195th Semiannual General Conference - Saturday Highlights

 Saturday Morning

Dallin H. Oaks

• Speaks as the President of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles
• President Nelson is someone to model your life after. 

Gary E. Stevenson 

• Even devout people gathered in sacred places can feel burdened from what you and your families have undergone since last conference. 
• Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God. 
• Can I be a peacemaker when the world is commotion, my heart is filled with fear and peace feels far away?
• Begin the most basic place to feel peace. In your hearts. Then spread to your family and then to your neighborhoods and onward. 
• Disagree without being disagreeable. 
• Build bridges not walls. 
• To build a peacemaker is to help others and then they pass it on and it goes on and on and on. 
• Kindness will do its quiet work. 
• To be peacemakers we forgive others and deliberately build others up rather than tear others down.
• Peacemaking demands action. 1. A Contention free home zone.  2. Digital bridge building. -will this build a bridge? If so send. If not. Stop. 3. Repair and reunite. 
• Peacemaking requires courage and compromise but does not require sacrifice of principle. It requires leading with an open heart and not a closed mind. Extend with open hands not closed fists. 

Tracy Y. Browning

• The singing of hymns is one of the best ways to learn the doctrine of the restored gospel. 
• Music has always been at the heart of teaching the gospel. 
• Music provides power for us to express our thoughts, testimonies, and truths. 
• God keeps his promises and offers us a refuge when we need it. 
• The Spirit and use music to engrave eternal truths on your heart. 
• Sacred music can shine the light of Christ on the hearer.
• Jesus still wants us for a sunbeam. 

Ronald M. Barcellos

• All God needs to accomplish his purposes is for us to turn our hearts to Him.
• Focus, Priorities and Motives will let us know where our hearts are. Where is our focus? Because that's where our treasure will be in our hearts. 
• Do you make the Savior a Priority in your life? 
• The Savior does not expect perfection in keeping his commandments. He does expect us to strive to keep them with all our hearts. 
• The quality of our thoughts and words is a good indication of the quality of our hearts. 
• Dedicate time daily to Christ. 

Brik V. Eyre

• Comfort first. Because Christ would Comfort First. 
• God will always remind us that we are His Children. Satan will always try to tell us differently and remind us of and label us by our weaknesses. 
• God is in relentless pursuit of you. He wants YOU. As YOU are. 
• However much you are praying. Pray more. However hard you are praying. Pray harder. 

Kelly R. Johnson

• Be reconciled to God. Align our will and actions to Him and let Him prevail in our lives. 
• Reconciliation is dependent on mercy. 
• Don't let yourself be easily shaken. Stand firm. Stay steadfast. 
• Don't let yourself become so firm that you're unwilling to change. Let yourself remain soft enough to allow yourself to change. 

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

• Getting good at anything, takes consistent self-discipline and practice. 
• Discipleship takes self-discipline. It's not a casual endeavor. It takes effort. It's a conscious choice that takes effort. 
• Our faith becomes stronger as it is tested as is tested against the opposition. It flourishes as we keep nourishing it. 
• The fire of yesterday's testimony can only warm us for so long. It needs more fuel to keep burning brightly. 
• God wants us to use and amplify our gifts so it can bless us and others. Our gifts only get better as we use them. 
• Your origin story is divine and so is your destiny. 
• You left heaven to come here but heaven has never left you.
• Your gifts may not always be flashy, but they're just as important. 
• God's expectations for us are high, but he doesn't expect us to do grand or superhuman things to get there. He knows things take time. That it takes small steps to become great. 
• Because of our Savior there is no such thing as a no-win scenario. 
• We are grateful for the steps we took yesterday, but we don't stop there. We keep moving forward. 

Saturday Afternoon

Ronald A. Rasband

• Everyone belongs to a family.
• The family is ordained of God. 
• You have family in your Savior Jesus Christ. 
• Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of Jesus Christ. 
• God has given Men and Women different but Equal and Essential roles that compliment and work with each other. 

Chad H. Webb

• Take charge of your own testimony. 
• Learn to be a better Learner.

Jeremy R. Jaggi

• If the Savior is the great Connector then Satan is the Great Separator. 
• Do you do a daily check in with your Heavenly Father? 
• Christ heals all wounds. Christ makes it possible to live again. 

Kevin G. Brown

• It is in God's nature to Bless Us. 
• We are responsible for the choices we make based on the knowledge we have. 
• The gift and witness of the Holy Ghost is available to everyone. 
• A testimony is not given for temporary use. It is meant to be eternal. Because the giver is eternal. A testimony should not have an expiration date. It should not weaken or diminish. It should get stronger. 
• Who. Or What. Would you allow to take your testimony away? Don't. Let. Them. Take. It. Away.
• It is the choices we make that diminish the power of the testimony. The testimony hasn't gone anywhere. We just need to choose to reconnect with it. 
• If you Know. You Know. 

Gerrit W. Gong

• Living the gospel of Jesus Christ includes making room for ALL within. 
• A journey of gospel friendship and love begins with the first hello and no one sitting alone. 
• No one sits alone. Physically, emotionally or spiritually. 
• The Lord blesses us all when no one sits alone. 

Michael Cziesla

• Following Christ's law requires constant effort and change. It's simple but it's not always easy. 
• Find joy in your daily life. 
• The Gospel can work for us even in the most challenging of circumstances. 
• Prioritize people over processes. 

Quentin L. Cook

• The Gospel touches hearts and changes lives everywhere. 
• We can help build a Zion people where we are of one heart and one mind. 
• Be patient with yourself and the challenges you face. 
• The Gospel is not a test of knowledge. 

Saturday Evening 

Patrick Kearon

• All of us can have a new beginning through and because of Jesus Christ.
• This is a Church of new beginnings. This is a Church of fresh starts. 
• We can have new beginnings every day if we want to. We can have as many new beginnings as we need. 
• You press on. You keep striving. You keep seeking help. 
• You don't have to be who you've been before. Embrace your fresh start whether it's your first, 4th, 12th, or 100th fresh start. Keep pressing on. 
• Christ is the Author and Finisher of our Faith. Constantly writing new chapters with us. 

J. Annette Dennis

• Divine strength comes from unity. And that is why Satan is intent on dividing us. 
• The pure love of Christ is Charity. 
• Charity helps to relieve one another's burdens, not pile burdens on each other. 
• True disciples lift and build each other. 

Steven C. Barlow

• When love is freely given and is freely received. A Virtuous cycle is begun.
• We are so consumed with seeking evidence of God's love for us that we get frustrated when we don't see it. But the more we are focused on giving love to God the more we can see God's love for us. 
• How we recognize and show love is not always how another will recognize and show love. 
• We manifest our love by having a grateful heart. 
• Do you have an attitude of gratitude?

William K. Jackson

• Christ has organized his Church in such a way that it should be difficult to forget a soul within it. 
• Focus in on the people. 
• Focus on the names not the programs. 

Neil L. Andersen

• The Savior continually calls. Come unto me. 
• Is your heart softened enough to help out others without strings attached? 
• Be patient. Blessings and approval will come from God by degrees. 

To watch/listen/read the talks in their entirety, please visit: 

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2025/10?lang=eng

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

So Tired

 I have to say, I was kinda expecting to crash and burn back on Wednesday maybe into Thursday. 

As I haven't really had much time to 'rest' since I got back from my vacation.

And considering the tense and semi-stressful drive I had with mental and emotional worries, and then the physical strain of driving for nearly 11 hours and then also dealing with the stress of driving in rainy weather....only to turn around and head straight into a 5 am shift at work on Monday morning and then keep running with longer shifts the rest of the week.....

I was expecting to end up with like a migraine or just .... falter much sooner than like today. 

But surprisingly I didn't. 

Until today.

Where I woke up feeling exhausted.

That sort of exhausted where you just want to turn around and go back to bed for another 12 hours because you're so tired.

Like break out the caffeine and drink it to try and stay awake first thing in the morning exhausted.

Which I haven't felt in a while.....

Yah that hit me strong this morning.

Because I've been pushing hard this week at work what with truck and trying to get other things done in the store while dealing with the stress of incompetent coworkers who you have to feel like you have to babysit the entire time because they can't get their stuff done right....or done at all....

In any case.

I've been so tired today.

And it's the sort of tired where if you sleep you end up with a headache and if you don't sleep you end up with a headache....so yah I have a headache going. 

A migraine I suppose since Tylenol and Advil have not made it go away. 

But at the same time I wasn't able to relax for longer than an hour after getting home so maybe I just didn't nap long enough.

So here's to hoping that this weekend I can rest and recover and get all my energy back to keep pushing with all the work crazy going on.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Look at the People

 It's kinda amazing how quickly something can change. Like literally in an instant the situation can go from being one thing to being something completely different. 

For example today.

After work I was meeting up with a friend at the store because I needed to check with a gift card that I had given them for their birthday.

Because I had discovered the evening after giving them their gift card and while preparing for a trip...that I had somehow ended up with a SECOND gift card in my bag of groceries...when I'd only bought one. 

And I had no idea if the gift card that I had given to my friend was the one I had bought or the one that had stuck to the other when I hadn't realized it. 

I'd tried checking the receipt to see but didn't see any indication of which one was the right one. 

And with me going straight on vacation....we had to wait until I got back and our work schedules lined up enough that we both had time to meet up so that I could figure out which gift card was meant to be theirs.

And today was that day.

And I showed up at the store a little bit late because I had just gotten off work.

And had expected my friend to already to there waiting for me...but they'd been delayed as well.

And when I walked up to the Customer Service thing there was only two people in line.

Nice and short.

but my friend was going to be another 15ish minutes if rush hour was kind to them (it was not kind to them) and I kinda needed both gift cards to make it easier to figure out which one was the one that I had bought.

And it was kinda amazing how in the space of like...10 minutes the line went from having like 2 people in it...to having like 8 people in it. 

To be honest it made me rather frustrated. 

Like. If my friend had been there at the same time as me we would have only had two other people in front of us. But now I was looking at an ever growing line that seemed to have like 15 people now in it and just for seeing it becoming like a 30 minute ordeal just to wait in the line to be helped.

And considering I'd gotten off work right at dinner time....I was tired. I was hungry. And I was just a bit grumpy from work stuff. So to be made to wait longer and to see a long line forming when it could have been avoided.

Yah....I was rather frustrated. 

Especially considering my friend ended up being like 30 minutes late.

But at the same time....it was kinda crazy....because by the time my friend showed up?

The line had vanished.

There was once again just two people in line before us.

So the wait wasn't long at all.

Like I've seen it happen a ton at my own job. Where there's like no one in line for the register and then suddenly you have a dozen people in line out of nowhere.

But it was crazy to see it happen in a different location.

And to have it be like....dead...and then 20 minutes of crazy...and then dead again.

Like my friend had no idea that the line had gotten so long it was heading out into the main part of the store out of the customer service area.....

Only I had known because I was there standing nearby watching the line grow.

Only I was aware how it had gone from 2 people up to like 12 people and back to 2 people in like 30 minutes.

It's crazy.

Crazy how quickly things can change.

And how you have no idea what could have just occurred right before you showed up or right after you left.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Can't You Just Work?

 Wednesdays seem to be such a problem day to work.

Which ... honestly every day at work probably has it's typical trends of being the 'problem work day' 

But considering I usually don't work Wednesdays....

the fact that whenever I do work Wednesdays it feels like something goes wrong...

Makes me less inclined to want to work Wednesdays.

Though I suppose the same could have been said last year about Tuesdays when like literally we could not afford to have anyone call out on Tuesday because no one else was available to work Tuesdays besides the people already scheduled and yet everyone decided that they must have Tuesdays off or call off Tuesdays for various reasons.

In any case.

Wednesdays.

I was already expecting the day not to go quite to plan as I figured that truck wouldn't have gotten as far as I would have wanted it to which would have left us behind for today's plans.

Which surprisingly truck was further along that expected....but the morning manager didn't get the remaining things done as quickly as expected and therefore...put us about on the timeline of delayed that was expected.

But the delays were kinda exasperated by the fact that our morning cashier decided that they wouldn't be able to work their full shift today.

Why?

Because they'd only managed to get an hour and a half of sleep last night.

Which.

On the one hand I do get the struggle. I've had bad nights with migraines where I haven't slept much.

But I've still managed to function well enough at work to...you know....stay the entire time like a good 99% of the time. I've only left work early a handful of times....and that's because of a still active migraine....not from lack of sleep.

But perhaps my priorities are way different than the younger generation. Which is "Work is first priority." 

In any case.

Morning Cashier wanted to leave around lunch time. About 3 hours earlier than scheduled.

Which meant we did not have a cashier for 3 hours.

Which meant that morning manager and I would need to take turns watching the register.

And I was being rather reasonable being like "Hey, I do not want to watch register for 3 hours. So I was thinking we could switch off. Either every half hour or every hour what do you think?" 

And Morning Manager agreed to every half hour.....

Only to try and get out of it twenty minutes later with "Oh but I'm so busy can't you switch with petcare?"

Like dude. YOU HAD ALL MORNING TO GET YOUR TASKS DONE NOT MY FAULT YOU DIDN'T GET THEM DONE.

Plus like. I have alllllll MY tasks I need to get done too. You're not Special. Why should YOU get special treatment when I too need to do things? At least I'm not making YOU do the entire 3 hour stint.

Yeesh.

In any case.

My empathy for my coworkers, despite the week long break from them. Is still at an all time low. Mostly because they keep creating more work for me and don't give me any relief in return.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi