Latter-day Saint Life

3 Things I Got Out of General Conference as a Non-Latter-day Saint

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Last fall, I listened to messages given by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during general conference and wrote a piece giving my thoughts on what non-Latter-day Saints, like myself, could learn from, appreciate, and apply to their lives.

With this past weekend's general conference, I decided to once again listen. As I mentioned in my last piece, I'm not looking to convert or expect some spiritual awakening when I hear a religious leader like President Russell M. Nelson, Pope Francis, or the Dalai Lama speak.

For me and many non-Latter-day Saints, we just want to hear something we can relate to and appreciate.

Here are three things that caught my attention this past weekend:

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“Blessings from heaven are neither earned by frenetically accruing ‘good deed coupons,’ nor by helplessly waiting to see if we win the blessing lottery. “You do not earn a blessing; that notion is false, but you do have to qualify for it.” —Elder Dale G. Renlund, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

While most of us do good deeds because they come from the heart, there may be some who occasionally think a blessing or good karma will come to them because of the good deeds done.

This is not the way it works.

Story by  Xoel Cardenas, lead image by Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News.
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