“It is always an advantage to members of the stake when a visiting authority comes to instruct and inspire. Elder Dunnigan of the Seventy offered excellent counsel to all of us, and for me personally, it seemed he had a great gift for conveying hope. Among the observations I noted, I was moved by the principle that in the course of His Atonement, Christ did not just feel bad for us, but felt bad with us, which is the difference between mere sympathy and real empathy. Because of His supernal ability to empathize, the Savior is not disappointed with anyone who earnestly seeks to repent.
“During all sessions of stake conference, we had the privilege of being reminded that our Heavenly Parents have no other agenda for this very brief period of mortality than our welfare, the advancement of their sons and daughters. Elder Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had offered the same principle at General Conference—that our Heavenly Parents and our Savior Jesus Christ ‘are totally, completely, eternally aligned with us. We are Their work. Our glory is their glory. More than anything else they want us to come home . . . .’
“In all respects, this was an uplifting conference. The music offered by the stake choir and others was beautiful and the addresses provided by those assigned to speak were filled with wisdom and sound counsel. We were reminded particularly to honor the Sabbath, to look to Christ in all our thinking and activity, and to love God with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves.”
Akron Ohio Stake News 