General Conference is this weekend! I know everyone sits at different places on the scale of how much they enjoy Conference weekend but I for one love Conference and Conference weekend! In full disclosure, I typically miss about half of what is said in any given session – not because I have other places to be but because I have these four other younger people I share a house with that all have varying needs and seem to think I’m the answer to those needs… (But I’m totally okay with that because I know this phase of life will be gone before I know it and I will miss it.) Because of this though, I’ve really come to love these little General Conference Addresses – Journal Editions that Deseret Book has been releasing the last few years!
These journals make it so easy to go back and study the talks. Something this busy mama is so grateful for. (And, if I wake up early enough before everyone else, I can take a few minutes and study uninterrupted!) They are a great size to shove in my backpack if I want to take them with me somewhere else, like somewhere I need to sit and wait for my kids… They are about $8 each, which isn’t bad. Usually sometime around General Conference, Deseret Book will email out a coupon code. That’s my particular favorite time to order a copy. Or preorder actually.
I have my own color coding system I use when studying any of the Journal Editions of scripture or General Conference talks. It makes it nice to look back at a talk and quickly find a quote I liked. I use a green colored pencil for all things that are good/I should be doing/want to do. A yellow colored pencil for any warnings. A red colored pencil for anything that is a “Don’t do this!” type of thing. And a blue colored pencil for anything that I find really interesting. I love there is plenty of room on the sides to write down my own thoughts as I study too. Sometimes I write a lot of notes. Sometimes only a few. Sometimes none. And that’s okay! Sometimes I highlight almost everything. Sometimes a few things. Sometimes barely anything. Really, it’s a personal thing so whatever works for you!
General Conference is such a special time. We are so incredibly lucky to have a Prophet and Apostles, Alive and Well, to teach us and guide us and help us navigate Life. How little that blessing has been on the earth. How few of God’s Children have had that blessing. Why do we waste that blessing? We need it more then ever as we get closer and closer to the Second Coming. And the world around us gets crazier and crazier. If you are already a post-General Conference-studier, good for you!! If you aren’t, why not start now! You won’t regret it.