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 a few years, 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 later” (though that’s a perfectly legitimate choice if there’s absolutely no other way for you to catch it).

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

Set a goal. Try to watch every session live. If that’s not possible, watch as many as you can, and then set a date and time when you’ll watch the ones you missed.
Save the date. As much as possible, set these two weekends aside and clear your calendar of any soccer games, Saturday dates, or other conflicts. Sunday should be easy, of course. To our friends in Australia and New Zealand: still make it an event and set a date to watch it, whenever that may be.

Photograph from Adobe Stock
Have some traditions. Some meaningful traditions can include family discussions or walks, family prayer, or compiling a personal quote collection. Fun traditions could involve food—meals (perhaps a pre-conference fry-up, post-conference pizza, or some between-sessions chili con conference) or snacks (conference crisps, nachos grandes de conferencia, inspiration ice cream, or conference carrots).

Photograph from Adobe Stock
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.