April 2020 General Conference -

Back in the October 2019 Sessions of General Conference, President Nelson asked us to make certain preparations for the following General Conference, which would be a celebration of the Restoration of the Church - focusing specifically on the First Vision and the Coming of the Book of Mormon. Then during the following months, the prophet asked us to study diligently, the experiences of Joseph Smith and the First Vision and the Restoration of the Gospel.
Months were spent reading and re-reading the accounts of the first vision.  I tried hard to understand what the Lord was wanting me to understand.  We were asked to fast and pray about the truthfulness of the events shared by Joseph Smith, and I took that challenge seriously.  We were asked to fast as a church, and then as a nation, for the healing of the Covid 19 virus, pleading for the Lord to remove it from the earth. 
April General Conference, President Nelson presented to the members of the church and to the world, the new proclamation of the Restoration of the Gospel and the accounts of the First Vision.  There is no longer any mincing of words as to the truthfulness of the gospel and the announcement that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the ONLY true and living church on the face of the earth.  And the proclamation is intense.  It is poignant - it is bold - and it is TRUE.
There was also the presenting of the new LOGO for the church.  Whereas it was the symbol of the Angel Moroni with his trumpet before, it is now a statue of the Savior Jesus Christ with the official name of the church underneath it. Something that was comical about that change is - currently the Salt Lake Temple is being refurbished and in that process, the workers were working on the Moroni statue and accidentally broke it, where the trumpet had fallen out of Moroni's hand.  Someone came up with the following meme which brought some much needed humor to members of the church.

General Conference was also the week of Easter and the Passover.  Much thought and comments were given to the life given of our Savior and for the crisis of the virus currently throughout the world.  I found the following quote to be quite profound.

General Conference had a completely different format - not held in the Conference Center and no members were allowed to attend.  It will be remembered for years to come, as will the rest of the events over the past 2 months.
There were eight new temples announced also.  The ones of significance were in Shanghai China, the first in the Republic of China...and then Dubai India.  Both of these temples are being announced after invitation from those countries to have temples there.  THEY invited US to have temples there.  Epic events.
The Church is true.  I miss the socializing with members - the feeling of unity with ward members as we've not been together for 7 weeks.  But the principles and doctrines of the church remain the same.  We are sustained by living prophets and scriptures.  We are sustained by our Savior and our Father who hears and answers our prayers.
This is just for a short time. But there has been much to learn during these past months that will be of significant strength to us in the coming months and years.
I don't want to ever go back to what we understood to be our normal.
I want a new normal to consist of what we have learned from the experience - eliminating the unnecessary and busyness of our lives - and living basically with needs and desires to be better people, better ministers, better servants - better parents, families children of God.
That will be MY new normal.