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7 Days of General Conference Prep
Preparations made for King Benjamin’s address can inspire our own pattern of preparing for general conference.
In the Service of Your God, by Walter Rane
Isn’t it insightful that Mosiah 2 doesn’t simply begin with King Benjamin giving his address? Instead, the first eight verses of that chapter reveal an important aspect of King Benjamin’s address—they show intentional preparation that individuals, families, and leaders made to prepare their hearts and minds to hear the messages from the prophet, King Benjamin. Some examples include:
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An invitation was given to everyone to come and listen (verse 1).
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This invitation was acted on in response to instruction from a prophet (see Mosiah 1:10).
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Individuals and families prepared and offered a special sacrifice (verse 3).
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They gave thanks for all God had done for them (verse 4).
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They journeyed to the temple and found individual spaces for their families (verse 5).
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They pitched their tents toward the temple so they could remain there and hear the prophet (verse 6).
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They sent out written messages of the teachings so everyone could receive the words spoken (verse 8).
I love this example of preparing to hear the prophet of God! Perhaps these verses about preparation are included in the Book of Mormon to inspire us to prepare intentionally for general conference or for any messages from God’s prophets throughout the year.
The last few years, I’ve tried to prepare intentionally for general conference the week before, and it’s made my conference experience more meaningful in many beautiful ways! If you’d like to try seven days of intentional general conference prep, here are some ideas based on verses from Mosiah 2.
7 Days of Preparation for General Conference—A Pattern from Mosiah 2:1–8
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7 Days of General Conference Prep | |
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1. Invite all to come and listen (verse 1). |
1. Invite others to view general conference. |
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2. Act on a prophet’s instruction (Mosiah 1:10). |
2. Act on current invitations from prophets. |
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3. Offer a sacrifice and burnt offering (verse 3). |
3. Pray about something you can sacrifice to better receive God’s word. |
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4. Give thanks for all God has done (verse 4). |
4. Give thanks for how your life has been blessed by teachings from previous general conferences. |
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5. Journey to the temple and find spaces for their families (verse 5). |
5. Create a sacred space for listening to general conference. |
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6. Pitch their tents toward the prophet; remain and hear (verse 6). |
6. Evaluate how well your heart is turned toward the prophets, and prepare to “remain … and hear.” |
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7. Send out the messages in writing (verse 8). |
7. Prepare a plan for future conference study. |
Day 1: Invite others to view general conference. You can invite others one-on-one or send out an invite to all of your social media friends. Get creative about other ways you could share an invitation in your community! You might create a fun invitation for your family or roommates at home to signify the special event and blessings of learning from prophets and Church leaders.
Day 2: Act on current invitations from prophets. We can show Heavenly Father we’re ready to receive instruction and act on it by acting on teachings we have already received. Consider reading through previous talks from prophets and apostles and acting on invitations they gave.
Day 3: Pray about something you can sacrifice to better receive God’s word. Consider what sacrifice you might make this week to show Heavenly Father you are ready to hear more from Him. For instance, inspired by two previous invitations from President Russell M. Nelson to hold a social media fast, I’ve found it helpful to sacrifice social media (except to share about general conference) and even other non-Church media leading up to general conference. It helps to clear my mind to focus more on Jesus Christ and His word. We can each pray for inspiration to know what sacrifice would best help us individually to prepare.
Day 4: Give thanks for how your life has been blessed by teachings from previous general conferences. Consider how your life has been blessed as you’ve acted on previous general conference teachings. Express thanks to Heavenly Father for those teachings and blessings. You might even record your thoughts in your journal or share your experiences with loved ones.
Day 5: Create a sacred space for listening to general conference. Whether you will be listening to general conference in a meetinghouse, your home, a quiet park, or your workplace, see if there’s a way to prepare that space as a “house of learning” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:8). Consider simple ways you can, as President Nelson taught regarding the Sabbath, “remodel your home [or other places] into a center of gospel learning” for general conference, such as tidying up or even temporarily removing potential distractions.
Day 6: Evaluate how well your heart is turned toward the prophets, and prepare to “remain … and hear.” When I think of the people pitching their tents toward the prophet, I’m reminded to evaluate how well I’m facing the prophets. We can consider reviewing “Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods” from President Nelson and “Which Way Do You Face?” from Elder Lynn G. Robbins, emeritus General Authority Seventy. They ask wonderful questions about how well we are facing toward God and His prophets. In doing so, we can open our hearts to repent and to be more ready to follow God’s commandments in the upcoming general conference.
I also love how King Benjamin’s people prepared to “remain … and hear” without needing to leave their tents when he spoke. When I was younger, I sometimes considered the music of general conference as a good break time, but now I realize that the music is also an important part of conference teachings. I try to prepare better to learn from that part of general conference so I can “remain” throughout all two hours of each session. That may be difficult with children or special circumstances, but we might consider if there is anything we can prepare (such as snacks or activities for children or even making sure we’re getting to bed early to remain alert) so we can reduce needs to leave general conference during sessions and instead “remain … and hear” (Mosiah 2:6) as King Benjamin’s people did.
Day 7: Prepare a plan for future conference study. As in the days of King Benjamin, our prophets today have their words made available to everyone through the Liahona or Gospel Library app. Make a plan now to study the words of the prophets after conference so that you’re ready to go! For instance, learn how to create a study plan in the Gospel Library app, or subscribe to the Liahona in print or digital formats at MagazineSubscriptions.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
You can also review the article “Our General Conference Walk and Talk” by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for more ideas on how we can be ready to act on teachings from prophets and other Church leaders.