General Conference Weekend

At the beginning of October was the semi-annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Twice a year the Prophet and Apostles and other Church Authorities give talks and  guidance for the members of our Church. Members all over the world gather in their meeting houses and in their homes to watch as it is broadcast by satellite and over the Internet. There are two 2 hour sessions on both Saturday and Sunday as well as a 2 hour evening Session for the men on Saturday. There is also a Session for the women on the previous Saturday. It is always an exciting time to hear about new Temples that will be built, get instruction from our leaders, and to feel inspired and uplifted.

In years past we have always tried to find ways to have the kids stay focused and listen, but by Sunday evening they are so restless that we end up letting them go play. This year I tried some new ideas and I am so pleased with how well they listened and how much they learned. This was the first time that all 3 of the older kids sat and listened to and understood ever single talk. It was so peaceful and I feel like it has been years since I have gotten so much out of Conference!

Here is what we did. In the past we have done Bingo and lots of worksheets. The kids start out excited for them but they tend to rush through them and then go play, or get too focused on the activities and don't hear the messages. This time there were no packets and no Bingo. I have seen this idea of treat buckets or word jars on several different blogs and decided we should give it a try. We picked out 6 words that we might hear during Conference and put them on jars. Then I filled the jars with small treats and each time we heard that word we each got one treat from that jar. It was a fun way to encourage the kids to listen.

Another activity we did was with some prize bags.

 

I filled 17 bags with toys and treats. On each bag there was a picture of one of the Apostles.

I also had a bag for when one of the Women's Auxiliary spoke and another for when one of the members of the Seventy spoke. These had multiple prizes in them since they would be won more than once.

 

During each talk one of us would take notes, one would find the right picture of that person, one person would color a picture of what their neck tie looked like and then when the talk was over if the kids could tell us what their talk was about they all got the prizes inside the bag. After each talk we posted the summary on our General Confernce wall.

We added to it as each talk was over.  By the end of the weekend this is what it looked like.

It has been fun to be able to refer back to the summary wall to remember who talked about what.

Some of the prizes in the bags were Legos, princess dolls, mighty beans toy, small cans of root beer, snack cakes, suckers, tootsie rolls, Play doh, Pringles, color change markers, silly bands, etc.  

 I got the ideas for this here and here.

My mom came up for the weekend and it was fun to have her here with us listening as well. While she was here we played games, had yummy food and enjoyed being together.

We do not have cable or satelite TV rigth now, so we brought the Computer into the family room and set it up with dual moniters so we could watch a little easier.  We blew up the air mattress on the floor so the kids could lay down and be a little closer to the screen to see.  It was a nice relaxing weekend together! 

 

The messages that were most memorable for me personally were Sister Elaine S. Dalton's talk about fathers and daughters (cute printable here), Elder Neil L. Anderson's talk about raising children (printable of his hilarious quote here), President Uchtdorf's talk about worth as well as President Uchtdorf's talk at the general RS meeting about forget me nots.  There are some lovely printables of a quote from that talk here and here. I also love this quote from the same talk. (scroll down to see the printable)

While I was listening to the General Relief Society Broadcast, this is the quote that most stuck with me.  I decided to make my own printable of it to share.  This is a photo that I took in the spring of 2010 while we were visiting the Washington DC temple. 

Enjoy!

For my LDS friends - What traditions and activities do you enjoy on General Conference weekend?  What talks in particular touched you?  I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments! :)

For my friends who are not LDS (Mormon) (if you are still reading!)  If you would like further information about our beliefs, or if you have questions, I would be happy to answer them.  Feel free to leave a comment!  There is also lots of answers available at http://mormon.org/