Countdown to Conference - Day 1

Uplifted By Conference

by:   Michael Young, Tenor

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir

General conference always makes me feel especially grateful, particularly when I see the Lord’s tender mercies throughout the weekend. Right before we started the first session, one of the brethren sitting nearby said words I needed to hear about a problem I was facing and bore his testimony to me in very simple yet profound words. It set the tone for the rest of the conference.

In this opening session, the way the music and talks worked together to strengthen each other struck me. Elder David A. Bednar talked about blessings we sometimes overlook that come from the law of tithing, which worked hand in hand with the words of our song “Keep the Commandments.”  In this arrangement, we used the traditional first verse found in the hymnbook and then a second verse, which is not. It was written by the original author at a time in which she was experiencing a great trial in her life.

Afterward, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf spoke about the faithful and those who have left the Church, pleading for them to find their faith again. The words to our song “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come” could not have been more appropriate.

I left the session feeling spiritually renewed and more hopeful than I have been in a long time. I needed the reminder that the trials of life are a test to see if I will be true to the precious things I know. I needed a reminder that though the wheat and tares grow together for a while, God will soon come and take the righteous home to live with Him. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to be included when that day comes.

Click on the link below or if you have trouble opening it, copy and paste it into your browser. Enjoy listening to the beautiful music from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVIsS243854