Solemn Assembly

I want to say that today - from a friend's front room, I had the opportunity to participate in a solemn assembly. I am so grateful to see how the passing of the keys works. It isn't seen very often - only 16 times - but it is a marvelous thing to behold. I felt the spirit so strongly as each group rose to sustain the new prophet of the Lord. What a blessing to have a prophet who speaks to us today. I thought about those who are too busy with their lives to stop and listen to conference, thinking, oh I can read it later. What a pity. My husband said that President Uchtdorf spoke tonight about course correction. He said that if a plane takes off from the equator, but is off, by only 2 degrees, he will end up 500 miles off of course. Wow! What a graphic example, yet how completely true. Elder Maxwell talked about the same concept in Oct '95, Swallowed in the Will of the Father - my all time favorite talk. The course correction - which we have to constantly be making.
What a blessing it is to be able to listen to a prophets' voice and to hear what the Lord personally is telling me through the Holy Ghost.

I just finished a Parenting class through BYU. Along with the curriculum, I had to read reams of talks which were related to (obviously) the family, and the proclamation to the world. I was very interested during the first session to note that every single talk was related to the family, to the war on the family, and to strengthening the families. Even the opening and closing prayers emphasized this. What import! Satan fights us, and if he can destroy the family, he can destroy our culture, our government and even our economy (as one of the speakers declared). What a war we are waging. As I see this - I realize how important the spiritual armor has to be - I know that we receive protection from scriptures, prayer and fasting.
My husband made an interesting comment tonight after the Priesthood session. David was in the wrong place - he should have been at war with his army. Saul - was chosen of the Lord, but didn't want to wait for his priesthood leaders. If we go to our meetings, (and are where we need to be) and follow our leaders, we will be able to stay on course. When we stop being where we should be, or start to question our leaders, we really step off of the course, and begin along something different than what the Lord had in mind.
Something to thing about.