A group of senior missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving in the Australia Melbourne Mission, gathered recently to talk about General Conference.
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Melbourne senior missionaries in the mission home with President Paul Thomas and Sister Nadene Thomas, right © 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.General Conference is a twice-yearly global gathering of followers of Jesus Christ over a weekend in early April and another weekend in early October.
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Ned and Linda Smith, Senior missionaries serving in Member Leader Support in the Australia Melbourne Mission© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Many past General Conference talks have left lasting impressions on these missionaries, have strengthened their faith in Jesus Christ, and are still meaningful in their lives.
Sister Linda Smith recalls when, during the last weeks of Elder Bruce R. McConkie’s life, he spoke of Jesus Christ and The Purifying Power of Gethsemane.
As one of Jesus Christ’s modern-day apostles, Elder McConkie bore this powerful testimony, “I am one of His witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in His hands and in His feet and shall wet His feet with my tears. But I shall not know any better then, than I know now, that He is God’s Almighty Son, that He is our Saviour and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through His atoning blood and in no other way.”
Sister Smith felt the power of those words and knew that Elder McConkie knew the Saviour in a personal way.
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Sister Rebecca Bryant, Member Leader Support Missionary at the Melbourne Temple© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.As a college student in the late 1970s, Sister Rebecca Bryant waited in line for General Conference with roommates, but the Tabernacle, in Salt Lake City, United States, was filled.
“We were outside on the grass in the sun,” she said. “I remember Elder Mark E Petersen’s voice booming from the speakers, saying that the law of honouring The Sabbath Day is one of the most important laws to obey in the entire gospel plan. In his large voice, he boomed, ‘How dare we trifle with the Sabbath day? How dare we trifle with Almighty God?’ I’ve wanted to keep the Sabbath ever since.”
Sister Debra Pace remembers a talk by President Ezra Taft Benson in 1988 on Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon. In it, he said, “We have a great work to perform in a very short time. We must flood the earth with the Book of Mormon… to gather out [His] elect. This sacred volume of scripture needs to become more central in our preaching, our teaching, and our missionary work…. “
“After hearing this talk,” she recalls, “I had a distinct impression that I needed to share The Book of Mormon with my 40 dance students in Iowa City. So, I did.”
My husband finished school a short time later and we moved out of state. I don’t know what came of that experience, but I felt that I had done the right thing in following our prophet, and it gave me the courage to share The Book of Mormon more freely in the future.”
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Bart and Debra Pace, senior missionaries in Melbourne Australia, serving in Church Communications© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Sister Denise Black remembers, “After the passing of my husband in April of 2021, the conference talk, "Is There No Balm in Gilead?" by Elder Brent H. Nielson helped to heal my broken heart and answer the question of why my husband had not been healed.”
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Sister Denise Black, left, Australia Melbourne Missionary serving in Member Leader Support. Also pictured, Sister and Elder Rumsey, Elder Smith, and Elder Wieland© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.“I wondered,” she continued, “why some families receive a miracle but not my family? Had my family's faith not been strong enough? Elder Nielson's family had their faith tested as well, when as a college student his father had been diagnosed with cancer. Despite much fasting and prayer, his father died.”
“Elder Nielson related how an aromatic spice or ointment grows from a bush in Gilead, and the ointment came to be known as the ‘balm of Gilead.’ The Saviour is referred to as the ‘balm of Gilead’ because of His remarkable healing power. The life lesson Elder Nielson shared through his talk was that Christ has the ability to lift us through difficult times. If the object of my faith is Jesus Christ, His Atonement will bring healing to my soul and wounded heart. The balm of Gilead has been at work in my life, and my faith in my Saviour has been strengthened.”
Sister Black continues, “Elder Nielson also included the story of the feeding of the 5,000—how five loaves and two fishes not only fed the 5,000 but that 12 baskets full of leftovers were gathered. The Saviour took the time to have His disciples gather the leftovers to show that His grace is sufficient for all men and there are leftovers. I felt great comfort in reading this talk numerous times to help me cheerfully submit my will to the Saviour's will at a very difficult time in my life.”
These, and other previous Conference talks can be accessed anytime at General Conference (churchofjesuschrist.org).
Click here to see ways to watch or listen to General Conference from 6-7 April 2024.
