I love General Conference!

I took some time yesterday and rewatched some of the talks again from General Conference. I love General Conference so much...and not just because I don't have to get the kids ready and go to church, although that is nice too. The talks are so uplifting and inspiring. After listening, they make me want to be a better person and be more obedient. I am so happy I have the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for a living prophet who teaches me and leads me. I love President Hinckley and I wish he would live forever!

One of my favorite talks was by Elder Spencer J. Condie. He talked about the generous and wonderful blessings the Lord has promised us when we do what He says.

In these latter days, the Lord revealed that “when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (D&C 130:21). The Lord makes generous promises, and He certifies that He will not vary from these promises, for, said He, “I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise” (D&C 82:10).

The Lord’s countless exceeding great and precious promises include forgiveness of our sins when we “confess them and forsake them” (D&C 58:43; see also D&C 1:32). Opening the windows of heaven is a promise claimed by those who pay a faithful tithe (see Malachi 3:10), and finding “great treasures of knowledge” accrues to those who observe the Word of Wisdom (D&C 89:19).

Becoming unspotted from the world is a promise to those who keep the Sabbath holy (see D&C 59:9; Exodus 31:13). Divine guidance and inspiration are promised to those who “feast upon the words of Christ” (2 Nephi 32:3) and who “liken all scriptures” unto themselves (1 Nephi 19:23).

The Lord also promised that “whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you” (3 Nephi 18:20). We are promised that the Holy Ghost will be our constant companion when we “let virtue garnish [our] thoughts unceasingly” (see D&C 121:45–46). We can claim the spiritually liberating promise of fasting, which will “loose the bands of wickedness,” undo our “heavy burdens,” and “break every yoke” (Isaiah 58:6).

Those who are sealed in holy temples and who faithfully keep their covenants will receive God’s glory, which “shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever” (D&C 132:19).

Sometimes, in our earthly impatience, we may lose sight of the Lord’s precious promises and disconnect our obedience from the fulfillment of these promises. The Lord has declared:

“Who am I, saith the Lord, that have promised and have not fulfilled?

“I command and men obey not; I revoke and they receive not the blessing.

“Then they say in their hearts: This is not the work of the Lord, for his promises are not fulfilled. But wo unto such, for their reward lurketh beneath, and not from above” (D&C 58:31–33).

Elder Condie then recounts the story of Isaac's son Jacob and his marriage to Rachel. Rachel so desperately wanted children and thought that God had forgotten His promise to her that her seed would be multiplied. But the Lord is "long-suffering" toward us. He does not forget. And then my favorite part: "And God Remembered Rachel" (Genesis 30:22). Elder Condie ends with: "When heaven’s promises sometimes seem afar off, I pray that each of us will embrace these exceeding great and precious promises and never let go. And just as God remembered Rachel, God will remember you."

I have at times in my life felt like the Lord had temporarily forgotten about me, but it was not His forgetting, it was mine. I must do my part to claim the promises and blessings He will bestow.