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| Pittsburgh Stake Presidency From left: Dwight Ferguson, Brennen Murray, Erich Peterson |
The Sunday
morning session of Stake Conference, held on February 23, 2014, was broadcast
from Green Tree, Pennsylvania, to nine buildings throughout the stake, which
encompasses parts of western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Those in
attendance heard a series of heartfelt messages about conversion and this year’s
stake theme: rescue.
President
Ferguson spoke on marriage and family, first discussing the ideal family as
outlined in “The
Family: A Proclamation to the World.” Although we desire the ideal family,
we are imperfect and unideal. No matter what our situation, we should remember
the following two points:
1. We should heed
the commandments, even if we don’t understand them.
2. We should not
harden our hearts.
Christine Robker (Monongahela
Ward) told about being introduced to the Church while in nursing school in
Pittsburgh. “The Gospel of Jesus Christ,” she said, “is lasting nourishment for
the soul.” To avoid “spiritual illness,” we must partake of spiritual
nutrients, specifically the nutrients of prayer and scripture reading. She
particularly suggested that we look up and read the talk “Because
My Father Read the Book of Mormon.”
Jory Bulkley of
the Wheeling Ward joined the Church at age 18. He alluded to the many
challenges he faced when he joined the Church, whether it be through family not
accepting his decision or through not initially finding friends in the Gospel,
and touched on a number of other challenges that people face regularly. In our
trials, we must turn to Christ and his example of love, of not shrinking, and having
faith to be healed (“not my will,
but thine, be done”). He concluded, “Trials will come, but if we let them,
they will consecrate us rather than consume us.”
Anne Martz of the
Pittsburgh Sixth Ward knew of some Mormons in her high school, and she always
observed their behaviors. “People notice you when they know your Mormon,” she
said. She didn’t really start learning about the Church until she was in
college, and, though she was scared when she felt that the Church was good, she
decided to act and be baptized. Though the conversion path is not easy, she
says that “things that are worthwhile take hard work.” She knows that she would
have lived a good, happy life without the gospel, but not as happy as she has
been with it.
President Clint
Topham, the mission president reminded us of the role of the Book of Mormon in
rescue—the Book of Mormon is our most powerful resource. If you want to
approach the Book of Mormon with new eyes, read more about how
missionaries may present the Book of Mormon to someone they’re teaching.
In the final address,
President Murray spoke of three Rs: Rescuing, Remembering, and Repenting.
Particularly on the last point, he shared several quotes form Neal A. Maxwell’s
October 1991 talk, “Repentance,” a talk that is definitely worth reviewing.
In particular, President Murray reflected on the phrase from Christ in 3 Nephi 17:
“Bring them hither,” Christ says of all those who are sick or afflicted. “Bring
them hither and I will heal them.” The people who bring the sick and afflicted
ultimately find themselves at the feet of the Savior, also being healed.
Whether we be sick, or whether we be the ones carrying the sick, there is room for
all of us at the feet of Jesus. As we participate in our stake-wide efforts to
rescue, we will find that healing comes to all who participate.
