NOM

So our 3rd place NOMfremce looser is Neil Anderson with -155 points. He lost points for claiming that all the sh*t we just heard was the same as God saying it. This was particularly destructive since we heard all that hate from Oaks. He ended his talk sucking up pretty shamelessly to Aunt Wendy's Husband (Nelson). This landed him the suck up 70 award-which I am renaming the suck up 12 award for this conference. I was pretty disappointed with the 70s this GC, some were annoying but there were no blatant suck ups. But it's really interesting to watch the 12 suck up to the next in line to the throne.

2nd place goes to Callister with -201 points. His talk quickly devolved into make-out session with him, JS and the BOM. Awkward.

1st place goes to Oaks (or as he was known during GC, Darth Vadar). He earned a score of -340 points. He will also loose an additional 10,000 points for every one of our LGBTQIA+ brothers and sisters we loose during the next 6 months. He talk was not only hate filled, but it was a rallying cry for all members of the church:

Forty years ago, President Ezra Taft Benson taught that “every generation has its tests and its chance to stand and prove itself.” I believe our attitude toward and use of the family proclamation is one of those tests for this generation. I pray for all Latter-day Saints to stand firm in that test.

He wins the: "I Had To Leave The Room To Throw Up Award." And I'm actually getting kind of sick to my stomach thinking about his talk again. So I'm gonna leave it here.

Mopag, you have my write in vote for judge in the GC Olympics. Your ability to score the mental gymnastics is phenomenal considering the gagging reflex most of us have to this 187 year old sport. Well done!

Well done, MoPag. The big challenge for those of us that do continue to attend is hearing these talks rehashed in coming months. It wtill be a problem for mixed faith couples where the faithful spouse gets marching orders and the apostate spouse is blindsided by a church injected attitude. Besides being common subjects for sacrament meeting, the new Priesthood/Relief Society curriculum explicitly references conference talks for the 2nd and 3rd Sundays each month.

Frankly, we need some basic talking points and counter points aimed at these subjects. We need a way to bring up ideas in both a classroom setting and in private discussion with friends and family. These are all hot button issues and I anticipate many emotional posts on NOM, reddit/r/exmormon, and other forums after a local ward doubles down on BoM historicity, LGBT doctrines, and the Mind and Will of the Lord.

The one basic idea we can agree upon with the institutional LDS church is that these doctrines are on the mind of church leadership. While many apologists will charitably try to explain that disagreements exist among the apostles, there is no doubt that these are the messages that made it through facade of unanimity.