“We have been richly taught and spiritually edified. . . . As we read and study [these talks], we will be additionally taught and inspired.”  — President Thomas S. Monson, today.

Well, it was a feast, wasn’t it?  Isn’t it great how the meat of the gospel can both fill us and fuel us?

And so, in an effort to remember, study, and apply the principles taught this weekend, a new round of the General Conference Book Club begins.  Here’s how it works:

The goal is to read one General Conference talk a week and discuss it together as an on-line “book club.”

(If you’re not familiar with General Conference or the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, go here and here and here for more information.)

A new talk will be posted each Sunday.

You don’t have to do anything to “join” the club– You can just visit the Sunday post at any time during the week and share thoughts, findings, favorite quotes, applications, even questions from the talk of the week. Personally, I think it would be a good idea to subscribe to comments from the post so that we can read each other’s insights and have a “real book club” conversation.  (There are two ways to do this:  1. Below the actual talk post, click on Comments RSS below the “Actions” list to subscribe to an RSS feed for comments, or 2. click the little box under the “Submit Comment” button so that comments are emailed to you.)   Or of course, you can just check back often to see what folks are saying.

My own plan is to try and use the talk as a guide for my personal scripture study throughout the week.  First I’ll read the talk all the way through, then look up and read all the scripture references he quoted, and then break the talk down into segments to study them carefully and try to find other related scriptures that help me understand it better.  Feel free to share any ideas of how you plan to study or apply the talks we read.  (You’re allowed to do this however you want.  You can simply have a goal to read the talk before the week is over, and that’s good, too.)

Here’s a little button you can put on your own blog if you’d like to.  Feel free to invite friends (the real kind and bloggy kind as well) to participate.  The more the merrier.  You can link it directly to this page or to the host page at https://diapersanddivinity.com/gcbc since it has all the instructions for the Book Club challenge.

And try to comment when you’ve read each article, even something as simple as “I did it.”  Then we have a certain motivation/accountability to each other to meet our goal of reading all the talks from the previous General Conference. The objective is to read the words of the living prophets and learn from them.  Our book club community is for sharing and encouraging, but please don’t feel pressure that you have to come around and make profound insights or write eloquent summaries.  Just show up and be counted!

Next Sunday, we will begin with our very first talk.  (They will be available online by Thursday.)  It will post sometime Sunday, usually in the evening, and then you can read it and comment at any point during the week and be part of a discussion group about the principles learned.

For Week 1, starting now, I would love to hear some of your favorite snippets from General Conference this weekend:  favorite quotes, thoughts about overall themes, most poignant talks, your experience and testimony of General Conference overall, etc.  You can bet I’ll have plenty to say in the comments; good luck getting a word in edgewise. 🙂  Welcome back to those of you who have been here all along, and a genuine welcome to newcomers as well.

Wasn’t the Relief Society General Broadcast great?  I know different people learn different things, but this is the message I got (summarized in a few, brief sentences):  Simplify.  You can’t do or be everything.  Seek personal revelation and get inspiration and guidance from your local leaders.  Live the doctrines you believe, and be valiant in obedience and in your testimony of the Savior.  Pray for opportunities to serve and seek the gift of charity; you will influence your family and others in important ways.

So next week, it will be General Conference.  Man, do I love that time of year.  I have gained a strong testimony of the timeliness, truthfulness, and tenderness of the talks that are given at General Conference.  I know our Heavenly Father speaks to us through modern prophets and apostles.  They remind me what I know to be true and give me insight about things I can do just a little better, specifically things that apply to my life and my family’s needs.  And I always get more out of General Conference when I prepare for it.

This is an invitation to anyone who wants to join me in a week of preparation.  This is my goal:

1. Pray everyday that my mind and heart will be prepared for any specific message that the Lord wants me to know.
2. Read my scriptures and/or recent conference talks every day to keep me in the habit of inviting and recognizing the Spirit.
3. Think about questions I would like answers to, topics I find myself struggling with, and write them down. Include them specifically in my prayers as I do #1.

On a larger scale, I cannot even hear anything at conference or concentrate if I don’t make specific plans to occupy and engage my children during those two days.  Earlier this year (my one claim to fame), I actually had an article published in the Ensign about how to prepare children for involvement in General Conference.  I’m no expert, but I can testify that around here my children love General Conference, and they’re as excited for this weekend as I am.  Here’s a repeat of some of those ideas (I called us family X here):

Participating in conference can be challenging for families with small children. When Matt and Stephanie X had three children under the age of four, they decided to watch general conference via satellite from their own home. Sister X knew that in order to view, hear, and enjoy the talks peacefully, she would need to make “substantial preparation.”

Like the [other mentioned] families, the Xs talk about the importance of general conference ahead of time. “We pray individually and with our children that our hearts will be prepared for the messages of conference,” Sister X explains. “We try to convey that we are excited about general conference weekend and that we look forward to it.”

Sister X knows that it can be difficult for children to sit quietly through conference, but she and her husband have found age-appropriate activities that engage their children in conference.

• They remove the center spread with photos of General Authorities from the most recent conference edition of the Ensign and hang it near the television. Each time a new speaker appears on the screen, the children study the poster and try to find the speaker’s picture. They are rewarded with a sticker to place on the poster or in a notebook of their own. “They quickly learn to identify the First Presidency and others by name,” says Sister X.

• The Xs set out a bowl of small treats for each session. Next to the bowl, they place objects that represent key words for that session. Each time the children hear one of those words spoken from the pulpit, they can help themselves to one treat. Sister X notes: “It’s surprising to see how much young children can and do listen. Their enthusiasm is priceless as you hear them say, ‘Mommy, he said temples!’”

• For the sessions that fall during typical mealtimes, the Xs prepare a picnic basket and lay out a blanket in front of the television. Brother and Sister X tell their children that they are like the families in the Book of Mormon who sat on the ground and listened to their prophet, King Benjamin, teach them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. “We thank our children for allowing us to listen and praise them for their reverence and attentiveness. We bear testimony throughout the day of the things we have heard and felt and reiterate our love for living prophets and apostles.”

• Brother and Sister X make sure they spend time with their children before and after sessions. They let them have active or outdoor play “to get out all their wiggles.”

Sister X says that these things not only help her children participate, but they also help her and her husband to be able to watch and learn from all the sessions of general conference. “There is a great sense of spiritual safety as we gather our family around the Lord’s messengers,” she says. “The Spirit is present in our home, and it is truly a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy that “‘all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children’” (3 Nephi 22:13).

And here is a great link to a General Conference Packet or Workbook that your children can use during conference:

Oct 2009 General Conference Activity packet – from LDSResources.net

It has activities for different levels of readers and non-readers.  My boys love coloring the ties of each of the speakers, and they do the bingo for every session.  It’s a .pdf file that’s 20 pages long and easy to print and use.  It’s worth the printer ink.

I’d love to see in the comments 1) What do you do to prepare for General Conference or to get the most out of it?, and/or 2) What was one of your favorite thoughts from the Relief Society Broadcast?

Have a great week.  Next Sunday, we’ll start the General Conference Book Club again, with the first week just sharing our overall favorite bytes and take-away messages.