When our children were growing up we had many General Conference traditions around food and participation. Today General Conference is about me – our children are grown and gone, several of them do not participate in church and neither does my husband. None of our earlier traditions seem to fit my circumstance and so I’ve developed my own General Conference traditions. My mantra is to keep things small & simple. Nothing overwhelming.
Preparation:
For several weeks before conference I direct my prayers to being open to the spirit and receiving counsel offered to me at General Conference, I also pray for those who are going to speak that they will be receptive to the spirit. During my morning devotional time, I examine where I am and what I think I need and I prepare questions that I hope will be answered during conference. This year I am particularly asking for “ears to hear” counsel given.
I can’t quite give up some of the things that made conference fun in the past so I’ve planned a few fun conference activities. I bought new jammies. My old ones are falling off me because I am losing weight. I want to make both morning sessions snuggle time, so new jammies, gathering snuggly blankets and pillows. I’ve also collected my notebook and special pens. I don’t want to spend my conference time preparing food or treats and I don’t want to eat my way through conference, so this year I am sticking to my intermittent fasting schedule, simple veggies, fats and protein for the afternoon session and my latest & best version of apple crisp and ice cream with my husband after the women’s session on Saturday night.
I’m Ready!
Watching:
I watch & listen at my computer with Twitter up on the other screen for both morning sessions. I watch from the couch in the living room for the afternoon sessions – I might sneak in a brief nap.
Having Twitter up helps me with quotes that I missed and lets me be part of the excitement from members around the world. One of the things I miss most is the social aspect of conference and Twitter gives me a sense of a community of believers.
I don’t take lots of notes – I do write down name each speaker and then if I hear something that I feel is directed to me I take brief, simple notes and put a star by the speaker. This will prompt me to go back and review that talk.
Putting Conference into action:
This year I’ve made a commitment to share what I have learned at church, so I am planning to make some of my favorite quotes pretty and share them on Facebook, that’s the first action that I will take as General Conference ends. Then I do a little bit of review, mostly reviewing my notes and making a list of the talks I want to listen to again. The week after conference I spend my morning devotional time writing what I thought I heard that applied to me and planning what I can add to what I am already doing. I also evaluate if there is something that I need to modify or change. I start listening again to those talks that I starred during Conference weekend. Small & Simple – not over whelming.
That’s it – this is how I will be celebrating General Conference – what do you do to make General Conference special in your home?
