FHE: Preparing Your Family for General Conference

General Conference is simply my favorite. Not only do you get to listen to the prophets of today speak to us directly, but we get to attend in our pajamas, enjoying the teachings of the Lord in our most comfortable environment, our home.

This weeks lesson came directly from Dieter F. Uchtdorf, the Second counselor in the First Presidency. This talk was originally given in September, 2011, but I found it so incredibly useful to our family at this time. The talk can be found HERE. (Available to download, print, listen or share on social media sites)

The talk is divided up into three parts, making it easy to discuss each part as a family.

Part 1:

1. Members of the Church are entitled to personal revelation as they listen to and study the inspired words spoken at general conference.

Discuss with your family the importance of feeling the Holy Ghost during Conference, to listening closely not only to the speakers, but for the Still, Small voice. We used the image below and asked ourselves and each other what questions we'd like to find answers to during General Conference this session. 

Part 2:

2. Don’t discount a message merely because it sounds familiar.

For this portion we discussed similar themes and topics, writing them down in bright colors on a piece of paper, and discussing the reasons why these themes and topics come back up during the sessions.

We also discussed what we as a family could do to be better at following the advice given with the themes and topics given, such as being better parents, forgiveness, studying the scriptures, etc. 

Part 3:

3. The words spoken at general conference should be a compass that points the way for us during the coming months.

According to the Article they advised we read 1 Nephi 16. We then discussed the last Session of General Conference and what we have learned, gained and what advice we have followed from the prophets since then. 

Part 4: Prepare yourself and your family to listen to General Conference. Explain to your children why General Conference is important to your family. Discuss ways you can make it the most efficient time for you all to hear what the Lord is trying to tell you. Many members create Conference Notebooks and take notes, others (like myself) use Printables from Pinterest to make the note-taking process less complicated (read: chaotic and messy). 

Make sure that if you use electronic devices during conference that you are tuned in to Conference still. I use Twitter the most during conference, because there is always people live tweeting what the prophets said word for word, and I can "favorite" those quotes to copy down later. Use the internet or radio to listen to it if you need to travel during conference. 

We always cook our meals ahead of time to get food as a family between sessions. We try to make  Conference as laid-back of a time as possible, dedicating our time to the Lord and his teachings. We clean ahead of time, and get our weekend chores finished as soon as possible, to avoid having tasks that must be done during conference.