Tag Archives: General Conference

Countdown to General Conference: Packets and Preparation

Posted in Divinity, General Conference Book Club by

UPDATE:  If you’ve landed here looking for stuff related to the upcoming General Conference, click here for more current resources.

I wanted to share the summary of a workshop I’ve taught a few times about preparation for General Conferences and how to get more out of it.  Also, at the end, I’ve posted several links of General Conference packets for children of all ages and a few extra resources as well.  I submitted this over at MMB as well, but I’m not sure it will make it up this week, so I wanted to pass it along to my readers.  I think most of you know how I feel about General Conference.  Love.  It is my semi-annual recharging of the spiritual batteries.  I really encourage all of you to consider joining us this next round of General Conference Book Club, too.  It helps so much to keep the words of the prophets fresh on the mind and in the heart.  Maybe those of you who have participated in the past can leave a little testimonial in the comments about your experience in studying a talk a week.

Preparing Yourself for General Conference:

Jeffrey R. Holland, “Prophets in the Land Again,” Ensign, Nov 2006, 104-7

“In my own expression of testimony and gratitude for the messages and meaning of general conference, may I suggest three things these twice-yearly gatherings declare to all the world:

1. First, they declare eagerly and unequivocally that there is again a living prophet on the earth speaking in the name of the Lord. And how we need such guidance! … We all need that word. No one is safe without it…

2. Secondly, each of these conferences marks a call to action not only in our own lives but also on behalf of others around us, those who are of our own family and faith and those who are not.

3. Lastly, a general conference of the Church is a declaration to all the world that Jesus is the Christ, that He and His Father, the God and Father of us all, appeared to the boy prophet Joseph Smith in fulfillment of that ancient promise that the resurrected Jesus of Nazareth would again restore His Church on earth and [return] again.”

Henry B. Eyring, “Finding Safety in Counsel,” Ensign, May 1997, 24

“There seems to be no end to the Savior’s desire to lead us to safety. And there is constancy in the way He shows us the path. … Those means always include sending the message by the mouths of His prophets whenever people have qualified to have the prophets of God among them. Those authorized servants are always charged with warning the people, telling them the way to safety….

In our own time, we have been warned with counsel of where to find safety from sin and from sorrow. One of the keys to recognizing those warnings is that they are repeated.

One of the ways we may know that the warning is from the Lord is that the law of witnesses, authorized witnesses, has been invoked. When the words of prophets seem repetitive, that should rivet our attention…”

Boyd K. Packer, “The Twelve Apostles,” Ensign, Nov 1996, 6

“We are overcome with what the Lord said of those who hold these sacred callings: ‘Whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation.’ (D&C 68:4) … These men are true servants of the Lord; give heed to their counsel.”

Think about and write down questions that you would really like some insight about.  (Think about your role as a wife, mother, friend, sister, employee, calling, etc. . . . What would you ask the Lord about?)  Imagine the Savior as your “Counselor”and ask Him things with a desire to hear His advice.  Pray about those questions.  Request that He answers them as you listen to General Conference.

As you watch conference, pay careful attention and identify talk(s) that may give you some direction for your questions.

As you listen to (and later study) these talks, look for two things: (I recommend writing them down.)

1) main points: truths, principles, doctrine
2) action items: what does this speaker want me to DO? What is the “call to action”?

You can watch a highlight video from the latest general conference here at this link.

In summary,

How to make General Conference meaningful:

1. Pray and prepare before General Conference.

2. Carefully study the Conference edition of the Ensign.

3. Watch or listen to General Conference with purpose.

4. Identify action items based on their counsel.

5. Obey.

President Monson stated at the conclusion of a recent General Conference:

“My beloved brothers and sisters, my heart is full and my feelings tender as we conclude this great general conference. We have been richly blessed as we have listened to the counsel and testimonies of those who have spoken to us. I believe we are all more determined to live the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. May we long remember that which we have heard during this conference. I remind you that the messages will be printed in next month’s Ensign… I urge you to study the messages and to ponder their teachings and then to apply them in your life.”

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Resources to help your children prepare for and be active listeners during General Conference

The Church has provided this page with some print-outs and computer games to help children prepare for General Conference.

The following are all excellent references offered from Sugardoodle.net, including General Conference Activity Packets for all ages (When you click on them, you can download the documents and print them out.):

Youth Packet

Senior Primary Packet and Sticker Pages (print on sticker/label paper from Office Supply Store)

Junior Primary Packet

Primary Packet (compact 2-page)

Nursery Packet

Check out this Sugardoodle.net page for other General Conference ideas, coloring pages, snacks, activities, etc.

Here’s another site with a lot of packets, cards, and other resources.

This is an article that I helped author:  “Preparing Our Children for General Conference” It has some specific ideas of activities/games you can do with children (even small children) before, during, and after conference.

Here are also some great articles to help you get yourself and your children in the General Conference mindset:

Neil L. Andersen, “Teaching Our Children to Love the Prophets,”

Jeffrey R. Holland, “Prophets in the Land Again,”

Henry B. Eyring, “Safety in Counsel,”

Here’s to having your best General Conference experience ever.

Strictly business

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I have been extra blog-busy this week, and I’m not sure why that is, but I plan to settle back down into my normal routine soon.  (The one where I actually spend a little bit more time in real life putting away laundry and loading the dishwasher and stuff.)  Anyway, there were just a few announcement-like things I wanted to communicate.

  1. For those of  you who participated in the general conference meme and want to take the challenge to write up your “fake conference talk” based on question #10, the deadline will be the end of October.  If you can do it sooner, great.  I’ll start posting them as I get them (Give me some time for editing and spacing them out a little).  Just write between 500-1,000 words and remember to include some quotes from conference or scriptures.  You can email your talks to me at dd.stephanie@gmail.com or send me any questions you might have in the meantime.
  2. The transcripts for the General Conference talks are now all posted online.  Yay!  They also have this awesome tool available called “Study Notebook,” where you can sign in and take notes on the talks– you can highlight them, write notes in the margins, etc., and save it all.  Very, very cool.  And just in case I didn’t make this clear enough before, I would love to have ANY of you join in on the General Conference Book Club (see here).  Invite your friends, neighbors, enemies (the nice ones), whomever.  We’ll start with our first talk this coming week.
  3. Speaking of conference, I had a 2-line moment of glory in this article at lds.org.  Scroll all the way to the bottom.  They totally saved the best for last, don’t you think?
  4. I feel much better today.  I bore my soul to Matt at lunch today.  He said nice things like “Don’t be a mental case.  I need you to be the sane one.”  He really did say that, but he said nice things too.  He’s right, you know.   We moms need to pull it together and step forward, not just because people need us, but because we feel so much better when we act with confidence.  He wants me to do P90x with him.  (It’s some kind of exercise program that makes you wish you’d never been born.)  Start saving money now to attend my funeral that I predict will occur in less than 90 days.  And for the record, I would like you to bring chocolate to my funeral in lieu of flowers.
  5. If you are a mom of boys and you’re trying to think of a way to be the coolest mom on the block without having to do much, I have a tip.  You should invite a bunch of neighborhood kids over to your house next Friday for a “How to Train Your Dragon” DVD release party.  Seriously, throw in some pizza and a couple snacks and suddenly your sons think you walk on water or something.  If you really want to try it, let me know and I’ll email you the invitations I already made.  Obviously you have to change the address to your own house because I’m not that cool.

And just a little something to inspire you:

Young people, do not seek happiness in the glittering but shallow things of the world. We cannot achieve lasting happiness by pursuing the wrong things. . . . Happiness and joy come from what a person is, not from what he or she possesses or appears to be. -Elder Dallin H. Oaks.

Is it just me, or do you think he was probably talking about those jeans I saw at parent-teacher conference? 🙂

Have a great weekend.

It’s (like) an Awards Show!

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It’s time to announce the winner of the trivia contest, and the 5,000th commenter.  Watch this exciting show for the dramatic reveal (and a special challenge for any of you who participated in the meme):    Sorry the video is in two pieces;  I had a little technical difficulty.

Here are the links if you can’t see the videos on my blog:  part 1 and part 2

Congratulations to the winners!! Send me an email with your address and I will mail your prizes later this week.  🙂

Here are the answers to the trivia questions: (If you think I got something wrong, please just be forgiving.  The questions were based on my copious notes, and there were about 10 other people who got all the same answers, so I feel like it’s pretty accurate.)

1.  Name two of the new temples that were announced.  Hartford, Connecticut; Indianapolis, Indiana; Tijuana, Mexico; Urdaneta, Philippines; and Lisbon, Portugal

2.  What did President Monson ask young couples to begin preparing for now?  missions as senior couples

3.  Two different speakers based their talk on the same previous talk about Following the Prophet.  Who gave it originally?  Ezra Taft Benson

4. Elder McConkie said that “what matters most in learning is the attitude of  ..(whom). “? the teacher

5.  According to President Uctdorf, in family relationships, love is spelled ……T-I-M-E ?

6.  What happened to Elder Hales as a young boy when his dad asked him to varnish the floor?  he painted himself into a corner

7.   President Brigham Young once said that moving to (where?) was “out of the frying pan into the fire, and out of the fire onto the floor.”  Utah , Salt Lake Valley

8.  One young missionary offered to marry Elder Gong’s wife after she did what?  baked him bread

9.  President Packer told parents to “Wake up and understand what’s going on!”  What plague was he referring to?  pornography

10.  What did the children in one elementary school decide to vote on during show and tell?  (from President Packer’s talk)  the gender of the kitty

11.  President Monson told the story of a family who lost all their crops due to rain, but were still grateful.  What did they eat for their Thanksgiving dinner? jackrabbit and turnips (marked it right if you got at least one of these)

12.  Elder Bednar told a story about Joseph Smith speaking to the President of the United States.  When he inquired about the difference between our religion and others, what was one of the points Joseph answered him?  mode of baptism, or gift of the Holy Ghost

13.  Elder Malm spoke about a hollow tree he saw lining a street in Sweden.  What did he see when he looked inside the hole?  waste/trash

14.  Elder Allred told his wife’s story about working on a farm.  What happened that caused her to exclaim, “You stupid cow!!”?  the cow ate the wheat outside of the fence so it bloated (and then died)

15.  Elder Ballard compared Satan’s tricks and counterfeits to what outdoor sport?  fly fishing

Matching— topic to speaker:
16.  The consecrated life   D.  Elder D. Todd Christofferson
17.  Choose faith      C.  Bishop Richard C. Edgely
18.  Character and integrity  A. Elder Richard G. Scott
19.  Courageous parenting   B. Elder Larry Lawrence
20.  Trust in God  E.  President Henry B. Eyring

TIEBREAKER:  Which speaker lost his voice in the middle of his talk?  President Uchtdorf (did anyone notice that they edited that part out on the video archive?)

General Conference Meme and Trivia Contest

Posted in Divinity by

Who knew General Conference could be so much fun?

First, the new round of General Conference Book Club started already.  Go here if you want to participate this time.

Second, the meme.  Make a post on your blog with your answers to the questions below.  Then paste the link to your post in the comments here so we can all go read about your General Conference Highlights.  (If I were a real blogger, I’d know how to do one of those blog carnival- Mr. Linky things, but alas, I don’t.  Sorry.)

Here are my own answers.  (If you want a cleaner cut-and-paste of the questions, you can get them here.)

General Conference Highlights, October 2010:

1.  Who were your three favorite speakers?

Elder Holland (but my kids were still getting settled into Conference mode, so I need to go back and watch it again), President Uctdorf, and Elder Lawrence

2.  Favorite talk?

Elder Bednar’s talk about daily striving for the Holy Ghost, mostly because it had some specific answers I was seeking.

3.  Favorite hymn sung during Conference?

I have two.  One was “Home is where the Heart Is” sung by the family choir, and the other was “Lead, Kindly Light.”  But most of the music was just beautiful.  I especially loved hearing Clark sing along to “I am a Child of God” at the top of his lungs from our couch.

4.  Who wore the best tie?

I’d have to give the fashion props to Bishop Richard C. Edgely for his PURPLE striped tie.  Nice.

5.  Do you think conference had a “theme”?

Well, yes and no.  I felt like the Saturday morning session theme could have been “Simple Christian Discipleship,” and Saturday afternoon’s was more like “Exercise faith despite Satan’s efforts to destroy agency.”  On Sunday, the topics were more varied, so I didn’t see an obvious theme among them.  All great, though.

6.  Share a few of your favorite quotes (paraphrasing is fine).

I got a little carried away here.  Don’t feel like you need to do this many.

“Parents do not need to be perfect, just honest and sincere. . . . The world will teach our children if we do not.”  Sister Wixom

“The Lord will not repeat to us individually what he has already revealed to us collectively.”  Elder McConkie

“True success comes in consecrating our time and choices to God’s purposes.”  Elder Christofferson

“We are responsible for our own faith or lack of it. . . . When you don’t understand something, bridge the gap with your faith and move on.”  Bishop Edgely

“When we always remember Him, He can stand with us at all times, in all things, and in all places.” Elder Gong

“The road of discipleship is not for the spiritually faint of heart.”  Elder Andersen

“We become what we want to be by being what we want to become.” Elder Scott

“Our agency is more powerful than the adversary and his will.”  President Packer

“A prayerful life is the key to developing gratitude.”  President Monson

“Tell the brethren if they will follow the Spirit of the Lord, they will go right.”  Elder Bednar, quoting Joseph Smith

“There are no perfect parents, but there are principles of truth we can rely on.”  Elder Lawrence

7.  Something that made you smile during conference.

Elder Holland talking about women who spend a week at girls camp without mascara, plus his referring to quilts, jello and funeral potatoes.  And President Monson taking credit for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s great music.

8.  Any evidence that your children paid attention?

I loved watching my boys take notes during President Monson’s talk, and then reading what they wrote.  I could see they were really paying attention.  Natalie did much better this time around and got excited each time she saw the prophet.  At one point, when Elder Lawrence made the analogy of saving your daughter from on oncoming train on the tracks, Clark turned to me and said, “You’d do that for Natalie, right?”  I nodded yes, and he said, “Definitely!”

9.  If you had to give a talk in General Conference (don’t faint, this is hypothetical), what do you think you’d speak about?

This question is a lot harder to answer than I thought it would be, but if I woke up tomorrow and found out I had to go give a talk right then, I think it would be about our small and simple acts as symbols of the Savior and his mission, probably with an emphasis on motherhood.

10.  What are some of your post-conference goals?

Oh, so many.  Here are a few:  Make my use of time reflect what I value most.  Be more Christ-like in my marriage.  Don’t just see what is lacking, but be grateful for what I have.  Be more prayerful.  Be more stripling– obedient with exactness, strict to remember from day to day.  Make home-for-dinner a priority.

___________________________________________

Third, our General Conference trivia contest.  Again, I wish I had blog skills and could create some cool form so you could submit your answers and no one else could see them, but I’m not that high-tech.  So send me your answers in an email to dd.stephanie@gmail.com.  (Make sure you tell me your name.) The winner will get President Monson’s recently-released biography:

1.  Name two of the new temples that were announced.

2.  What did President Monson ask young couples to begin preparing for now?

3.  Two different speakers based their talk on the same previous talk about Following the Prophet.  Who gave it originally?

4. Elder McConkie said that “what matters most in learning is the attitude of  (whom) “?

5.  According to President Uctdorf, in family relationships, love is spelled … (how?)…?

6.  What happened to Elder Hales as a young boy when his dad asked him to varnish the floor?

7.   President Brigham Young once said that moving to (where?) was “out of the frying pan into the fire, and out of the fire onto the floor.”

8.  One young missionary offered to marry Elder Gong’s wife after she did what?

9.  President Packer told parents to “Wake up and understand what’s going on!”  What plague was he referring to?

10.  What did the children in one elementary school decide to vote on during show and tell?  (from President Packer’s talk)

11.  President Monson told the story of a family who lost all their crops due to rain, but were still grateful.  What did they eat for their Thanksgiving dinner?

12.  Elder Bednar told a story about Joseph Smith speaking to the President of the United States.  When he inquired about the difference between our religion and others, what was one of the points Joseph answered him?

13.  Elder Malm spoke about a hollow tree he saw lining a street in Sweden.  What did he see when he looked inside the hole?

14.  Elder Allred told his wife’s story about working on a farm.  What happened that caused her to exclaim, “You stupid cow!!”?

15.  Elder Ballard compared Satan’s tricks and counterfeits to what outdoor sport?

Matching— topic to speaker:

16.  The consecrated life              A. Elder Richard G. Scott

17.  Choose faith                            B. Elder Larry Lawrence

18.  Character and integrity         C.  Bishop Richard C. Edgely

19.  Courageous parenting           D.  Elder D. Todd Christofferson

20.  Trust in God                           E.  President Henry B. Eyring

TIEBREAKER:  Which speaker lost his voice in the middle of his talk?

___________________________________________

Yay.  Good luck!  Remember, post your meme link in the comments.  Send your trivia answers to my email.  I’ll announce the winner on Wednesday.  (If there’s a tie for number of correct answers, I’ll do a drawing among the winners.)

General Conference Book Club Week 1: Your Favorites

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Wasn’t it fantastic?
Don’t you feel like you want to remember everything you learned and felt?

Join us this time around in our General Conference Book Club. We will study one talk each week until the next Conference in April. We can discuss them in the comments, share our insights, and express our testimonies. It’s a way to encourage and uplift one another, and a pacemaker for your personal gospel study. Click here for more information on how GCBC works.

Today, at the close of General Conference, President Monson gave us this challenge:

“Take the time to read the conference talks. . . . They are deserving of our careful study.”

Tune in tomorrow for our General Conference trivia contest and a meme post you can cut and paste onto your own blog to discuss your personal Conference favorites. (More details here.)

So for week one, as we wait for all the talk texts to be posted, please share in the comments below some of the highlights for you as you watched General Conference this weekend— messages, impressions, testimony, favorites, etc.  What things stand out most in your mind and heart?