General Conference

This week we are preparing for General Conference.  I LOVE General Conference!  I would love to shut myself up in a little room, turn the TV up loud and listen to every word without any interruption....but alas....I am a mother.  So, instead, I got organized.  I was given a challenge by my Visiting Teachers to do something more to prepare for conference this year than I had done before.  So I took them seriously.  I turned to my family and gave them the challenge also.

I printed out a couple of different activity books for the kids to work on while they listened.  They are only required to watch 1 session each day but, since we have a couple teenagers this year, we stepped it up a bit.  Maren used this conference as an opportunity for a 10 hour YW project about knowledge.  We printed out a template for her to use while she listened to jot down notes and thoughts for each speaker.  There were also lots of interesting facts about President Monson and the 12 Apostles.   She
also recorded the statistics from the annual report.  It was good to see her listening and taking notes.

We asked Blake to watch 4 out of the 5 sessions....we gave him a break with friends on Saturday afternoon.  I remember being not totally enthralled when I was their age, so I am still holding out hope that they will develop a love for the words of the Prophet and the Apostles as they get older.

Evy and Micah really did their best to be reverent during the sessions, it's hard when you are young.  We had a few moments of frustration, but I was trying to keep my cool....back to my earlier comment about listening all by myself!  Anyway, I didn't think they were listening at all but then, they would make a comment about the talk, or answer back to the TV when the person speaking would ask a question.  Even when Micah was down the hall playing, I heard him say amen at the end of the talks or a prayer.

For myself I created this:

There is a section for each of the apostles.  I added their picture and some information I found about them to get to know them better.  I added some looseleaf paper after each picture so I can keep notes about their talks.  I like this format.  I haven't really been a notetaker before, but I found that this really helped me keep my focus on the speaker and it's nice to reread my notes and remember how I felt when writing them.  I also like this because it is an ongoing project.  I can keep this for years to come an keep my notes organized....which is what I desperately need more of in my life!!

I also included a section in the back for the Seventy's remarks and the General Auxiliary speakers.  I was pleased with how easy it was to find things of meaning in each speakers remarks.  I think this also helped Maren with her notetaking because she didn't feel so conspicuous doing it by herself.

I always come away from conference with conflicting emotions.  I feel so uplifted and grateful that we have living apostles to help guide our way.  I am thankful for technology so that I can see them and hear their voices and feel the spirit as they speak to us.  I come away with a new focus and determination to do and be better... and that's where my thought process takes me down the wrong path.  Sometimes, I can talk myself out of all my good intentions by remembering all the times I didn't read my scriptures, or say my prayers, or yelled at my kids, or lost my patience with my husband.  I feel overwhelmed and my faith wavers.  That's why this year I LOVED Elder Holland's talk in the Sunday afternoon session titled "Lord, I Believe".  I felt as if he was speaking to me - telling me to carry on!  Here are a few of the notes I jotted down.

 - The Lord can only bless us if we believe!!
 - In this church, what we know will always trump what we do not know.
 - Imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with, Be patient, kind and forgiving
 - 3 important points

1. We need to assert our strength first, then ask for help with shortcomings.  Hold fast and strong to what we already know.
2. Be true to the faith we have.  Dont ask by listing what we don't have.  We have more faith than we think we do.
3. Don't be afraid to ask for help.   God will send help from both sides of the veil to strengthen us.

 - At our peril we allow doubt or devil to sway us
 - Fan the flames of your Faith!

Elder Holland has a way of speaking that always touches my heart.  I am thankful for this talk and so many others that are giving me the courage to move forward - stand firm in the knowledge and faith that I already have, and press forward to become better.

Thank you ladies for giving me the challenge to better prepare....it really helped!