Making Conference More Meaningful

General Conference is what you make it.

If approached like any other weekend, it will be just that. However, when one takes the weight of it seriously, that God speaks through his prophets, it becomes an entirely different experience.

This writer presents three ideas to consider for making conference more meaningful:

Make up your mind
Decide beforehand that you will watch or listen to conference. If you don’t, it’s much more likely your schedule will be, at least partially, hijacked by unplanned, last-minute affairs—distractions.

Come with a question 
President Henry B. Eyring recently said, “I loved this conference because I was able to receive personal answers to my questions. There had been a question in mind as I came into conference. And in the talk given by Elder Richard G. Scott, my question was answered.” What sin, fear, or difficulty are you facing or need help with?

Write it down
Jotting notes and writing impressions in a journal are infinitely more lasting than writing in a stray re-purposed notebook or on loose sheets of paper. ...And studies show that doodling alone while listening to someone speak increased a person's memory recall by 29 percent.

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Here are a couple of bonus ideas:

Dress appropriately
To get the most out of General Conference we always tried to invite the Spirit into our home and never allowed our kids to stay in their jammies or to sleep during the talks. We also chose one session and went to the church building to watch it.  We feel like when you are dressed appropriately then you are in the proper frame of mind. —Shellie Blake

Keep the kids involved
- The church has a new website for General Conference. Check it out.
- There are matching games for kids and more activities for children.
- Download the 2010 General Conference Youth Packet from Sugardoodle.
- Get more conference games and activities from About.com.

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