General Conference and Life

When I was little, I loved General Conference purely because it meant sleeping in and staying home for one special Sunday every six months. There were good snacks and I got to stay in pajamas all day. What could be better?

With this week being General Conference weekend I couldn't help but reflect on how much my feelings toward it have evolved over the past few years.

(For those of my lovely friends who aren't members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, General Conference is a weekend every six months where the Prophet and other leaders of the church broadcast four sessions of meetings across the world with new guidance and advice for members. They show it on TV (thus the watching it in pajamas), in church buildings and online. I'm pretty sure I did a horrible job explaining that, so if you're lost or want to satisfy your curiousity you can probably find more information here)

I think the next stage involved me liking conference because it was something entertaining to listen to. General Conference seems to have a abundant wealth of awesome story tellers. They are even known to tell the occasional fantastic joke.

It's more recently that I think I've understood more of the real reason for conference -- to have questions answered and prepare yourself for the future. I really started to appreciate the information that was being presented, knowledge and advice that could help me in my life. A lot of times it can serve as a reality check for current trends, or a major source of strength and comfort. As I've finally come to realize this I've learned to love Conference so much more. It's such a beautiful thing, to know what Heavenly Father wants you to know directly from His leaders. I still love staying in my PJs, but that's more of a happy side benefit.

One thing I've always associated with General Conference, even though it's not necessarily directly related, is family. Even though I haven't been home for conference for the past few years, whenever it comes around I remember all the times we sat together on the couch and snacked while watching it, and I know that even though we're almost a thousand miles apart we're both experiencing the same thing at the same time and learning together. And, during conference you can always just feel the huge amount of love the apostles and other leaders have for us.

Basically, the moral of the story is that I love conference and can't wait for the next one to come around again in April.

This post is probably way deeper and more personal than I will ever go again, but after listening to Conference for the past two days I couldn't help but write about it. It's just too important to me. So thanks for bearing with me.

On top of the Conference Center with the Salt Lake Temple in the background. I totally lucked out and got to go to the Saturday session of conference in the Conference Center, where it is broadcast from. Annie got a knock on her door late Friday night asking if she wanted four extra tickets for the next morning and she offered one to me! I LOVE her.