PREPARING FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE

D&C 43:8 "And now, behold, I give unto you a commandment, that when ye are assembled together ye shall instruct and edify each other, that ye may know how to act and direct my church, how to act upon the points of my law and commandments, which I have given."

On Sunday, April 4th, the Christian world will celebrate an extremely important event, the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I grew up in a non-active LDS home. Easter Sunday was not a time for our family to celebrate Christ, but it was a time for the Easter bunny, Easter baskets, new clothes, picnics, fun, and games. It wasn't until many, many years after becoming an adult with a family of my own that I learned the importance of this very sacred occasion.

This year, general conference for the church falls on this sacred celebration of Christ and I can't wait to hear what the general authorities, particularly our beloved Prophet, will tell us about this sacred event. I have learned that some preparation on my part will put me in a position to "receive" the full benefit of general conference. I know that a trip to the temple just prior to conference is essential for me. Fasting, praying about conference, and directing my scriptural study on the "topic" will also help me.

We do not have children in our home any longer and unfortunately, when we did, we did not really "prepare" them properly. Watching general conference was boring to them and now, how I wish we had taken time to make them realize what a blessing it is to be able to receive instruction from the great men and women leading us in the church. In the March, 2009, issue of the ENSIGN MAGAZINE there is an article entitled, "Preparing our Children for General Conference." There are a number of ideas given in the article that will help children learn from conference. Some of these are:

1. Removing the spread with photos of the General Authorities from the most recent general conference edition of the ENSIGN. Use it to help children learn to identify the names of the speakers.
2. Spending time the week prior to conference talking about how exciting it will be to hear the prophet talk to us.
3. Giving children their own little conference journal in order for them to take notes or draw pictures and then giving them a chance to share their notes/drawings at dinner following the session.
4. Completing all chores, homework, grocery shopping and other standard weekend activities by Friday night so conference weekend can be free of distractions.
5. Developing family traditions that happen only at conference time; i.e., holding a family testimony meeting at family home evening following conference, or preparing special food dishes only at conference time.
6. Providing special treats or snacks for the family to eat while watching/ listening to conference.

There are many suggestions given in this article and I encourage everyone to pull out the article or call it up on the computer and review it. Do it now, then you and your family will be ready when the time for general conference comes.

Love, Kathi