Home-Centered General Conference
I was ready for general conference to end with me doing the same thing I always do.
Laptop? Check. Notebook and pen? Check. Comfy seat to sit in for 10 hours of my weekend? Check.
I love general conference. I love having a whole weekend dedicated to spiritual learning. I love hearing the prophets and leaders of the Church speak. I love talking to friends and family about their thoughts on different talks between sessions. There’s an excitement about it.
As I listened to conference, I received answers to questions I had, I understood doctrine in a new way, and I felt the Spirit. As the Sunday afternoon session of the October 2019 general conference was coming to a close, and President Russell M. Nelson stood up to speak, I was feeling pretty content with myself. For me, conference was about to end with me feeling spiritually full, as I always do. There had been a handful of talks that touched me the most that I would likely go back to study.
But when President Nelson said, “In the next six months, I hope that every member and every family will prepare for a unique conference that will commemorate the very foundations of the restored gospel,”1 I realized that I needed to make a change in what I normally do after conference. So I decided to start studying all of the talks more regularly. I aimed for at least one a day, which felt like a lot with trying to make time for my calling, ministering, family responsibilities, a full-time job, and my normal scripture study!
But as Monday came around, I told my husband that I felt like we needed to try to watch one conference talk every day. Normally, before we go to bed we will watch funny videos together to help us wind down for the day. So we set the goal to watch conference talks instead.
For the first few days, we did really well. But life happens. We got busy or we would be tired, and we would miss a day or two. But just like all things, we would try again the next day.
What helped me change my perspective on general conference was thinking about it the same way we think about Come, Follow Me, which didn’t make church one hour shorter—rather, it made it six days longer.2
The leaders of the Church want us to study and be fed spiritually primarily at home and secondarily at church. When Sunday comes, we’re prepared to share insights and learn from others because we’ve made the gospel home-centered. I realized that I needed to make general conference home-centered to prepare for the next conference.
During general conference, I am often drinking from a firehose of spiritual knowledge. But as I take daily sips from individual talks, I can feel my faith and understanding of the gospel growing.
Now, listening to one conference talk a day may not be feasible for everyone, and that’s OK! Maybe you make it a weekly goal or incorporate the Spirit into your life in other ways.
So now, watching a general conference talk before bed is part of my routine. To me, general conference isn’t just two big weekends out of my year—it’s a daily opportunity to bring a little more of the Spirit into my home.