We had the opportunity to attend stake conference with Elder Bednar while we were recently in Washington visiting Scott's relatives. It was an awesome meeting and I took lots of notes. The meeting actually started 5 minutes early since there were lots of people there quite early--that's one way to reward being early. After the opening, they called up several people from the audience to bear brief testimonies--simple statements of belief, including 4 youth. The stake president spoke and the Area Seventy briefly spoke. Then Elder Bednar took up the last hour.
Elder Bednar first spoke to the investigators of the church who were in the meeting. He wanted to explain the name of the church. The first part is "The Church of Jesus Christ." He explained, We believe in God the Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. They are 3 separate beings but united in purpose. We are literally God's children. There are three things that set this church apart from others: 1. Christ's doctrine, 2. Christ's authority, and 3. Covenants and ordinances.
The second part of the name is in the New Testament where Paul addresses the regular members of the church as "Saints." The loss of the church was foretold in the Bible. The restoration of the Church was also foretold. That's the latter-day part of the name--of Latter-day Saints.
The First Vision is sacred to us. In James 1:5, it says, if anyone lacks wisdom let him ask of God. Asking in faith means you want to know what God wants you to do. He said that it is preposterous to him that anyone finds the First Vision to be preposterous. The Bible is full of stories of God speaking to people. The Bible doesn't ever say that God will stop talking to people. Why wouldn't God speak to Joseph Smith? We claim that our church has the same doctrine, authority, and ordinances as the church Jesus established. But you don't have to take our word for it. You can find out for yourselves. Why else would young men and young women give up the most selfish time of their lives to proclaim the gospel?
He said, Our church answers important questions of the soul like what happens to those who have never heard the gospel? How can Jesus be the Redeemer of the world if very few people have heard of him? A 10-year-old Primary child who has been taught by his parents with help from his teachers at church can tell you the answer to this question. There is a universal belief that we will be with our family members after we die. During Queen Elizabeth's funeral, an agnostic broadcaster was saying, "She's back with Philip now." People everywhere have this belief but only one church teaches that families can be forever.
You don't come to this church to be a spectator. It is a laboratory for people who are learning how to be disciples. Test our message. Learn about it and pray about it.
Next he spoke to the members. A temple will be built soon in Tacoma but a site has not yet been announced. He said, It's much harder to prepare a people for a temple than to build one. He told them to follow two pieces of advice.
1. Instead of saying the word "temple", use the phrase, "House of the Lord."
2. Don't refer to a temple as being small. The size of the building doesn't matter. The ordinances are the same. The focus should be on the pearl not the size of the box it's kept in.
He has looked at all the reports and stats and without fail, the people who live farthest from the temple are the ones who attend the most. When you live close to the temple, you don't have to make a plan to attend, so you don't plan. The book of Helaman says with prosperity and ease, the people did not value Jesus Christ. Because of the ease, the gospel became a part-time hobby. The natural man is an enemy to God. The natural man doesn't want to change. We want to stay the same.
He suggested that in a few years, there will be 35-50 temple dedications every year. The 12 Apostles do dedications and VIP tours. Recently Elder Bednar was doing a VIP tour for a group of pastors. One of the pastors stopped him and asked, What is this phrase you keep using, "the atonement of Jesus Christ?" The pastor didn't understand the phrase although it is a phrase members use all the time. Elder Bednar told him he wasn't surprised since it is only used 1x in the New Testament but 39 times in the Book of Mormon. He explained, the atonement of Jesus Christ is the Savior's payment of a debt he did not owe as a payment for a debt we could not pay.
Everyone will die which is a consequence of the fall of Adam. Spiritual death also happened. We don't have to do anything to overcome physical death. We are all returning back to God for judgment. We can't earn the eternal reward. We depend on Jesus Christ to transform us. Elder Bednar said, I have met the most amazing people. Some have been betrayed by a spouse. They have forgiven that spouse because of the Savior's grace. There is no restriction on the grace Christ offers. It is for every single person. You need to soften your heart and let that reassurance come in. That's why God sent His Son.
In 3rd Nephi, at the house of the Lord, 2500 people came up one by one to feel the wounds in His hands and feet. Everybody had a chance. You can't go through the motions. The doctrine of Christ energizes us and it becomes the focus of our lives.
Taking the bread and water each week as part of the sacrament is not what cleanses us. It is turning to God that cleanses us. We do that through his strength and help. When you build on bedrock, you have to use anchor bolts and wires. Christ is the Rock we build on and we have to anchor our lives to Him.
In Matthew 4, Jesus was tempted three times but there was really only one temptation and that was to be selfish (to be a natural man.) Turn the rocks to bread for me. Etc. The natural man is selfish. Christ knew who He was. No earthly identity could help Him or help us. Angels came to help him and he sent them to minister to John. He turned outward. He was betrayed by Judas and weak from bleeding and suffering but, after Peter cut off the guard's ear, he healed the guard.
We sang "Let Us All Press On" for our closing hymn and he encouraged us to sing it with our souls--as you press forward living the gospel, you will each know you are one.
It was wonderful and I was really glad to be there.
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