I walk away from every general conference resolved to review each talk with my family. Over the years, this resolve has produced varied levels of success.
I’ve noticed that I am more likely to succeed when my efforts are centered on consistent and sustainable activities that easily integrate into our regular routines.
Here is one activity that has worked for our family that doesn’t require lots of planning or time to execute. This is a simple but meaningful way to help our children know what the prophet and other Church leaders are teaching—and help them gain a testimony that following prophets will bless their lives.
General Conference Fortunes
As a parent, it can feel like a daunting task to read the general conference addresses quickly enough to put together activities that focus on the topics or statements that are most meaningful for you or your family. Instead, I’ve found the Church News talk summaries are a wonderful tool. They provide highlights from each talk that you can use to find key statements or quotes that connect you to general conference in a manageable way.
Try this as an activity: Cut paper into small strips like what you might find in a fortune cookie. Then, using the talk summaries for inspiration, on one side of these paper slips, write an action encouraged by a Church leader. For example, you could write “care for those in need” from Elder Gary E. Stevenson’s talk.
On the other side of the paper, write the promised blessing from engaging in the activity. Elder Stevenson promised, “You will receive a witness that God hears you, knows you, and loves you.”
For a second example, you could write “visit the temple,” as encouraged by President Russell M. Nelson. On the other side of the paper, write, “you will feel His mercy.”
Put these slips into a jar, and place that jar somewhere you and your family frequent each morning. At the start of the day, have each family member pick a slip. Encourage them to engage in that activity during the day and look for the blessings promised. The next time you gather as a family (such as at dinner time or before family prayer), invite family members to report on what they did and what blessings they saw.
As parents, you can pray for the guidance of the Holy Ghost to know how to best follow up on this activity with your family. The Holy Ghost may prompt you to follow up in a one-on-one situation with each child. Or you might be impressed to wait until the end of the week and have a Sunday family discussion about what happened that week. (And if a new slip every day feels like too much, you could draw one slip as a family to focus on each week.) Allowing the Spirit of the Lord to guide you will help you meet the needs of your family collectively and each child individually.
If someone didn’t complete the task or doesn’t see the blessing, discuss how we are encouraged to be anxiously engaged in these activities regularly and invite them to keep trying. Perhaps remind yourself and your children of the words of President Jeffrey R. Holland: “Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.”
And remember—if your children are reluctant to engage, they will still see and be impacted as you share how general conference teachings and blessings come up in your day-to-day life.
I know that as we make conscious and intentional efforts to incorporate general conference into our daily routines, we can feel the spirit and motivation of general conference just as strongly in January or June as we do in April and October.
I’ve found that this activity helps make our home one that is centered upon the teachings of the Savior, as taught by His leaders today. As we have sought to make the teachings of our current leaders the center of our actions and discussions in between conferences, we have found that our daily activities are oriented toward those things that will bring us joy in this life and eternal life in the life to come.
Learn more about following the prophet in the links below.
▶ Our general conference journal can help you get more from the talks—here’s how
▶ 11 seriously good questions President Nelson has asked you
▶ Elder Andersen’s simple tip will help anyone learn to love the scriptures
▶ Elder Bednar’s 3 tips for having the Holy Ghost as a constant companion (rather than an occasional visitor)
