Welcome to Closer to Christ, our general conference.
We're just two friends sharing our own approach to studying general conference.
This is Abby and Amy, and we're so glad that you guys joined us today.
Yeah, welcome.
We're happy you're here.
We've got some feedback that we don't sound like ourselves.
We are really going to try our hardest to be a little more authentic, but if you ever
sat in front of a microphone and tried to record yourself and then had to listen to
it back, you would know the pain that this causes us.
There's a little bit of voice coaching on the side and you have all these different
thoughts in your mind.
So with that, we'll jump into this awesome talk.
This was an awesome talk.
Did I mention what we were going to go over today?
I don't think I did.
We are going to be going over Elder Brent H. Nielsen's talk called A Record of What
I Have Both Seen and Heard.
Did you love this as much as I loved it?
It was so good.
There was so much in it and there were specific things that jumped out to me that I just loved.
Okay.
Hopefully you are ready to share because I think you should take it.
Should I kind of open with a preface of what the gist of the talk was?
Go for it.
Maybe I would start a really cited lesson that way.
I'd open it by saying his background is he's a lawyer and he obviously the words testimony
and witness were common to his profession and then as he got set apart in this special
calling, he thought, hey, that's the same words that I am accustomed to using in my
work life.
So for me, I love that he, like who loves the law, right?
That's not the most favorite thing to talk about.
And then I'm like, boom, he switched it and we're talking about Jesus Christ and being
a witness of him and making a record or testimony of the things that we know about Jesus Christ.
So in the first paragraph, he got me there.
And this is the end of his service, right?
He's an emeritus now at the end of this conference.
And so what a neat opportunity to be able to put down for himself and for his posterity
that he'll be able to look back at this and kind of see the whole spectrum of the places
they've traveled to, the people that they've seen, the growth of the church.
And he kept saying things like, there's never been a better time to be a member of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Every time you'd say that, like I kind of got a little bit emotional, like, I agree.
People want you to think that's not true.
And I'm like, no, that it's not the best time.
I'm like, no, that resonated.
It's always the best time.
Whenever you're alive, wherever you are, it's the best time.
Oh, absolutely.
It did.
So with that being said, is there something, as he was talking, you're like, that's for
me right now?
There were a couple of things.
I did love that he kept saying that he was a witness of God's work across the world.
And he said it in so many different ways.
I love the numbers that he used.
It was a perfect witness.
Like if you're a numbers person that you're like, oh, yeah, well, he had to memorize how
many?
Thirteen temples?
Fifteen.
Fifteen temples to graduate seminary.
And then it went to 335.
Right.
And then if you're like an emotional filler or whatever, then he talks about the spirit
and the feeling that the members are having.
Exactly.
So yeah, it covered.
It was a good record.
It was a great record.
It was nice and robust.
What really came to my mind was I loved when he said his friends and family search.
I love family search.
I used to be a missionary for Sam for family search.
And he said, if you didn't find your ancestor yesterday, I invite you to look again tomorrow.
That is so true.
A million names are added a day.
Didn't they get a laugh in the crowd?
If I listen, I think everybody is like, that's pretty funny.
Yeah, they're probably really surprised.
But really, honestly, there's so much to be done with family history work.
And if you're sailing along on that, my aunt Mildred has done everything in my work, done
back to Adam, that's not going to hold any water because there's more to it than that.
It doesn't absolve you from getting to know your people.
And it's so easy now.
That's the thing.
It doesn't take effort.
It doesn't take books.
It doesn't take microfiche.
All the things that used to be done in the past.
Flying to Germany.
Right?
Yeah.
For the senses, all those things like you literally can tap on memories and start reading
a story as simple as that.
Tap on memories and write your own memory.
You can do that too.
You did this, you were Young Women's President.
Wasn't it you that implemented in your ward, like the family search moment or something?
We did before we started.
Talk about that a little because I wasn't in Young Women's at the time.
So I was over the laurels or the older class.
And what we would do is just for the first, you know, because we have an hour, an entire
hour.
So for the first 10 minutes or so, I would just have like a different thing that we would
do.
I'd let them get to know the phone, you know, the menu bar on the bottom.
When I say the phone, I mean the app.
They either had an iPad or they had their phone.
And so they had the family tree app, which is the white with the with the tree on it.
That's what the icon is.
And yeah, we would just go through and sometimes I would say, Kate, all I want you to do today
is just go through and find a story about one of your ancestors.
I said, it's easier to start closer, like with a grandma or great grandma, because you're
most likely to find something there.
I wanted them to have success, you know.
So then they would do that and I would just walk around, you know, the table that we were
sitting at and just ask, hey, what have you found?
And they would be like, oh my gosh, I had no idea that she lived in XYZ.
I had no idea that, you know, she wore glasses or whatever it was.
And it was just fun to do that.
Then also one time I just had him tap on the memories tab and we did a voice recording
and I had him go different places and I said, just record what how you feel about Jesus
right now today.
And so it was as simple as that.
Maybe they go home and then they grab that memory off of their mother, their father,
and they can record that from their app.
It's a little hard because like when you're still a living ancestor, it's hard for me
to know where's the most appropriate to upload that.
Like ideally, if I have my mom upload it herself, then it goes to all of her living children.
We don't have to wait, you know, till that record passes.
I don't want to say that, but yeah, that's a long time down the road for me.
That impacted me because Adam and I did a church history tour and like I would get some
people saying like, I know that I'm supposed to be doing family history, but it's overwhelming
and where to start.
And because you were doing that in a small and simple way, literally you can get into
the family search stuff and they've made it so easy to record these important things.
And I would just show them, I'm like, memories, you can download this special app.
This is for memories or read a story about your ancestor.
And I helped them see that family history doesn't have to look like cases and cases
of searching and pondering, pouring over these hard things.
It can be so simple and like a one or two minute thing in your day.
Oh yeah.
Like I used to, when I was making dinner, I would say to one of my kids, Hey, jump on
family search and find a story of one of our ancestors and share it during, during dinner.
And they got so good at it.
Like it's so cute.
Also, parents, I would say, if you don't know how to do it, go ask your kids, say, Hey,
here's my phone.
Show me how to put a picture on it.
And it'll be tap, tap, tap done.
It's just, it's just so simple.
That is one of the, in one of the roots texts I was at, I think it was 28, 2019.
One of the brethren held up the phone and he said this, the family tree app is what
technology looks like when it's fulfilling the measure of its creation.
And I loved it.
Oh, that is so good.
There was something else I was going to say, but, Oh, I was going to say this is an addiction.
Family, family history.
It could be.
Yeah.
I just, like, just a little warning.
I'm going to start with like a minute or two, but if you tap in, if your ancestors know
that you're available and willing to, to record for them or to be looking into these stories,
you will get sucked in.
You'll be a magnet.
Yes.
And that is awesome piece of gathering Israel on the other side of the veil.
It is.
Did you, do you feel like you've covered what you wanted to on the family search?
I think that was beautiful.
What about the power of reading stories from our ancestors?
Love it.
You're extra good at that.
There's a, there's kind of an easier way to do that with the family search app.
Like you, I go into the fan mode and then you can say, I'm specifically looking for
stories.
Of this great grandma.
Yeah.
My sister, my oldest sister, she's involved with, that's her calling family, family history
stuff.
And she's, I think it was through her, but she's kind of encouraged us as the kids are
asked to give talks in primary and stuff.
But she recently, she's like pulled her information from, from our family search and made that
story like Nephi is awesome.
And then how is this ancestor, does that ancestor remind us of Nephi?
And then she'll, she'll share it with us and she'd be like, Hey, so and so did this talk
in church.
So I'm able to share it with my kids and then lo and behold in the next week or two, it's
time for them to give a talk.
And then it's about their ancestor because all of these things work for the good.
But when we make connections with our ancestors, then we can have their presence more in our
lives.
Absolutely.
We can kind of see a little bit more of where, like where our little pieces and parts have
come from.
And on whose shoulders we stand, like we owe them a lot.
I appreciate too, the stuff that they write down usually is like a nice succinct.
If you're recording a life story, especially for members of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, I feel like the highlights of the story kind of lead with, with maybe
the ordinances that they had or like ways that they've seen God's hand in their life.
Like oh yeah, I've got this day one app and some of it's frivolous and it's just like,
you know, school went good today.
The kids did this and that and this is special.
But I also have, I also have some, when I look for key dates, like I thought, well,
what did I record in my journal about conference?
So it's like an online journal?
It's an, yeah, it's online.
This one, this one's kind of having a hard time formatting with like the newer Apple
things, but I've just recently updated it.
We've used it on and off.
I've already told you I'm terrible at journal keeping, but this kind of works for the person
that hates their handwriting or to sit in front of a computer.
And I'm pretty good at taking a photo of my kids in a moment.
In a couple minutes.
I'm not going to like sit down and like journal about it right then, but I can literally go
back.
I can go back into the photo shoot and be like, oh, that was actually an important day.
Like after some time's passed, I'm like, that was something important.
I can figure out that day.
I can put it into day one app, re-change the date and then put my feelings about why I
thought that was special.
So as I was listening to this talk, I was impressed to think, he's in a special witness
and he's told me in the spirit has confirmed to me I can be a special witness of Jesus Christ.
My area of coverage is way different.
Like it's not the worldwide church.
I do have vision of what my husband and I want to accomplish.
Like we want to serve missions and we want to go wherever the Lord wants us and that
may take us like next door.
Like we might be in California.
Maybe we'll be in Africa.
I'm not exactly sure what that's going to look like.
I can't really anticipate that, but I know his perspective is different because of where
they've been called to and they're able to go to.
But that doesn't make what my ability is in my little area right now.
Yes.
In your sphere of influence.
Exactly.
So I'm like, what lessons am I learning?
What things can I do to be a special witness right now?
Are you going to share one of your entries?
Maybe.
Well, I did do a quick look at my entries.
This is more, I was thinking to be a special witness, if I make a journal entry, that might
just be for myself.
That might be for my future self when I'm like struggling with something.
If I have like some keywords and I can like do a search through my journal for, you know,
I could make an index of things to search for like Jesus Christ or testimony or trials
or something.
I could look back and reflect on my own words and then testify to myself for a time that
it's like needed and necessary.
And through all those years.
Right.
Like it's kind of like a snapshot of that.
But if I am posting on social media, then I'm special witness to like my sphere of friends.
And if I'm bearing testimony in church, you know, that's my ward congregation.
It's a podcast that does reach like a larger audience around the world that we get to beat.
We get to testify of Jesus Christ in that way.
So I did do a quick search as I was impressed to think, what am I taking time to record?
What have I mentioned about General Conference?
And I found one from October 3rd, 2015.
And I said, we sustained three new apostles today and I have no doubt that they are true
messengers of God.
I love conference.
I remember how I used to think it dragged out and I hated conference weekends, but now
I crave it.
The messages are so timely and invigorate me and help me know what I need to improve
my life.
There's a lot.
I'm going to need to study these words over the next few months for sure.
When I read that to Amy, she's like, man, that sounds like a 10 years in the making
for what this podcast would be.
Right.
I recognize the word the timely messages.
And I didn't even know I wrote this 10 years ago, but that that would resurface and then
I'd be able to look back on that was awesome.
So good.
I think probably that's all I need to share from my journal because there's nothing extra
special, it's special to me, but it's just great though.
Like you said, it's a little snapshot of time.
And the fact that that was almost 10 years ago, that's young, young mother, Abby.
Yeah.
And to say that you crave conference, like that's a big deal.
It's awesome.
I did.
At that point, I really needed it.
I definitely needed it.
So, okay.
One of the things I was thinking of is he is I'm thinking, okay, so the first one is
we can read about our ancestors.
We can learn about them.
The other one is we can record our own dealings with God.
I was looking back and, you know, he kept saying, you know, things that you have both
seen and heard, or you could say experienced.
When you've done that, it's not easily taken away.
But I say like, not easily because I feel like the adversary does try to take it away.
He would love nothing more than for us to forget our dealings with God.
And I was thinking of the people in Third Nephi who, how is it that they were actually,
you know, a little while later thinking, did we actually witness the sun not setting?
And they totally started to believe it, that they hadn't seen it.
That's pretty amazing.
So, I feel like the Lord does bless us with opportunities to see his hand in our lives.
And if we take the opportunity to write it down and make a record of it, then it will
not be taken from us.
It won't be taken from us.
So that, like you were saying, for our future selves, we can look back and it won't be taken
from our posterity.
That will be written or recorded in our voice, whatever it is.
And that will be something that will carry us through.
So I love that part.
Host, I love it too, and not to negate anything that you're saying.
What's important for me, what impressed me when you just said that was, it was like multiple
generations after, the people that actually witnessed it.
You were a baby when those miracles happened, and then you were counting on your ancestors
to tell you the story that Jesus came.
That's us.
We weren't there when Jesus came, but we have the opportunity to look at testimony of that
happening or not.
But what stood out to me was what I have seen and heard, so that it's within each of us
to ask for that witness for what we see and we hear.
So how do you see Jesus when He's not physically walking with us right now?
Oh, wow.
I see Him in the sunsets.
I see Him in the birds that fly by my house.
I see Him in the river that ebbs and flows.
Like I know what that word means now.
I see Him in spring.
I see Him everywhere.
And that's just in nature.
I see Him in just strengthening me in my day to day.
Like He truly is everywhere for me.
And then how have you heard Him?
Through the prophets.
I would say prophets words.
Through conference.
Yeah, and scripture.
Sometimes when I pray and ask a question that I'm kind of worried about or working on, it'll
come from a friend.
Like Abby will say, hey, such and such and such.
I'm like, oh my gosh, that was an answer to my prayer.
So sometimes I hear it through other people who are listening to the Spirit.
But you're maybe asking for that witness for yourself, and then it's given to you in whatever
piece or way.
Absolutely.
And I recognize.
That's what, when I just wanted to clarify what I'm saying is, I have both seen and heard,
and these are the things I'm willing to witness of.
What I wanted to say is that that can happen.
That can be our blessing.
That can be our witness.
In this day and age, we have every right and ability to know for ourselves.
It's great if your ancestors have that story, and that will maybe open your eyes to, you
know, what do we need to do to grow our testimony?
But then it needs to be your own.
I think that's what those words are saying to me.
I agree.
I understand what you're saying.
That it's not, grandma has both seen and heard, and so trust grandma.
What I'm hearing is, I have both seen and heard, and that we can each make that own
declaration or statement for ourselves.
I love that you said that, Abby, because as I was reading through this for the second
time, I had the thought of, you know, sometimes we stand back because we think, well, someone
else has already written about, maybe it's a specific thing, like let's say, you know,
in the Gospels, what if only one person had written about it?
We have multiple…
Accounts.
We have multiple personalities writing, and we have like this talk in, or specifically,
he was an attorney or is an attorney, and so the words that were a special witness, witness
jumped out at him.
Someone else who is an accountant, maybe the numbers will jump out at them.
Whatever it is, my feeling that I got from the Spirit was there cannot be too many accounts.
Ooh, I love that.
We can all be a recorder.
So it sounds like an action item.
Sounds like…
Yeah, right.
So make a record would be an action item, or read a record from Family Tree, and then
if you want to go the extra mile, you can go ahead and record your own record.
My voice.
Yes.
I think those are all good ways to start.
So if you haven't done any one of those things, pick the one that's easiest, just so that
you can see that it's something you can just get on and you can do.
Like I said, not the best journal keeper, but I'm so proud of all of the entries that
I do have record of, and my husband, he's been better at it than me in the past too.
Him recording a piece of our life is just as big of a blessing to me.
I'm like, I don't remember that story.
Or from his perspective, it makes it extra awesome.
Also, I used to tell my mom when she was just starting with the app, the Family Tree app,
I said, set a timer for five minutes.
When five minutes is up, you stand up and you walk away.
Hopefully you have done the thing and you have, you know, it should really only take
two minutes, but if you're frustrated because you can't log in or something like that happens,
take a break, say a prayer, walk away, and then start again tomorrow and do five minutes.
That was another piece too, because you can go to tasks and you can say what's the most
important task to work on, and sometimes the Spirit just leads you to the right one.
And you find somebody that's desperate for you to find them.
That's waiting for you.
Yep.
Because you've shown a willingness, you've sat down to do some record keeping and to
show that you value what's happening in the Family Tree app.
It really means temple covenants and helping your ancestors in that way.
And a million new names a day.
There are a million.
There's more work to be done.
Mildred did not finish it all.
No, she didn't.
All right.
Any last thoughts?
That's it.
We're so happy you were here with us.
We love this.
We'll see you next time.
See you next time.