—I get the inbreeding thing. (And, heck, why aren’t there more SMITHs in there anymore! 😉 ) It looks like Carol McConkie is married to the nephew of Bruce R. McConkie. (Did I get that right, historians?)
I liked Uchtdorf’s story about Aunt Rose and how she CHOOSE happiness. With the ever-growing diagnosis of depression, something I think we need to get over ourselves and get on with living.
chastity speeches are always tough. no one is happy no matter how its presented, but i thought reeves did a pretty good job doing it.
Exponent II has reviews on each of the three women’s talks if you are interested:
Rosemary M. Wixom
Linda S. Reeves
Carol F. McConkie
Here’s my conference meme for the day. Please feel free to share!
I loved Wixom’s talk. In our faith community, there is a tremendous amount of pressure to look/think/act/be perfect at all times. No offense to the Utahns, but driving up and down your highways and seeing billboards for plastic surgery in an area where the saints are highly concentrated says a great deal to me. It felt so good to hear a female leader tell us that our worth is based only on the fact that we are daughters of God. It brought tears to my eyes because this is something that has bothered me since I was in YW.
Am I mistaken, or was Uchtdorf’s story a fictitious parable of his own creation? I usually hang on his every word but he kind of lost my attention during the dialogue between aunt Rose and her niece – it was too detailed to be a second-hand account, in my opinion. And the name “Aunt Rose” kept reminding me of my old junior high teacher, who asked us to tell her “aunt rose” was visiting if we were menstruating and needed to be excused. Bleh. Either way, he is a brilliant man and I look forward to hearing from him next weekend!
I enjoyed Women’s session this time for a number of reasons. First, I was not a big fan of the age change-especially about including the primary age girls. However, I took my daughter out to dinner before and then she had such a spiritual experience at the broadcast, that I am rethinking my position.
I know chastity talks are hard to give without being misunderstood. It is a challenging topic in any setting. (I recently had to give the chastity lesson in RS at the last minute without any prep because a teacher wasn’t able to come–talk about scary.) I liked how Sister Reeves talked about our bodies being sacred. I like how she referred to the sanctity of life. I’m currently working with a young woman who lost sight of her standards and the law of chastity and is paying a heavy price for it. She has repented and it is wonderful. But the consequences that have come because of her choices are overwhelming. It is heartbreaking to see her dealing with the financial consequences of being a single mother, the emotional challenges of her situation, and the many challenges she faces down the road are really, really hard. It could have been avoided. I don’t want any young woman to have to experience what she is dealing with. I understand why Sister Reeves tackled such a difficult topic. I wish we could all extend more charity to people who address chastity. It’s hard but there is a real need for it.
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I’m sick as a dog today. My only note on the Saturday morning session is about Lawrence’s “clean your room” story. We don’t have to improve everything at once, we just take one thing at a time.