This weekend is General Conference. That means two days of listening to general authorities and members of the general presidencies talk. I learned earlier today that President Russell M. Nelson, will not be there in person because of a fall. Hopefully, we will be able to hear his recorded message/s. General Conference is an opportunity to hear God’s will for us and to learn what we need to focus on in the coming months. I am excited for a variety of reasons.
Temples
I love to learn where new temples are going to be built. One of the most exciting for me personally in recent years was the Feather River California Temple, which was announced in 2018. This temple is located in Yuba City, California. When I was going to high school in Northern California roughly 20 years ago, it was over a two-hour drive for us to the closest temple, the Oakland California Temple (pictured below). Now, the Feather River Temple, which will be dedicated the week after General Conference, is located where our stake center was at that time. I remember the excitement I felt when a temple was announced in Yuba City. I still feel that same level of excitement, thinking about a temple being so much closer for the people in the area.
Another exciting one for me personally was the Grand Rapids Michigan Temple, which was announced last October. When I was going to grad school in Michigan in 2010-2012, Detroit was the closest temple. If I remember right, it was a little over two hours from Mount Pleasant to the Detroit Michigan Temple. Something always seemed to happen to make that trip about an hour longer than anticipated. As of right now, the temple in Grand Rapids is only in the planning stages. Once it’s built, though, travel time to the temple for many in that area will be significantly less.
I am sure that there are other temples that others were just as excited about when they were announced in areas significant to them. I’m sure there will be others announced either Saturday or Sunday or that will have just as much meaning to people living in that area.
Small, Significant Churchwide Changes
I love hearing about the new small but significant changes announced in General Conference. Some of my favorites in recent years include “Come Follow Me,” the greater emphasis on the use of the church’s full name (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), and the Christus symbol, which is now used on all official church documents.
While there are other changes or announcements that have come during General Conference, these three stand out the most to me as I reflect back on General Conference. To me, they emphasize the ever-increasing need to focus on Christ.
General Conference Revelation for Me
One of the things I love most about General Conference is the opportunity to receive personal revelation. Ideally, I try to come up with questions that I want answered through the talks. Unfortunately, I sometimes end up doing this just before the first session, so I don’t reflect on these questions as much as I should. When I prepare them early, though, I do find that I pay better attention during General Conference. Plus, I find that I do notice statements or even entire talks that pertain to my concerns. Do I always get the answers I want? No. Do I always feel like my questions are fully answered? No. Do I always feel like I at least have better direction in my life after General Conference? Yes.
The beauty of General Conference is that I can continue to get that revelation and direction throughout the year. The videos of the talks are up online within a few hours at most. The texts of them are online within a few days. The Conference edition of the “Liahona” comes out about a month later. Whether you prefer watching the talks, listening to them, or reading them, this can be done online (or for reading, through the “Liahona”) throughout the year or in the years to come. The revelation doesn’t have to stop when the live sessions are over.
General Conference Theme/s
Perhaps, one of my favorite parts of General Conference is trying to figure out the theme or themes. These are great to discuss with other people. I can see if they noticed the same themes. If different themes stand out to me than stand out to other people, I know that this is something I need to focus on. If other people notice the same themes, these are likely things that we as a church need to focus on. They might be warnings of what’s to come or counsel that will prepare us for the future.
Names of New General Authorities and General Presidencies
Hearing the names of new general authorities emphasizes to me the global nature of the church. There’s something beautiful about hearing a long line of names that I can’t even begin to pronounce followed by a name such as George Smith or Sara Jones (just examples; I’m pretty sure neither one’s a real general authority or in a general presidency).
I eagerly await hearing the name of someone that I actually know. The closest I’ve come to that was having my American Heritage professor from BYU, Matthew S. Holland, called as a 70. Of course, most people know him better as Jeffrey R. Holland’s son than as my teacher while I was at BYU. Along with that, it was a huge class, and I never had an actual conversation with him. I can’t really claim to know him.
Join Me in Watching General Conference
Whether you’ve watched it a hundred times or more, it’s been a while since you’ve seen it, or you’ve never watched General Conference before, I encourage you to join me in watching General Conference this weekend. Come and enjoy some of my favorite reasons to enjoy it, and find your own reasons to love this semi-annual experience.
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