“How I Bring General Conference Insights into My Life Each Day,” Liahona, Sept. 2024, United States and Canada Section.
How I Bring General Conference Insights into My Life Each Day
Keeping inspired messages in the forefront of my mind.
I always look forward to general conference. The uplifting talks fill my soul and recharge my spiritual battery by reminding me of the teachings of my Savior and how I can apply them in my life. The guidance and inspiration I receive on how to navigate life’s difficulties are priceless! I desire to keep these encouraging messages at the forefront of my mind.
For years, I took notes from each general conference talk but never looked at those notes again. At the completion of the October 2021 conference, I felt impressed to incorporate my notes into my life. My new plan took key thoughts from my notes and focused on one thought a week for the next six months. That gave me a message to focus on every week until the next conference.
This practice follows the prophet’s counsel to study general conference teachings. “I exhort you to study the messages of this conference frequently—even repeatedly—during the next six months,” President Russell M. Nelson said. “Conscientiously look for ways to incorporate these messages in your family home evenings, your gospel teaching, your conversations with family and friends, and even your discussions with those not of our faith.”
As a single mother of four single adults, this strategy helps me refocus and refine my goals to become a better person and mother and to strive to become more like the Savior each day.
My process is not the only way to study conference. I offer it as a suggestion as you make your own plan to implement the teachings of general conference in your life. Here’s how it works for me:
I listen to each talk and write the important insights that touch my heart, as well as thoughts I receive from the Spirit. At the end of each session, I listen to the Spirit as I highlight one or two things from each talk that I feel I need to work on or that will remind me how to become more Christlike.
Then I choose 26 highlighted thoughts and assign one a week until the next general conference. I type the thoughts into a list and assign each a Sunday date. I place this list on my bathroom mirror as a reminder. I also assign these weekly thoughts on my phone calendar. Each Sunday I receive a reminder to start a new focus. This thought will be at the front of my mind as I pray each morning for help throughout the day. Each night, I review with Heavenly Father how I did that day.
I post a list of general conference messages on my bathroom mirror to remind myself of what I’d like to work on until the next conference.
Here is an example of the first month of my calendar after last conference:
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April 7: Read Doctrine and Covenants 109 (the Kirtland Temple dedicatory prayer).
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April 14: Say “thank you,” “I’m sorry,” and “I love you.” Say them often and sincerely.
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April 21: Unkind feelings or thoughts toward others will cause the Spirit to withdraw from us.
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April 28: Have confidence in the covenants made with God through Jesus Christ. Honor the covenants we have made.
As I’ve implemented this plan, I’ve felt closer to the Spirit. I am reminded of the thoughts that touched my heart during general conference. I apply them each day instead of closing my notebook after conference, never to look at my notes again. I still enjoy relistening to the conference talks. But now I also have a weekly focus from my personal notes.
President Nelson reminds us that general conference messages can bring us closer to our Savior: “We hear Him as we heed the words of prophets, seers, and revelators. Ordained Apostles of Jesus Christ always testify of Him. They point the way as we make our way through the heart-wrenching maze of our mortal experiences.”
The author lives in Utah.