This weekend was our church's 181st Semiannual General Conference. As I watched the two sessions on Saturday and two more sessions on Sunday, I thought how lucky we are for the technology that brings the messages of President Monson and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and other church leaders into our home where we can watch on our T.V. as they speak from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City.
I thought about my parents who moved to South Dakota in the fall of 1931 and never did have this technology all the years they lived in South Dakota. I don't know whether KSL radio became an option for them to hear conference; but they may have had access to the talks in The Improvement Era, the church magazine they received each month (which was replaced by the Ensign in 1970).
[I read that KSL, Utah's oldest radio station, had as its first broadcast a talk given by President Heber J. Grant on May 6, 1922. By 1932, its power boosts had reached its current 55,000 watts for daytime broadcast power; but although KSL's AM signal currently can be heard in much of western North America at night, during the day it is heard mostly in Utah. By 1947, they had FM radio; but it was limited to a format of beautiful music at that time. I do seem to have a memory as a little girl of listening to the KSL radio broadcast about President Grant's death in 1945.]
Not only do we have the option of watching the sessions live over the BYUTV channel, but they are also available online on the computer. The broadcast could also be seen in the chapel at Rosebud via a satellite feed for those who wanted to watch there. Audio, text, and video versions are made available online as well as updates on Facebook and related tweets on Twitter using the hashtag #LDSConf.
Then, next month we will have access to all the talks published in the Ensign. There is no excuse for not knowing what the Lord wants us to hear and do.
I enjoyed the music provided by the Tabernacle Choir and also on Saturday afternoon the music provided by a choir of Primary children.
We are always eager to hear if there will be new temples announced, and it was interesting to learn that the historic Provo Tabernacle that had a fire in 2010 leaving only the outside walls standing will be restored as a temple. There will be a temple built in Star Valley, Wyoming; and the other temples announced will be in Paris, France; Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa; Durban, South Africa, and Barranquilla, Columbia. Not one in Rapid City yet, but hopefully some day.
There are currently 135 temples operating worldwide, and there are 31 more announced or under construction.
President Monson was a little late arriving to the first session of conference on Saturday morning. In the closing prayer, Sister Monson's health was mentioned; so I wonder if her health was the reason for his delay. When President Monson came to the podium to speak halfway through the morning session, he offered welcoming remarks and began by giving a cheerful "hello."
In his remarks on Sunday afternoon, President Monson ended with these comforting thoughts: "I bear my testimony to you that this work is true, that our Savior lives, and that He guides and directs His church here upon the earth. I leave you with my witness and my testimony that God our Eternal Father lives and loves us. He is indeed our Father, and He is personal and real. May we realize and understand how close to us He is willing to come, how far He is willing to go to help us, how much He loves us and how much He does and is willing to do for us."
We also enjoyed having Brad and Todd Hicks here this weekend, as they had come to go bow hunting for deer. They left Monday before noon without getting a deer yet, but they will return later this month to try again. There are a lot of deer here and they could have gotten a doe, but they would rather wait for a buck.
The weather has been very hot the last few days, which is unusual for this time of the year. It was 94 degrees on Sunday, but we stayed cool inside. I have been making salsa with tomatoes, peppers, and onions from the garden and put another seven quart-size packages in the freezer today.
Another batch of salsa.
Ready for the freezer.
Yesterday, they finished combining the sunflower field east of the house that had been sprayed to "kill" the plants, so they now have two fields harvested; but the rest of the sunflowers are too green yet to combine until we get a freeze. Yesterday afternoon, Sam started combining soybeans. They have about 400 or 500 acres of wheat yet to plant.
