When I first heard President Nelson had passed away, I couldn't believe it. Literally. Three days later, I still find myself struggling to subconsciously accept it. The man was president longer than I've been a member, and knowing he will not be the one at the helm going forward is going to take a lot of adjusting.
That being said, I find myself feeling so blessed that he was the president of the Church when I first got baptized. As a new member from a nondenominational background, there were cultural aspects of the Church (cultural not doctrinal) that I didn't exactly like, and I felt like President Nelson did a really solid job in bridging that gap for me between my past life and my new one. For example, even as an investigator, I never cared for the term "mormon". I liked "LDS" but never liked "mormon", and President Nelson making the official choice to move away from that term was something I wholeheartedly embraced. President Nelson spent the entirety of his duration as president reinforcing the fact that everything was about Jesus Christ and that He ought to be the center of our lives. Everything President Nelson did pointed to Christ.
Conference for me is a mix of anticipation and boredom. Some talks are interesting. Some I can't stay engaged with beyond a couple of minutes. Yet, year after year, without fail, the highlight for me was getting to hear from President Nelson. He never once gave a talk that left me feeling unsatisfied. I remember when I first heard him at Conference in Oct 2018, I thought to myself "he felt just like a prophet: acting compassionate when needed and stern when needed." His April 2023 talk "Peacemakers" will forever sit with me as one of my favorite Conference talks, and of course, who could forget "think celestial". Any Conference session he was unable to attend in recent years always left me feeling like something was missing, and when he would be there for the final Sunday session, the conference felt whole. What a blessing it was that we live in the times we do so that even when his health was struggling, he could still speak to us with pre-recorded messages.
President Nelson is and always will be to me one of the best examples of what it means to truly be a Christian. I am thankful for his legacy, one I will continue to ponder over as I carry on in my own life. I have complete faith that the Lord Jesus Christ is at the head of His Church, and that the next president will be divinely chosen and inspired, but that being said, it will still feel like something is missing as the Church moves forward without President Nelson leading it.
He lived a life longer than most of us could ever dream of, yet, it still feels like it wasn't long enough. Rest in peace President Nelson, you will be missed. God be with you till we meet again.
Darth Momo
When I first heard President Nelson had passed away, I couldn't believe it. Literally. Three days later, I still find myself struggling to subconsciously accept it. The man was president longer than I've been a member, and knowing he will not be the one at the helm going forward is going to take a lot of adjusting.
That being said, I find myself feeling so blessed that he was the president of the Church when I first got baptized. As a new member from a nondenominational background, there were cultural aspects of the Church (cultural not doctrinal) that I didn't exactly like, and I felt like President Nelson did a really solid job in bridging that gap for me between my past life and my new one. For example, even as an investigator, I never cared for the term "mormon". I liked "LDS" but never liked "mormon", and President Nelson making the official choice to move away from that term was something I wholeheartedly embraced. President Nelson spent the entirety of his duration as president reinforcing the fact that everything was about Jesus Christ and that He ought to be the center of our lives. Everything President Nelson did pointed to Christ.
Conference for me is a mix of anticipation and boredom. Some talks are interesting. Some I can't stay engaged with beyond a couple of minutes. Yet, year after year, without fail, the highlight for me was getting to hear from President Nelson. He never once gave a talk that left me feeling unsatisfied. I remember when I first heard him at Conference in Oct 2018, I thought to myself "he felt just like a prophet: acting compassionate when needed and stern when needed." His April 2023 talk "Peacemakers" will forever sit with me as one of my favorite Conference talks, and of course, who could forget "think celestial". Any Conference session he was unable to attend in recent years always left me feeling like something was missing, and when he would be there for the final Sunday session, the conference felt whole. What a blessing it was that we live in the times we do so that even when his health was struggling, he could still speak to us with pre-recorded messages.
President Nelson is and always will be to me one of the best examples of what it means to truly be a Christian. I am thankful for his legacy, one I will continue to ponder over as I carry on in my own life. I have complete faith that the Lord Jesus Christ is at the head of His Church, and that the next president will be divinely chosen and inspired, but that being said, it will still feel like something is missing as the Church moves forward without President Nelson leading it.
He lived a life longer than most of us could ever dream of, yet, it still feels like it wasn't long enough. Rest in peace President Nelson, you will be missed. God be with you till we meet again.
1 month ago | [YT] | 9