Sunday, 1 April 2018

WOW!! What a fun, historic conference! New apostles, solemn assembly, general authorities from across the earth, priesthood reorganization, change from HT/VT to ministering, and seven new temples, all to hasten the work. Elder Cook laid out the three keys of priesthood authority and power that include missionary work, sanctifying the saints, and temple sealing ordinances. Think of the major changes to hasten the work in each of those areas in just the last few years: (1) Preach My Gospel from rot presentation to personal conviction and testimony, (2) lowering the age of missionary service, (3) temples dotting the earth, (4) expanding youth participation and service in the baptistry of temples, (5) advances in family history technology and indexing, (6) reorganizing Melchizedek Priesthood quorums, (7) unifying men and women to minister to the saints instead of merely HT or VT, and more.
     In our fellowship meeting last Tuesday evening at the Presidio, we asked each person to express what they hoped to get out of conference. Some spoke of feeling somewhat directionless and in need of guidance. Others spoke of needing to feel the Spirit more in their lives. One sister said that for the first time in a long time she was viewing conference through different eyes that were less sinister and oppositional. She has become more humble, meek, and recognizes her need for truth. We feel so privileged to minister among these young single adults and be a source of example, counsel, and strength to them. It is exactly what I hoped and felt our mission would be. We had a single young man from Blanding, UT with us for Sunday morning session and lunch, then, I took him back to the barracks. Nice to interact with these young people.
     We attended the winter graduation ceremony at Naval Postgraduate School on Friday to honor and celebrate three of our LDS members who were graduating with Masters degrees in various areas of research. The Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Robert L. Woods) was the keynote speaker. He gave remarkable counsel to the graduates regarding resiliency and service. It almost sounded like it was coming from an LDS speaker. It was noted that the NPS exceeded all other institutions of higher learning, including Harvard and other schools in specialized areas of education. Afterwards, we presented each of the graduates with an LDS honor coin called "Put on the Whole Armor of God" as recognition for their achievements. I've included photos of families, YSA fellowship group, chaplains, and other things.