Conference Weekend

I love conference weekend when we have the opportunity to hear from our prophet and apostles. I love the Spirit that I feel and also the counsel for our time. I want my children to also love this weekend, and a friend gave me a great idea for helping them to pay attention and listen more carefully to all the talks. This past conference we tried it out, and it was a huge success. Connor asked when General Conference was going to begin, and after telling him, he exclaimed, "I can't wait for it to start!"


We started out with a bowl of commonly spoken words such as "Jesus Christ","Gospel", "Prophet", "Scriptures," etc. and at the start of each talk we all drew a new word. During that talk we listened for our word. If we heard it then we got a ticket. Some talks one person would get a bunch of tickets while someone else would only get a few; but then during another talk everyone would draw new words, and somebody else would get a bunch of tickets.


During one talk Brandon hit the jackpot with the word "prophet" and got 58 tickets.

Then, between Conference sessions they were able to trade in their tickets "Chuck-E-Cheese" style for snacks, toys, treats.... or for 100 tickets there was a $5 bill. Connor and Nicole leaned more toward instant gratification with the 5 ticket fruit snacks and cheese and crackers. Brandon had incredible luck and got about everything he wanted. Andrew was aiming for the $5 and spent all four sessions saving up till he had enough for the money. He also had enough for a rootbeer.

While the game was a lot of fun, what was really great for me was that the kids have mentioned lessons they learned and themes that they recognized. Nathan and I also listened more closely to each talk and got much more out of conference. Miraculously, all four children listened to every word of the total 8 hours over the course of the weekend.


President Uchdorf's talk really spoke to me, and I've pondered what he spoke about since then. He shared his experiences as a pilot about when he flew through turbulence. It would seem intuitive that the more turbulent a flight is, you would want to speed up to get through it; but he said that it is just to opposite. The best way to decrease turbulence was to slow down. That is such a great metaphor in our lives. I have looked at ways to slow down my own life.

I often see my life as a juggling act or as a spinning plate performance. Since then I have pondered this idea and feel that I should stop spinning the "plates" in my life and instead set them in a pile that I can hold. I don't know exactly how this will work out, but I am trying to do all things, "in wisdom and in order."

I'm reading the Biography of our Prophet, President Monson right now, and as I read of his life and example, I know that the Lord has put him in his place and that he is perfectly suited to be the Prophet in our times.