I've recovered from my illness and I've had a chance to listen to Conference. What did I think?
More than anything else, the topic of addiction was mentioned over and over again. Rarely was it the main focus, but it kept coming up. And not just addiction, but addiction to pornography. Sister Reeves gave a particularly heartfelt plea for us to protect ourselves from its evil influences. While she was the only one that focused her entire talk on the subject, there were multiple speakers each session to bring it up. The clear message: if you aren't already protecting yourself against addiction, particularly to pornography, take steps to ensure your safety.
In addition to addiction, I noticed lots of talks about standing up for one's beliefs. Some were about defending the Church, while others were about being true to our testimonies in Jesus Christ, but they all encouraged us to be faithful members. However, I am left confused by Elder Ballard's message about using the Church's full name when identifying both the Church as an institution and our membership to it. I'm not confused by his words, but how they compare to the big ad push the Church has done with the "I'm a Mormon" campaign. For over a decade, I've been avoiding the M word unless talking about the Book or the prophet, but I'd recently given in since the Church leaders seemed to have changed their position. Now Elder Ballard confirms that, nope, it hasn't changed. Can someone help me make sense of this?
Finally, it seemed like there were more talks than usual that focused on the Savior. There are always at least a couple, but it seemed like that number went up this year. Apparently, we need to be reminded who's name we've taken upon us.
That's my take. What stood out to you?
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