MP3 of a post I did last year with random footage of us at the Conference Center to help us get even more out of #ldsconf.
Click here for the blog post: bit.ly/2mMZQvh
@22alfox / alcarraway.com
1. Know your questions & concerns.
Think of questions you have for you, where you are now in life, and where you want to be. Doctrinal questions. Decisions that need to be made. Things that don’t make sense. Any answers you’re looking for. Strength you need. Get personal and get specific. Write them down.
2. Start praying now about general conference.
Pray for the speakers and leaders. Pray for yourself. Pray for those questions you wrote down. Two reasons: 1. Prayer works. Simple as that. And Heavenly Father listens to every single one that you say and wants to speak to you and answer them. And 2: It will prepare your mind and will allow you to care more and listen better. (Isn’t that true in general though? Answers can always be found because Heavenly Father is always available, but are we actively listening and seeking, and or we prepared to hear them?)
3. Simplify your weekend.
Try and plan as much as you can around conference weekend. Keep plans, if any, simple. Try not to do anything that will cause rushing around.
4. Get dressed.
It’s fine to be comfortable, especially when you’re watching it at home. But change out of the clothes you slept in. It will wake you up and help to not doze off on your cozy couch after eating the traditional feast of waffles your family eats for breakfast.
5. Say a prayer before each session.
Pray to focus. To listen. To understand.
6. Take notes.
Don’t have anxiety about note taking. Don’t worry about writing quotes perfectly that were said, you can get those online afterward. Write it down how you hear it and how you personally applied it and found it useful. Reword it. Write down ideas that come to mind that weren’t necessarily said. This how the spirit works in you is through those little tweaks we make to apply directly to us and what we’re going through or will go through. Star the talks you want to go back to and re-watch.
7. KNOW answers are coming.
Because they are. And if you’re in the mindset knowing that answers are coming then we will be more in-tune to listen and hear them. Plus, that’s exercising faith, and we are blessed by faith. Read over your notes. Usually, I don’t recognize my answers until I go back and reread through the notes I wrote down when conference ends. Compare notes and impressions to the questions you wrote down previous.
8. Set goals
Nothing changes if nothing changes. And if we aren’t improving, even a little, I think we are missing the point of our journey. Set goals from what you felt. What will you change? What will you do differently? How will you accomplish that? Write it down. Put it where you can see it. And most importantly, pray about it. When we tell Heavenly Father our goals, He helps us. Helps us with resources. Strength. Comfort. Direction. He reminds us of those goals, too.
9. Don’t let it end.
The excitement building up to conference the week before is a thrill! And the sadness you feel when it ends is real. It will no doubt be an incredible weekend with incredible quotes you’ll see floating around the next several days online. But then, quickly, we get over it and the excitement doesn’t come back until the week before next conference.
Conference does not last just a weekend. It lasts (at least) 6 months. It is a 6-month road map for you and what will come. Answers will be in these talks to trials and questions you didn’t have when this was first broadcasted. Go back and read the talks. Listen to the talks. Re read your notes. A lot of the time I’m looking for the spirit to tell me an answer, and then I realize He gave it to me already a few months ago during conference and I forgot about it until I read my notes over again. Come up with good habits to keep it a part of your daily life, because truly, conference is scripture. Just like in the standard works, it is people called of God speaking to us with counsel. Maybe Sunday’s you watch a conference talk together as a family, and read one a few times a week as part of your personal study. It can be whatever you come up with.
Buy the conference Ensign addition. I know they’re on your phone, and that’s great. But buy a hard copy to have and see so that you can be reminded of it at times you wouldn’t normally be thinking of it. Out of sight, out of mind usually, right?
20 мар 2017