Caribbean Regional Conference

The Caribbean was blessed to have President Henry B. Eyring, Elder David A. Bednar, Elder Neal Anderson of the Presidency of the Seventy and Sylvia Allred of the Relief Society Presidency here in person. They went to Kingston, Jamaica and held the conference in the Spanish Town building where it was broadcast to the 50 Stake/District centers in the 6 languages used here. There are 30 islands and three countries on the South American continent with over 160,000 members here.
We were able to see it in the home of the temple president in English and wives could come to the priesthood session as well. I love it when church is in English. I understood everything the brethern and Sister Allred said but I admit I didn't understand all that was said by the Jamaican brothers asking questions in the priesthood session.

I thought it was better than excellent so I am going to share a few of the notes I took. The Saturday night session was an hour and a half of questions that were answered by the leaders above. They took every question that was asked. What would you have asked a member of the first presidency or an apostle?

Here is my version of a few of the questions:

Q. Why doesn't the church tell our story more effectively through the media?
A. We are trying to do so but we will not be able to get everyone to understand the way we would like them to.

Q. When will all of the Christian churches teach the same doctrine?
A. Never

Q. What does the Lord want Jamaica to do?
A. Be a great example to the few people that you know. Increase your faith. Faith is a principle of action and power. You do not learn spiritual things from what someone says. We learn from the Holy Ghost as we act in accord with truth.

Q. How do we meet the demands of our responsibilities and keep things in balance?
A. Family comes first. Pray with your spouse. Keep out impure thoughts. Take time to ponder and pray. Seek revelation. Be kind.

Q. How do we avoid discouragement when we do not yet have the status of a stake?
A. Describe the dream differently. There is nothing magic about being a stake or having a temple. The object is not a program or an organization. The goal is one more individual, one more family living worthy of the blessings Heavenly Father wants for all of his children.

Q. What is the Priesthood?
A. It is service, it is exercised by serving others. The priesthood can never be used to benefit oneself. We are personally responsible to care for those we are called to serve. We are personally responsible for those we fail to care for that we are called to serve.

Q. Do you have counsel for the current financial crisis?
A. It is and will be the same counsel you have heard for years. Be very careful of debt. We also need to help each other. Be kind. Be generous. Don't become discouraged. God is very aware of each of us and our needs.

Q. How can we help others?
A. The Lord works one by one. Extend invitations. All answers come through the Holy Ghost. The reason the Lord wants us to be united is that it improves our ability to receive revelation and to work together to accomplish good things. Never infringe on someones agency. Be patient. The Lord is always patient with us. He never gives up.

This is the Spanish Town chapel in Jamaica where the conference was held. They put up a huge tent in the parking lot to hold more people as well. See Grandpa in the center of the photo?

Today in the Sunday session, President Johnson, our Area President told of an experience his family had thirty years ago. They had a big problem with contention in their home. Especially between a 12 year old son and an 8 year old daughter. They couldn't get along and the whole family would get involved in the conflicts. They tried everything they could think of to fix the problem and nothing seemed to work. Sister Johnson (her name is LeAnn) decided that they would begin reading the Book of Mormon every morning to at least have some positive to balance the negative. They persevered and it became an important part of the culture of their home. Five years later, when the oldest was 17, he gave a talk in church about their family's practice of reading the scriptures together. He read the quote by President Romney about how "contention will cease" and said that his family had experienced that. The parents looked at each other and realized that it was true. They had been blessed with everything listed in that quotation.

We learned that Sister Allred's husband had been the president of the MTC here in Santo Domingo. She related the story of the people of King Benjamin who made a covenant in response to his famous talk in Mosiah chapters 2-4. In chapter 26 we learn that those who had been small children during the talk were now rejecting the faith of their parents. In order to avoid that sad situation she recommended the principles taught in Proclamation on the Family and the practice of daily family prayers and scripture reading.

Elder Anderson said that when he left Utah on Friday and arrived in Jamaica he felt like he had reversed the journey of Adam and Eve. He said he felt like he landed in the Garden of Eden. He pointed out that no matter how different our life circumstances are we all have similar challenges. He said that he likes to choose a person he thinks is a great example of a particular quality he would like to develop in his own life. He told us about the qualities of faith, diligence and patience. My favorite statement in this talk was that "faith looks forward".

Elder Bednar gave a masterful discourse. I couldn't scribble fast enough to do justice but I learned that we often separate testimony and conversion. He said that testimony can and should lead to conversion and we are never finished with the process. Testimony is a personal knowledge of truth but until we have gone through the process of a change of heart, becoming a new creature, until we "offer our whole soul" we are still working on our own conversion. He reminded us that testimony is not enough to survive the storm coming in our direction. Many with testimonies, people with both spiritual witnesses and resolve did not measure up to their challenges in the past. We do not want to fall and must press forward along the path of conversion. A testimony is not enough.

President Eyring said he wanted to remind us of some important things that will give us confidence along our present journey. He reminded us that we lived with our Father before we came here. We knew his voice and his love. We have already made hard choices before we came here. We rejected the rebellious and followed Jesus Christ. We can do so here in this life as well. We need to remember to 1. be clean, 2. be diligent and 3. be prayerful. We need to be clean in order to hear the Holy Ghost. We need to be diligent and do it now. We must not delay. There is urgency. Do not run faster than you have strength but look to the Lord as our example. President Eyring reminded us that the scriptures teach that prayer is important so we will not faint or be overcome. Without God's help, we will be overcome. We need to ask for help, plead for help. It could be that a prayer at the moment of crisis will be too late. Prayer is more fervent when we pray for others. President Eyring asked us to act now as we will act when we are with our families in the presence of Heavenly Father.

I love that last image. I hope I can be happy and grateful and good for each of you and for all of our Father's children.

Love, Mom, Grandma, Jeri