Elder Holland is the concluding speaker at the April 2016 General Conference.  He speaks about the spiritual feast that has just been received of the past days.  He shares that the feelings that are had by everyone comes with a desire to sustain these feelings over time but we all have to return to our normal lives in the coming days and that spiritual high will soon fade.

• None of us want tomorrow, or the day after that, to destroy the wonderful feelings we have had this weekend. We want to hold fast to the spiritual impressions we have had and the inspired teachings we have heard. But it is inevitable that after heavenly moments in our lives, we, of necessity, return to earth, so to speak, where sometimes less-than-ideal circumstances again face us.
  

He speaks of the things of life taking place the wonderful feelings that exist while watching conference.  He offers a couple pieces of advise to us.

• Realizing that we all have to come down from peak experiences to deal with the regular vicissitudes of life, may I offer this encouragement as general conference concludes.
  • First of all, if in the days ahead you not only see limitations in those around you but also find elements in your own life that don’t yet measure up to the messages you have heard this weekend, please don’t be cast down in spirit and don’t give up. The gospel, the Church, and these wonderful semiannual gatherings are intended to give hope and inspiration. They are not intended to discourage you. Only the adversary, the enemy of us all, would try to convince us that the ideals outlined in general conference are depressing and unrealistic, that people don’t really improve, that no one really progresses. And why does Lucifer give that speech? Because he knows he can’t improve, he can’t progress, that worlds without end he will never have a bright tomorrow. He is a miserable man bound by eternal limitations, and he wants you to be miserable too. Well, don’t fall for that. With the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the strength of heaven to help us, we can improve, and the great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying, even if we don’t always succeed.  We take some solace in the fact that if God were to reward only the perfectly faithful, He wouldn’t have much of a distribution list.
  • Please remember tomorrow, and all the days after that, that the Lord blesses those who want to improve, who accept the need for commandments and try to keep them, who cherish Christlike virtues and strive to the best of their ability to acquire them. If you stumble in that pursuit, so does everyone; the Savior is there to help you keep going. If you fall, summon His strength. Call out like Alma, “O Jesus, … have mercy on me.” He will help you get back up. He will help you repent, repair, fix whatever you have to fix, and keep going. Soon enough you will have the success you seek.

Elder Holland reminds us of the love that God has for each one of his children.

• The first great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength—that’s the first great commandment. But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength.

He offers these words of encouragement to all of us how sometimes get down, have feelings if inadequacy, or make stupid mistakes along the path of life.

• Now, with that majestic devotion ringing from heaven as the great constant in our lives, manifested most purely and perfectly in the life, death, and Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can escape the consequences of both sin and stupidity—our own or that of others—in whatever form they may come to us in the course of daily living. If we give our heart to God, if we love the Lord Jesus Christ, if we do the best we can to live the gospel, then tomorrow—and every other day—is ultimately going to be magnificent, even if we don’t always recognize it as such. Why? Because our Heavenly Father wants it to be! He wants to bless us. A rewarding, abundant, and eternal life is the very object of His merciful plan for His children! It is a plan predicated on the truth “that all things work together for good to them that love God.” So keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever.
  

He blesses each of us with strength to handle the heavy load when we struggle and reminds us that God blesses us in our time of need.

• Brothers and sisters, may a loving Father in Heaven bless us tomorrow to remember how we felt today. May He bless us to strive with patience and persistence toward the ideals we have heard proclaimed this conference weekend, knowing that His divine love and unfailing help will be with us even when we struggle—no, will be with us especially when we struggle.

He concludes by reminding us that this is the Lord's work here on the earth.  It is His gospel, His message, and He shows His love for us through the messages shared in General Conference.

• If gospel standards seem high and the personal improvement needed in the days ahead seems out of reach, remember Joshua’s encouragement to his people when they faced a daunting future. “Sanctify yourselves,” he said, “for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” I declare that same promise. It is the promise of this conference. It is the promise of this Church. It is the promise of Him who performs those wonders, who is Himself “Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, ... The Prince of Peace.” Of Him I bear witness. Of Him I am a witness. And to Him this conference stands as a testament of His ongoing work in this great latter day.
  

As we prepare to start General Conference today with the General Women Session this evening, I am encouraged by the counsel to keep trying, keep trusting, keep believing, keep growing.  The Lord's plan is for us to personally grow stronger and stronger in the eternal truths that God has created.  General Conference is a testament that the Lord's church has modern day revelation, modern day prophets and apostles, and is lead and guided by the Savior himself.  As we prepare for General Conference in the coming week, it is my prayer that we will seek for find questions that we need answers to, take them to the Lord, and ask for an answer to be given to us during General Conference.  I can testify that the Spirit will help us find answers to our questions.  I have had this experience many times.  I know it is happens.  And I know it can happen for each of us if we sincerely seek the guidance of the Lord in our lives.

Elder Paul V. Johnson of the Seventy spoke about the death of his daughter Alisa to cancer a little over a year ago.  That has prompted him to ponder on the resurrection a little more than usual and speaks about the great hope that the Savior has given to us through the atonement.

• Last year at Easter time, a little over a month before she passed away, Alisa wrote: “Easter is a reminder of all that I hope for myself. That someday I will be healed and someday I will be whole. Someday I won’t have any metal or plastic inside of me. Someday my heart will be free of fear and my mind free of anxieties. I am not praying that this happens soon, but I am so glad I truly believe in a beautiful afterlife.”

He quotes President Hinckley concerning resurrection.

• President Gordon B. Hinckley referred to the Resurrection as “the greatest of all events in the history of mankind.”

Elder Johnson speaks about our challenges in life.  We all have them.  Our Savior is aware of them and provides us help to handle them in this life with an assurance that all will be better in the next life.

• Each of us has physical, mental, and emotional limitations and weaknesses. These challenges, some of which seem so intractable now, will eventually be resolved. None of these problems will plague us after we are resurrected.

He reminds us that nothing is impossible to God.

• The miracle of resurrection, the ultimate cure, is beyond the power of modern medicine. But it is not beyond the power of God.

Elder Johnson shares the truth of the resurrection and atonement.  We have great knowledge about the power of the resurrection and we believe the power of God has the ability to overcome all the bad things in our lives.

• The reality of the Resurrection of the Savior overwhelms our heartbreak with hope because with it comes the assurance that all the other promises of the gospel are just as real—promises that are no less miraculous than the Resurrection. We know that He has the power to cleanse us from all our sins. We know that He has taken upon Himself all our infirmities, pains, and the injustices we have suffered. We know that He has “rise[n] from the dead, with healing in his wings.” We know that He can make us whole no matter what is broken in us. We know that He “shall wipe away all tears from [our] eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.” We know that we can be “made perfect through Jesus … , who wrought out this perfect atonement,” if we will just have faith and follow Him.

He ends with his testimony of the atonement and resurrection.  He assures all of us that we will see our loved ones again and that this knowledge provides great hope to us all.

• I am grateful for the blessings that are ours because of the Atonement and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. For all who have laid a child in a grave or wept over the casket of a spouse or grieved over the death of a parent or someone they loved, the Resurrection is a source of great hope. What a powerful experience it will be to see them again—not just as spirits but with resurrected bodies.

I have not had to go through the death of a child but I have friends that have.  The pain is heartbreaking.  It is overwhelming.  But those that have the hope of Christ in their lives have a deeper understanding of the purpose of life and seem to accept the challenges of life a little better than those that do not.  I am grateful for a knowledge and hope that I have in the Savior and know that he is the ultimate answer to all of our pains, discouragements, and hurts in this life.  All will be made right in the end.  We can have faith and hope in His love for us.

Elder Kent F. Richards of the Seventy speaks about the power of the temple.  He speaks of serving in the temple and coming to a personal knowledge that we need to understand the ordinances that take place there.  He shares that true power in found in the ordinances of the temple.

• The real power of the temple is in the ordinances.

He says that we naturally want to help out families on earth and our ancestors who came before when we realize the blessing the temple can being into our lives.

• As we feel the blessings of the temple in our own lives, our hearts turn to our families, both living and dead.

He shares a quote from almost 100 years ago that captures the power that the temple holds for each of us.

• Nearly 100 years ago, Apostle John A. Widtsoe taught: “We need more workers to accomplish [this] wonderful work. … We need more converts to temple work, drawn from all ages. … The time has come, … in this new temple movement, to bring into active service all the people, of all ages. … Temple work is … of as much benefit to the young and the active, as it is to the aged, who have laid behind them many of the burdens of life. The young man needs his place in the temple even more than his father and his grandfather, who are steadied by a life of experience; and the young girl just entering life, needs the spirit, influence and direction that come from participation in the temple ordinances.”

Elder Richards asked youth for their opinion of the temple.  He received some great answers.

• I asked a number of young men and women who have served as ordinance workers before and after their missions to share their feelings. They used phrases like the following to describe their experience in the temple:
  • When I serve in the temple--
    • I feel “a sense of being closer to my Father and the Savior”;
    • I feel “complete peace and happiness”;
    • I have a feeling of “being home”;
    • I receive “sacredness, power, and strength”;
    • I feel “the importance of my sacred covenants”;
    • “The temple has become a part of me”;
    • “Those whom we serve are close during the ordinances”;
    • “It gives me the strength to overcome temptations”;
    • “The temple has changed my life forever.

Elder Richards concludes with an invitation for all of us to come to the temple and bring others with us.

• Come to the temple. Come often. Come with and for your family. Come, and help others to come too.
  

I am reminded of something my bishop told me when I first went to the temple.  He told me that the blessings of the temple are real but are obtained as we attend the temple.  He then encouraged me to make frequent temple attendance a part of my life.  Over my life, I have had some times that attendance was more frequent than others.  What I have found is that when I am attending the temple often, I am more kind, more patient, and more loving to those around me.  I think it gives me a different view of life.  It helps me focus on the things that matter from an eternal prospective instead of the here and now.  I would encourage you to attend the temple and feel the power of the temple in our life, personally.