Tag Archives: General Conference

I’m ashamed to admit it…

Posted in Divinity by

… but I think I’m in a post-Conference funk.  I felt so uplifted and even fired up as I watched General Conference this past weekend, and my mind was swirling with goals and self-improvement– in an honestly hopeful way that was buoyed up by the Spirit of it all.

But today I’m not feeling it.  Maybe I’m just discouraged because I’m no different than I was last week.  That’s, admittedly, a little ridiculous.  I guess I just have not figured out any specific ways to implement all the good ideas I felt, so I’m kind of limboish— stuck between the same-old-me and the me-I-felt-inspired-to-be.  Hmmm.

I just sat here and stared at my last paragraph for the last few minutes and these are the two thoughts that came to my mind:

1.  In April General Conference, President Uctdorf shared a story about a man who was struggling with his faith.  President Uctdorf mailed him a letter with suggestions of things to do, and then received a letter from him in return only a week or so later.  The letter said, in essence, “I tried what you said.  It didn’t work.  What else have you got?”  President Uctdorf went on to explain that you can’t rush matters of testimony, and I suspect you cant rush matters of change or improvement or repentance either.  It’s a process, like much of the gospel is, and perhaps requires more patience than I’ve been willing to grant myself in this short period of time.  And right now my thoughts hopped to Elder Bednar’s counsel to “Be Consistent.”  Don’t give up, keep trying, and wait patiently for the “change” to come.

2.  Michael McLean has a song called “Gentle.” (Unnecessary tangent:  When I was in junior high and high school, I was a squeaky clean kid who would come home from school, plop down on my bed with my pink and green backpack, pop in a Janice Kapp Perry or Michael McLean cassette tape, and do my homework until I fell into a peaceful nap.  I still like several genres of Christian music, but now I can hardly stomach that stuff from my youth.  The whole cheesy, emotional, psued0-spiritual sap kind of makes me nauseous.  But I do still like this one song.  Anyway . . .)  These words just did a little tap dance across the stage in my brain:

We’ve been hurt by others often.  We’ve forgiven and forgotten.  We should be more gentle with ourselves.

Oh, apparently there’s one more thought:

3.  Pray about it.  Duh, Stephanie, pray.  Some day I will learn to think of this first.  (It would probably prevent pathetic blog posts.)

I do feel a little better just for having purged out the frustration and getting some clarifying thoughts back in return.  Has anyone else had this same struggle this week?  What helps you to get through it without backing off your 4- or 5-day-old conviction to rise up and refine yourself?

General Conference Book Club Week 1: Your favorites

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“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.

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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.

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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.

General Conference Preparation

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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.

How stay-at-home moms go clubbing

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clubbingI don’t care how dedicated you are to motherhood, every woman needs some friend time.  Adult conversation and empathetic encouragement do wonders for a tired (and snot-covered) soul.  Maybe I only speak for myself here, but “clubbing” in its traditional sense is the last thing I need.  I get enough noise, annoying pick-up lines (“Mom, I dropped my spoon again.  Will you pick it up?”), and spilled drinks at my own house.  I prefer good, uplifting conversation, and really connecting with other women.  Blogging has been a great tool for this.  Anyway, I dedicate this post to two clubs that may help you meet some of those needs as well:  Make-ahead Meal Club, and the new General Conference Book Club.

I recently started a Make-ahead Meal Club as an enrichment group for the ladies at church.  I’ve loved it, and just wanted to pass along the details (plus some of you said you were interested) so that you can maybe duplicate this among some of your friends/acquaintences/neighbors.  Here’s a copy of the original invitation to show how mine works:meals

I will be starting a monthly Make-Ahead-Meal Exchange where several of us can prepare one meal in bulk, come together and exchange them, and go home with several meals we can just pull out of the freezer on a busy day.

Objective: learn new recipes, get together briefly with girlfriends from church (invite friends and neighbors to participate, too), save time cooking and have dinner on hand for crazy days.

Scheduling:

First Thursday of each month
7:30 p.m – 8:30 p.m.
at my house

Details:

1.  Pick a meal that can be frozen and saved for later.  It should be an entree/casserole/hot dish/main course.  The club will not exchange side dishes or desserts.  The recipe should feed 6-8 people.  (If you have a smaller family, then leftovers will last longer!)  Make FIVE of it (plus any extras you want to keep for yourself).

2.  Put meals in disposable, freezer-safe containers:  freezer-bags, gladware, or aluminum-foil baking dishes and label it clearly.

3.  Make 5 copies of the recipe, complete with preparation instructions.

4.  Bring the five dishes ready to exchange on M-A-M Exchange night.  We will choose a random order and then take turns selecting meals to take home.  Each person will leave with five meals.  (Be sure to make something that you know your family will eat and enjoy *just in case* it’s not all selected by others you end up taking a couple back home among your five.)

5.  Bring a big cooler or box you can use to happily carry off your dinner haul. 🙂

6.  Eat a light refreshment and visit briefly with friends.

And no one has to RSVP.  The more that show up the merrier, but if there are only two of you, then you still split up the meals you made and they made and save them in the freezer for another day.  Also, if someone doesn’t have time or budget, they could always make fewer meals and then take home as many as they brought.  It’s pretty slick.  We’ve done it for two months now.  The first month, 5 showed up.  This month there were 6, and I keep hearing from others that they’re interested in trying it out.  I’ve really enjoyed it a lot.  It’s a totally guilt-free girls’ night out that benefits your family too.

Next club up:  General Conference Book Club (GCBC, because every club needs a cool acronym).  The idea here is that we (an online community of moms and friends) commit to studying one talk a week from the most recent General Conference (see this post if you feel confused).  By the way, I really do TRY to control my use of parentheses, but I just can’t help myself.  (See?!)  I realize that the Ensign won’t be published for several weeks, but I felt anxious to start anyway while we (I) feel the momentum and desire.  So our first few talks can be found and printed online.  Sue Q suggested making a new blog for it, but to be honest, I don’t feel that ambitious, so I’ll make this a regular Sunday installment on my blog here.  Look, I even made a cute little image that we can use like a button (if I can ever figure out how to do that).

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So watch this Sunday for round one.  There will be a talk #1 announcement and then you have all week to study and ponder the talk.  The following Sunday, I will post my own insights about the talk and you can do the same in the comments section.  This is one of those occasions where it’s completely acceptable to have many long-winded comments.  And I’m not bent on the main post always being mine.  Feel free to volunteer to guest -post the talk review and the rest of us will chat in the comments.  Each Sunday I will also announce the talk we’ll be studying the following week.  I’m open for suggestions if there are talks you want to read and study right away.  I think the comment thread will be really cool.  I don’t know if you’ve noticed before, but my comments are set up so that you can reply to another person’s comment and it will squeeze yours right under theirs as a response.  It’s kind of fun and conversational.  Anyway, I hope you’re in, and we’ll start this coming Sunday.  I’m excited.

Alright, ladies, let’s get clubbing.  🙂

General Conference: a crash course in good guilt

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Dnews Sunday AM ConferenceFor any of my readers unfamiliar with the Mormon faith, we believe in a living prophet and twelve apostles.  Every 6 months, the membership of the church worldwide participates in General Conference, usually watching on TV by satellite as these prophets, seers and revelators teach us about the doctrine of Christ.  It’s kind of a modern-day Sermon on the Mount.  Anyway, it’s one of my favorite times of the year; a time of spiritual refueling and a re-commitment to things that I know are true and right.

I like to think that I’ve matured spiritually a little bit over the years.  I personally believe that one of the signs of spiritual maturity is to listen to talks and lessons and seek for ways to apply the principles to my own life instead of thinking things like, “I hope so-and-so is paying attention to this,” or “The such-and-such family should really hear this talk.”  I’ve finally determined that passing off a teaching to another is a wasted opportunity to better myself.  Having said that, I can totally understand Matt’s excitement to run home from the Priesthood session of Conference on Saturday night and say to me, “You’ll never guess what President Uctdorf said.  You’re going to die!”  I raised an eyebrow while he flipped through his notes.  “He said Don’t spend hours and hours creating a blog and neglecting your children.”

So I have decided to leave the church.

Just kidding.

This leads me to the concept of conference-induced guilt.  And like the title of my post says, it’s a good thing.  What I feel is not a Boy-you’re-making-a-lot-of-mistakes-and-you-are-a-failure feeling, but rather a humbling You-are-trying-but-you-can-do-better feeling.  And it’s good for me.  It motivates me, reminds me, encourages me.  It re-converts me.

So here is a list of things that I learned from General Conference this weekend.  Some are things that were specifically said.  Many are thoughts that came into my mind and heart as I listened.

  1. I’m thankful that there are living prophets on the earth.
  2. My children have been driving me crazy this past week, but I love them.  I need to make them a priority.  And besides teaching them, I need to pray for them and ask God to bless them to grow up righteous and obedient.
  3. I need to laugh more instead of getting bugged.
  4. The temple is important.  As the world gets crazier, the need for the peace of the temple will grow and grow.  Maybe I can eliminate something from my budget so that I can pay a regular babysitter and put temple attendance as a regular item on my calendar.
  5. I don’t even know what real adversity is.  My life, though sometimes emotionally challenging is a piece of cake compared to some of the great challenges other people have faced.  Instead of complaining about my bad days, I should be grateful for my abundant blessings and ease.
  6. I  need to be more worried about what God thinks than what anyone else thinks.
  7. The depth of Jesus Christ’s Atonement is awesome.  I am reminded that my small, occasional feelings of loneliness  can be swallowed up and comforted by a loving, completely understanding Savior.  (Elder Holland’s was my very favorite talk.)
  8. Satan is working hard to destroy things that are important.  When I get in a grumpy funk, I’m not the best companion in the world.  I need to be careful that I don’t let that kind of temptation/distraction be a detriment to my marriage. I’m sure Satan would love to see it fail.
  9. I can give a little more to my calling at church.  My Sundays should be spent in service to others.  Ask myself, “How can I bless people today?”  Perhaps I need to visit more of the children to show love to them.  I need to teach reverence and respect to the Primary children, starting with my own example.
  10. When someone is lost or stranded spiritually, we should reach out to them and not judge.

I’m sure that when I re-read the talks in the Ensign magazine, many other things will stand out to me and I will again desire to do better.  Is anyone interested in having an online Ensign Book Club?  We could schedule one talk a week to study from the most recent conference, and then have an in-post discussion about our favorite parts and insights– lessons we learn, things to work on, etc.  I’m not sure about all the details, but I would love to have a forum where we could study something together and report to each other about our insight.  Just a thought.

How was Conference for you?