Thoughts on Conference

If you don't know what conference is, go here: www.lds.org, where you can listen, read and watch the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We watched it live this weekend, but you can watch it after also. 
I loved that we got to stay home all weekend listening, and hanging out with the boys, who've we've really missed being gone this last week. 
I also love that it coincides with Thanksgiving weekend, and is reminds us how much we truly have to be thankful for. I mean, what's more awesome than the Gospel. 
Every 6 months we get this opportunity to listen to our modern-day Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and his apostles. It is always a great weekend:)
We made candy buckets, so the kids would pay attention...it always works like a charm. They listen for the corresponding word, and get a candy each time they hear it. They sat through almost 3 whole sessions, that's 6 hours!! I was pretty impressed. 

Here's some pictures of the weekend:

Some things I loved this weekend:
-Be a true Disciple of Christ. It always amazes me that conference talks flow so smoothly into each other...considering that every speaker chooses their own talk, not knowing what anyone else is speaking on. The underlying theme of this one seemed to be this, Be a Disciple. I loved the story of Peter that was told and re-told, "Feed my sheep. Feed my lambs." This is something that we can definitely work on as a family, and I've thought about a lot lately. Maybe we'll make it our family goal.
-Share the Gospel with all. I loved the changes they made to missionary ages, this will make a huge difference to missionary work, and is SO exciting! As my hubby is currently working with all the Ward missionaries, and Elders in our ward, missionary work has been on our minds a lot lately and we've been really striving for more missionary experiences in our lives. 
-Family History work is not just a suggestion, but a commandment and is an essential part of temple work. I've never heard it been talked about like that. I've never felt like I was missing out on a commandment. As was explained, family history work and Temple work go hand-in-hand, and we need to be doing both. Merely attending the temple, though essential, is simply not enough.
Wowza, I need to start working on that one!
-Become truly converted to the Lord through studying the scriptures and gospel truths, and don't seek truth through others accounts of what truth is. I really felt that this was an underlying theme also. Many people spoke about finding truth through becoming clean, seeking real truth  and strengthening your testimony. In the wake of so many people falling away from the church, this was really needed, and I hope that many people heed the call to come back. 
-Truly teach the Gospel in the home through uplifting media and gospel centered conversations. Many people spoke about how simply teaching the gospel on Sunday is not enough. This also goes along with uplifting media in the home, and not letting bad influences into our home in any way. This really hit home as well, as I know I can do a better job at this, and need to be careful about what kind of media I'm watching or being a part of, not just the kids, as it all affects the Spirit of our home.
-Avoid negative entertainment, media and websites. 
-Find joy in the journey, don't wait until the end of something good to start enjoying it. I loved this!! I find myself over-busy way too often...and just hoping for the week, month or even year to just be over! We wouldn't go to a carnival, and not enjoy any part of the night, pining for the end of it...we'd enjoy it! I need to enjoy things more, especially when it comes to my own children and family.
-Serve others. Don't be too busy to miss the promptings of the Spirit to serve. I always enjoy Pres. Monson's talks. One of the things I enjoy most though is hearing about the numerous occasions that he felt a prompting to serve someone, and heeded it...almost on a daily basis. He just drops whatever he's doing and obeys the prompting to serve, no matter how much it will disturb his own day. I need to be much more self-less, and not worry so much about my own to-do list, but worry about what I can do that day to serve others. 
-You can't rely on others testimonies, you have to consistently work on strengthening our own. I loved when Pres. Bednar spoke of the parable of the Ten Virgins. Maybe the 5 wise virgins couldn't give their oil to the others because it's not something that can simply be given, it's something that each person gains on their own, line upon line, precept upon precept. 

LOVED it all:) The weekend, my family, the beautiful and uplifting words...what a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving.