Getting into the Conference Habit

It comes every April and every October. You’ve gotten used to the semiannual rhythm, perhaps. But how can you make sure it’s really part of your life—for the rest of your life?

In the future, when you’re on your own, what will you be doing every six months when conference rolls around? Make the choice now to harness the power of this twice-a-year event by joining in. Don’t just say, “I’ll watch it online sometime.” Make it a special event and a habit in your life.

Here are some things you might do to get into the general conference habit for good:

Set a goal.

Hearing from living prophets and apostles is one of the most important things you can do. Try to watch every session as soon as you can. Try setting a date and time by which you’ll watch all of them.
Save the date.

As much as possible, set aside time to experience conference and clear your calendar of any sports games, activities with friends, or other conflicts. If you can’t listen to general conference when it’s live, you can still make it an event and set a date to watch it.
Have some traditions.

Some meaningful traditions can include family discussions of favorite talks, family prayer before a session, or compiling a personal quote collection. Fun traditions could involve food—meals or snacks with some fun, conference-related names (conference crisps, nachos grandes de conferencia, inspiration ice cream, or conference carrots).
Have a post-conference plan.

Make the conference talks part of your regular gospel study. You could read a conference talk every Sunday for the next six months, listen to one on the bus or in the car every day for a couple of weeks, or look up all the scriptures from conference during personal scripture study. Whatever you decide, make a plan to do it.