How To Get The Most Out Of General Conference

I recently gave this talk in seminary and in sacrament. This talk is about getting the best out of general conference:)

The topic I was assigned was finding answers to life’s challenges through general conference. I realize it is good to think about this because the next general conference is in just a few weeks.  When I heard the topic I was very happy because I love listening to general conference. When I was younger I didn’t enjoy it much because I was just there, not really listening to it. Now that I am old enough to really listen and understand what our leaders are trying to tell us, I can get more out of it.

One of my favorite general authorities to listen to is President Uchtdorf.  He helped me understand why it is so important to work through life’s challenges.  I have the book “Your Happily Ever After” that is based on a talk he gave.  He pointed out that life was never all sunshine and roses for fairy-tale princesses.  Before the happily ever afters, they all had to start at “once upon a time”.  And I love how he says that, “Sandwiched between their “once upon a time” and “happily ever after,’ they all had to experience great adversity.”  We all will have adversity in life and it is our reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how our life’s story will develop.  It says in the scriptures that there must be opposition in all things, for without it we could not discern the sweet from the bitter.  Our loving Heavenly Father has set us in a world filled with challenges and trials so that we, through opposition, can learn wisdom, become stronger, and experience joy.  So to get back to my topic….  

          One way to find those answers to life’s challenges is to come to conference with a question in your head that you want to be answered. This last week in seminary we were talking about this exact thing. My teacher told us that if you come to general conference with a question in your head, it will be answered in one way or another. One time I was looking through my scriptures for an answer to a question that I had, and it just so happened that where I was reading led me to understand the question. When I later looked back on the scripture that had given me that inspiration, I realized that it really didn’t have much to do with the question I had, but something in it spoke to me and told me the answer I needed at that time. This can happen in general conference too. Even if you are listening for an answer and there is not one whole talk dedicated to that subject, you can still find the answer if you listen. The lord will always find a way for your question to be answered, whether it is through a living prophet, scriptures, or even a thought that was planted in your head.  I have a testimony of this because I have had it happen to me.

I love that this gospel and the leaders who speak at general conference give me so much guidance in my life.  I feel so lucky to be a member of this church and feel like I will be able to get to my own “Happily Ever After” if I just stay true to what I know is right.