I particularly enjoyed it this year because I did not have to worry about getting homework done in between the sessions (leaving me with ~6 hours to do homework). Conference weekend is SO much better when no homework is involved. I really feel like I was able to enjoy and get a lot more out of conference than the past few years because my mind was able to fully focus on what was being said by the speakers and what I felt from the Spirit.
Here is just a bit of what I loved from conference:
I feel like I gained so much this year. Everyone said things that stuck out to me. I really appreciate the talks that were geared toward the topic of family, such as Elder M. Russell Ballard's about family councils. Who knew there were so many different types of family councils? I didn't. About a month and a half ago my husband and I started holding regular council meetings of our own and it really helps us know what is going on in the upcoming week. I suppose we technically did family council meetings for about 2 years, but it was us checking how the other was doing throughout the week. Elder Ballard's talk gave me ideas of how I would like the various family council types to be implemented for when we have kids.
- General Family Council
- All family members
- no electronic devices
- predesignated time
- more formal
- discuss things like family problems, finances, plan making, support & strengthen each other, and pray for one another & the family unit
- Executive Family Council
- Parents only
- no electronic devices
- review each child's various needs and progress
- talk about personal relationship with each other
- Limited Family Council
- Parents with one child at a time
- no electronic devices
- decisions about what a child does/does not want to do with their future
- listen to concerns & challenges that this child has
- can be more informal
- One-on-One
- One parent and one child at a time
- no electronic devices
- think Daddy-Daughter/Mommy-Son dates
- more informal
- special spiritual & emotional bonding time
This time around I actually watched the Priesthood session, unlike past conferences in which it was playing in the background while I did homework. I got so much from it, even though it wasn't directed at me. I was able to feel God's love for President Russell M. Nelson. I know that he is doing the Lord's work. I particularly loved President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk. Maybe it's because he spoke about families and I graduated with a degree in Family Life, but it was great. I took almost a page worth of notes. Two things I liked most from President Uchtdorf's talk are what he said about choosing love rather than being right (this is something I learned in my family life classes and it has always stuck with me; I try my best to apply it when a disagreement arises) and what he had to say about relationship pebbles. If I were any good at making uplifting quote memes I would do them on these two things.
“No matter how flat your relationship may be at present, if you keep adding pebbles of kindness, compassion, listening, sacrifice, understanding and selflessness, eventually a mighty pyramid will begin to grow.”
From Sunday's Session I liked President Monson's talk about choices. I liked how he repeated his quote from a past conference that decisions determine our destiny. I also liked his new quote about choosing to do the harder right than doing the easier wrong. Choosing the right, even when it's hard to do so will provide us with blessings. I also enjoyed the humor Elder Holland had in his talk; that was a great way to end conference weekend.
These are just some of the things that stood out to me from conference. I hope you all had a great conference. If you didn't get a chance to watch or listen to all the talks, they can all be found at lds.org.
