Here are five reasons the General Conference Addresses, Journal Edition has everything you need to study effectively and joyfully. (The journal is available for preorder for the October 2024 conference now!)
1. Wide Margins
This one is pretty obvious, but I love them enough to call them out. Each page has a two-and-a-half-inch margin which gives you plenty of space to write down your thoughts. The margins are lined so that if you also struggle to write in a straight line, you have some help.
2. Note Taking Space at the End
I like taking notes as I go through the talk, but then I also like to take a moment and think about the message as a whole once I’ve read it. This journal has a space at the end of the talks (the amount of space varies slightly per message) where you can write down an overall takeaway.
3. The Footnotes
Finally—conference talk footnotes are getting the attention they deserve! If you have not been studying the footnotes of general conference talks, you’ve been missing out.
Each speaker includes footnotes to a varying degree, but when they do use them, there can be some beautiful hidden gems! And having the footnotes all lined out on a page (rather than having to click through them on the Gospel Library app) makes them much easier to study. Just read this quote Elder D. Todd Christofferson included in his October 2022 address:
“Religion is not some kind of psychic exercise that occasionally offers a transcendental experience. It either shapes one’s life—all of one’s life—or it vanishes, leaving behind anxious, empty souls that no psychotherapy can reach. And for religion to shape one’s life, it needs to be public and communal; it needs to be connected to the dead and the unborn.”
Now that is some food for thought I don’t want to miss.
4. The Table of Contents
I am someone who loves checking off a list or a box. And I like to make a point to personally study each of the talks from the conference, so having a table of contents provides an easy way to track what I’ve read and not miss anything of them.
I also will sometimes leave marks next to the talks that really spoke to me. Those markings can be helpful when I am trying to look something up again later.
5. Overall Build: Size, Binding, and Paper
And lastly, the build of this journal is just right. It is big enough to give me enough room to write, but not so big it doesn’t fit in my church bag. The spiral binding allows the journal to lay flat on its own, which is so nice for writing. The binding also means I can flip the journal in half and hold it in one hand if I am using it to teach a lesson at church. And finally, the paper is great because it prevents my pen ink from smearing as I write (every journal keeper’s nightmare).
From one gospel journal-er to another, I hope you can get your hands on this resource and that you enjoy it as much as I do.
▶ You may also like: Pres. Nelson encouraged us to study this scripture chapter. Here’s a simple guide
