General Conference is a HOLIDAY in our home. I remember General Conference being fun even when we were in the back of the stake center gym with our coloring books and snacks. My parents were great about sharing the importance of GC so that it didn’t feel so awful watching 8 hours of church that we could barely comprehend. When we started being able to watch General Conference at home, it turned into the best two weekends of the year – delicious food, comfy jammies and so much note taking!
As an adult the food is fantastic but the messages are the best part of all. October 2018 General Conference was the best one yet. I don’t know if it was because of all the exciting changes and powerful promises, or that I took special time to prepare my heart.
What is General Conference?
Its our semi annual conference from the Prophets and Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We believe in modern day revelation and Latter-day prophets. We attend a local church building every Sunday, and can read messages from our prophet or special firesides all year long but twice a year we get to hear directly from our Church leadership. Its four two hour sessions filled with divine promises and revelation, warnings and counsel. It’s open to the public and delivered live, but the talks are recorded! Anyone can watch or read General Conference!
Preparing for Conference Checklist
The @work.and.wonder created a GC workbook that was LIFE CHANGING for me. I was able to take notes, record promptings and focus on my takeaways all in one organized notebook. There is an entire spread for “Conference Prep Week” that included so many ways to prepare our hearts and minds. Here are just a few:
- devoted study each day leading up to conference
- kneeling to pray
- + being more meaningful about scriptures and prayers
- cleaning my home + planning meals before the weekend
- inviting friends and family to hear the messages (we dropped off conference packets for friends and neighbors)
- reading talks on the importance of general conference from past ensigns and conferences
I felt SO MUCH MORE PREPARED to receive personal revelation and be filled to the brim with the messages from our latter-day prophets! You HAVE to get one of these for next conference. @work.and.wonder
Love One Another
If you are not a member of our Church, I believe you would still feel inspired by the messages. The theme of this conference was a challenge to minister and love as the Savior did. There were 9 talks about serving others. A topic that could benefit the entire world. Another heavy theme was coming unto Christ and taking upon his name. Trials WILL come but we can find strength and peace through Jesus Christ.
- Never suppress a generous thought
- Act on impressions
- Be Christlike
- Stop judging and gossiping
- Pray to know who to serve EVERY day and you will receive an answer
- Find your own personal gifts and use them more than ever before.
Big Changes! 2 Hour Church!
A big shocker was the change from 3 hour to 2 hour church. This has been a rumor for years and years, but the time has come that it was an appropriate adjustment. The goal of 2 hour church is NOT to spend less time focused on the Gospel of Jesus Christ or more time to do recreational activities.
As the world is changing and becoming more corrupt, it is time for us to STEP IT UP. The responsibility of our families, salvation and gospel education is OURS. Our leaders have challenged us to create consistent wholesome family traditions and patterns of righteous living. We are challenged to spend more time creating our homes Christ centered with gospel discussions in our homes, family nights, family prayer and scripture study, attending church and increasing our personal faith and testimonies.
A Word from the Prophet
At the end of the first day the women of the Church were invited to a special two hour conference just for us. (In the spring there will be a special conference for men). At this conference our sweet Prophet challenged us to four pretty hefty challenges with so many promised blessings.
- I invite you to read the Book of Mormon between now and the end of the year
For someone who is out of habit of reading my scriptures daily, finishing this book in 90 days seemed like a lot but it has been an incredible experience. Our prophet promised us:
- “The Lord will help you find a way to achieve it.”
- “The Heavens will open for you”
- “The Lord will bless you with increased inspiration and revelation”
- “You and they will be drawn closer to the Savior through this process and
changes, even miracles will begin to happen.”
My favorite blessings (so far):
- I can raise my hand in Sunday school and share a story from the scriptures that relates to the lesson.
- I can see the promises of prophets from thousands of years ago coming to pass RIGHT NOW. And though it’s a bit scary, there’s so much peace.
- I can feel the spirit and personal revelation more prevalent in my life.
Social Media Fast
2. Participate in a 10 day fast from social media and from any other media that brings negative and impure thoughts to your mind
TENN DAYS. 10 days off social media for a girl that’s posted daily on my business pages for nearly 8 years. It seemed like a LOT but I could feel the power of his challenge in my BONES. Was it challenging? Yes. At first I felt a little twitchy.But after two days I hardly missed it at all. I stayed connected where I wanted to be connected, I used my free time for productive projects and just played and read with my kids. 10 days was the perfect reset to get my priorities in order. I’m happy to be back.
3. Establish a pattern of regular temple attendance
4. Participate fully in Relief Society
I fill lifted, loved and ready to take on life’s challenges. I am so grateful for our present day revelation and guidances.
To learn more visit lds.org.
Kylee started Kylee Ann Photography 9 years ago, and has since grown from a one woman amateur show to a full associate team. We shoot 50-75 weddings a year, and thrive on kindness and service. After a year of teaching Intro to Photography at the local technical college, she discovered that helping other entrepreneurs create thriving businesses is what fires her up! She hosts semi-annual Kylee Ann Sleepovers all over the US, speak at conferences and teach online courses about running a small business and marketing.
November 4, 2018
Kylee Maughan
