General Conference

This weekend I watched General Conference. This is a semi-annual event in my church where members all over the world gather to participate in church business and receive instruction from the general leaders of the church. It is held on both Saturday and Sunday, during the first weekends of April and October. Because not everyone can go to Salt Lake City (where it's held) to participate, we participate wherever we are by watching the sessions as they are broadcast. In Utah, they are shown on network TV and over the radio, and elsewhere (like here in Texas) they are broadcast on certain public access cable TV channels, available over the internet, but also at the church building. Because my roommate and I don't have cable, we watched it at our church building.

I was able to see all four sessions, and it was really amazing. It was neat to be able to participate in the solemn assembly to sustain President Monson as the new prophet and president of the church. As the conference progressed, I too witnessed what Elder Holland called the "settling of the prophetic mantle upon his shoulders." It was amazing. I enjoyed many of the talks, but especially those by Elder Bednar (on faithful prayer, and how prayer is more than asking, but requires a committment to act on our part) and Elder Ballard (on advice to young mothers -- many of the things he said applied to all of us). Additionally, I was a bit surprised by how funny President Monson was! And I didn't even get to see him wiggle his ears in the priesthood session.

I tried something new this conference. I usually take extensive notes while I watch, both to help me understand what is being said and to help keep me engaged (and not fall asleep sometimes). In a lesson I attended during the week before, my friend Margie told about her method for taking notes at conference: she uses two pens, one black and one red. The black is to take notes on the actual talk, quotes she likes, ideas discusses, etc. The red is for her own thoughts and impressions. I decided to give this a try. It wasn't so bad, holding two pens in my hand the whole time, going back and forth between the two. In fact, I found I got a lot more out of it, and my notes are something I'll actually look over in the coming weeks, especially as I made notes of things that I need to or should be doing.

All in all, Conference was great!