General Conference

As I mentioned in my last post, this weekend we have enjoyed watching and listening to messages from our prophet and other church leaders. I have always loved conference weekends (and not just because I get to stay in my pajamas all day). I love being able to feel the spirit of peace the messages bring into our home and to receive instruction. I always feel rejuvenated and ready to go to work afterwards. This conference was no different. While I can't say I received any profound guidance as to what lies ahead, I did feel that I am in the right place, doing the right things, and that I simply need to continue to try to be a little better, a little more obedient each day. In any case, this Conference Jeff and I decided to try something a little different with the kids to help them pay attention. There are tons of packets and worksheets that we could've printed off but we really wanted to teach the kids to tune into those things that touch their hearts, not just what they are instructed to write on a piece of paper. To do so, we all drew names of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. The girls got 3 names each and the rest of us got 2 names. The kids were responsible for taking notes on those specific speakers (although we encouraged them to take note of all the talks) to report on the following night for Family Home Evening. I was encouraged to see both Dallin and Daniel sit back and take serious notes on their assigned individuals. I was impressed with the way they picked up on certain statements or comments that they felt were important. I also don't think it was a coincidence that the talks they were assigned to report on seemed to match their specific needs. In addition to this, I found some small buckets with a dry erase strip on them for labeling purposes at Target. Before Conference started, we all voted on specific topics or subjects we felt would be addressed during the sessions (e.g., family, atonement, missionary work, temples, service, faith & prayer). We labeled the buckets and put various goodies in each. After each talk, the kids were able to pick a few snacks out of each bucket that they felt was addressed in the talk. It was amazing to see how well the kids paid attention to the talks and then later look at what buckets were more empty to see what themes were spoken of during the sessions. I think this was pretty successful. The kids seemed to enjoy it so we'll try again in October.

Hmmm...Dallin must have been studying Lehi's dream in this picture!

 

After conference, we decided to stretch our legs a little. There are several abandoned RR tracks around our house so we set out on the closest one and headed towards the RR bridge (about 3 miles round trip). I enjoyed walking along the tracks and just being with family. It was a beautiful day and a great way to end a great weekend!