Tag Archives: General Conference

Behold, a blog-stuff extravaganza!

Posted in About Blogs by

We now take a break from deep thoughts to just have a little bit of fun.  It’s like a three-ring blog circus:

  1. General Conference Blog-sharing Activity/Contest
  2. Comment Prize Giveaway
  3. Post-It Awards

General Conference Blog-sharing Activity/Contest

It’s been a long time since I participated in a meme (don’t worry, I had to look it up once, too–it’s basically some kind of questionnaire that you can fill out and pass along to others).  I thought it would be fun to have an extra reason to pay careful attention at Conference.  Here are the meme questions:

General Conference Highlights, October 2010:

1.  Who were your three favorite speakers?

2.  Favorite talk?

3.  Favorite hymn sung during Conference?

4.  Who wore the best tie?

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

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

7.  Something that made you smile during conference.

8.  Any evidence that your children paid attention?

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?

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

On Monday morning, I’ll post my own answers here on this blog and you can post your answers on your blog.  (You can cut and paste the questions and just fill in the blanks with your answers.)  Then just leave a link to your post in the comments on Monday’s post here.  That way I (and other readers) can check out what you had to say.   And you can invite your readers to do the same thing so you can find out their conference highlights.

Also, on my Monday post, I’ll post a General Conference trivia quiz.  Whoever has the most points will be entered into a drawing for a prize!  (Not sure what yet, but something cool.  Oooh, I know.  How about President Monson’s new biography?)  Monday will be a fun day.

Comment Prize Giveaway

Now, any of you who have a blog know that blog comments are like little Christmas presents.  They make you happy.  My little ol’ blog has been up and running here since last March and I just noticed in my stats recently that I’m eerily close to getting my 5,000th comment!  I know some people get that many comments in a week, but whatever.  I still felt like celebrating.  So whoever makes magical comment number 5,000 will win another prize.  I’ll figure out what after I peruse your blog and think of something fun.  Just wanted to do something to say thanks to my fantastic readers for giving me so many little comment-gifts over the last couple years.

Post-It Awards

Here are some of my recent favorite September posts from BlogLand.  Several of them are from the the September Celebration of Family from Cocoa and Jocelyn‘s blogs.  Enjoy!


What is Real from Chocolate on my Cranium , written by Misfit Cygnet

Eternal Families from Chocolate on my Cranium, written by Allison Kimball

On Women and Men: Can’t We Just Get Along from Mormon Mommy Blogs, written by Braden Bell

Stage Two from Tatro Family

Presence from Mommy Snark

Peace of Mind for Fifty-Eight Cents from Write Stuff

We are where we are for a reason from THE MEANEST MOM

Love from Sweet & Simple Truths of the Gospel

Making Service A Way of Life For Your Family from We Talk of Christ, We Rejoice In Christ, written by Misty

Warnings and Forewarnings In The Family Proclamation from We Talk of Christ, We Rejoice In Christ, written by Susan

Lucy from Rabbit in the Headlights

It’s that time of year: General Conference packets and preparation

Posted in Divinity by

In case you’ve landed here via a search engine, for the most recent packets and resources, go here.

The countdown to General Conference has begun.  This coming weekend is the general Relief Society broadcast, and then on October 2-3, we will have the opportunity to hear the Lord’s voice:  “whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” (D&C 1:38). I love General Conference, especially when I prepare for it.  I get answers to questions I’ve prayed about, and even insight into questions I haven’t asked, but the Lord knows I have.  General Conference recharges my spiritual batteries.  It deepens my faith in my Heavenly Father, in His plan, and in myself.  Here are a few links to help you begin your General Conference preparations.

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
Junior Primary Packet
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.

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,”

“Preparing Our Children for General Conference,”

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

Henry B. Eyring, “Safety in Counsel,”

And don’t forget to gear up for the next round of General Conference Book Club.  If you’ve never joined us before, consider checking in this time when General Conference is over and then studying one talk a week all the way until Conference rolls around again.

“Many messages, covering a variety of gospel topics, will be given during the next two days. Those men and women who will speak to you have sought heaven’s help concerning the messages they will give. It is my prayer that we may be filled with His Spirit as we listen and learn.”  [Opening session, April 2010]

“I urge you to study the messages, to ponder their teachings, and then to apply them in your life…. May the messages and spirit of this conference find expression in all that you do—in your homes, in your work, in your meetings, and in all your comings and goings.”  [Closing session, April 2010] ~President Thomas S. Monson

Another installment of “Dear Wise Readers”

Posted in Diapers, Divinity by

Dear wise readers,
This is a post where I temporarily stop pretending that I have all the answers to all the questions in the universe, and I direct some of the more important ones to you, because even General Conference didn’t answer all of my questions (and I was so sure one of the apostles might have tips on muffin pans).  Let’s start there, shall we?

  1. I hate my muffin pans.  The “no-stick” stuff isn’t, and the pans get rusted where it scrapes off, and they’re impossible to clean and keep clean.  Does anyone have a recommendation for muffin pans that they love?  I would prefer for them to be dishwasher safe, but maybe there’s no such thing.
  2. I’m having a little bit of a blog identity crisis.  My entire blog (including the title) is built on the premise that I’ve been changing diapers every day since 2003, and now that’s . . . well, it’s not true anymore.  (Knock on wood.)  All of my children are now potty trained, and only the youngest wears pull-ups at nighttime.  This new development makes me want to sing the Hallelujah chorus to strangers on the street, but as far as blogging goes, it kind of makes me feel like a fraud.  I’ve thought about changing the name of the blog, but that doesn’t seem right because the whole point is the juxtaposition of our daily, menial tasks with our greater, divine mission of motherhood.  What do you think?  (Anyone who suggests that I should fix this problem by having another baby is hereby banned from my blog.  Banned! You hear me?)
  3. Right now I’m feeling a deep love-hate relationship with Cadbury.  That’s not really a question, but I needed to get it off my hips chest.
  4. Do you feel as much joy as I do that Spring is actually in the air?  There’s something so exhilarating about sunshine and warmth after a long cold winter.  (This excitement is counterbalanced by a lovely reminder that soon my body will have to wear a swimsuit.  Probably in public.  Refer to #3.)
  5. All joking aside, I’m anticipating that I will soon experience something I like to call “post-Conference depression.”  It’s the point where a few weeks after General Conference, you realize that you are still the same, lazy person you were before you got all pumped up and energized by the talks.  Anyone who reads my blog knows I love General Conference.  I love it.  I feel like it’s half pep rally/half spiritual boot camp— a veritable showering of truth, encouragement, reproach, exhortation, and Spirit.  I feel brought down and lifted high at the same time.  My heart and my mind have a continual dialogue at Conference, and where they come together in harmony, they leave goals and hopes and iron-clad intentions.  And then a few weeks later, I feel much like the man who asked President Uctdorf for some advice:

I wrote back to him and lovingly suggested a few specific things he could do that would align his life more closely with the teachings of the restored gospel. To my surprise, I heard back from him only a week later. The essence of his letter was this: “I tried what you suggested. It didn’t work. What else have you got?”

Wisely, he entitled this particular section of his talk “The Path of Patience,” and he then explained:

“Brothers and sisters, we have to stay with it. We don’t acquire eternal life in a sprint—this is a race of endurance. We have to apply and reapply the divine gospel principles. Day after day we need to make them part of our normal life.“

So that’s my question:  How do you do that?  How do you take the long list of great things you want to do and actually PUT them in your daily life?  I recognize the reality that Sis. Beck alluded to in this Saturday’s talk: (paraphrased) “There is not time to do all the things your heart desires to do,” and her counsel to seek the direction of the Spirit to identify your priorities (SUCH great advice!), but even then, I need some tips to transition me from the “decided” stage to the “doing” stage.  Come on wise readers, lay it on me.

p.s.  I’m back from Spring Break now, and hope to drop in on more of your blogs soon, where I’ve been obviously (or serendipitously) absent.  🙂

General Conference Book Club Week 1: Favorites

Posted in General Conference Book Club, Uncategorized by

 “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled,  Whether by mine own voice, or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.”  (Doctrine and Covenants 1:38)

Easter is a time of new beginnings, a symbol of renewal.  What better than General Conference to help us shake off the “old self,”  invigorate us with the Spirit, and begin us on a path of spiritual rebirth?

With that, a new round of the General Conference Book Club begins.  Next week, we’ll begin studying one talk from this conference.  For this week, leave in the comments below some of your favorite highlights from this conference.  Favorite talk?  A stand-out quote? Most memorable moments?  Share what you loved and learned.

For those who are new to the General Conference Book Club (GCBC), we’d love to have you join us in our study and discussion.  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.

genconfbutton1

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!

Spring Break, General Conference Packets and other conference preparation strategies

Posted in Divinity by

UPDATE:  For anyone coming to this post looking for a packet for the upcoming conference, you can click here for more links.

—————–

So I’m taking this whole “Spring Break” thing pretty literally and may be more absent here in the blog world for a couple weeks.  I’ll still pop in for General Conference Book Club stuff because (hello!) Conference is right around the corner and it’s one of my favorite parts of Springtime. (Psst, don’t tell anyone, but I might actually go to General Conference.  *squeal*)

In the meantime, I wanted to put up a few great tools to help out with General Conference Preparation.

For children and youth:

Melanie Day at Sugardoodle.com put together some really great packets for small children (mostly coloring), older children (both my kindergartener and 1st grader could do most of it), and for youth (I think adults could use it too!).  They are all specific to the 2010 Spring General Conference and are great for helping your children to pay attention and stay occupied during the talks.  You can find the packets by clicking on this link, then scroll down and download whatever version you want. (There are also several extra links to G.C. resources at the bottom of the page.)

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

Finally, here is an article from the Ensign that I contributed to a while back:  “Preparing Our Children for General Conference.” I can honestly say that my children LOVE conference and look forward to it and usually surprise us with how much they do pay attention.  The article includes some games and activities that have worked smashingly for us in the past.  I hope you can find something helpful there.

For yourself:

This is a pattern I’ve tried to follow in the past, and I’ve learned that it makes my conference experience feel meaningful and personalized.  I’m going to try and start the process now.  Join me?  I’m sure you have some of your own strategies, so I’d love to hear your ideas too.

  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.

Happy preparing.  And happy Spring break.