Learning from General Conference

We've just enjoyed another powerful General Conference - essential guidance for us in these challenging times.

The question is - was it just another nice uplifting weekend - or was it a life-changing, spiritually-strengthening, turning point in our lives?

And what about the young women? How much did they capture? And what will they do to live what they have learned and receive the blessings of following the prophets?

Elder Hales address, "General Conference: Strengthening Faith and Testimony"has counsel for all of us:

"To the young members of the Church, I promise that if you will listen, you will feel the Spirit well up within you. The Lord will tell you what He wants you to do with your life....

"This is possible because the Holy Ghost carries the word of the Lord unto our hearts in terms we can understand. When I take notes at conference, I do not always write down exactly what the speaker is saying; I note the personalized direction the Spirit is giving me.

"The greatest blessings of general conference come to us after the conference is over. Remember the pattern recorded frequently in scripture: we gather to hear the words of the Lord, and we return to our homes to live them."

Elder Hales talked about the youth curriculum:

"The messages of this conference will also be woven into the online youth curriculum. Parents, you may access youth lessons for yourself on LDS.org. Find out what your children are learning, and make it the subject of your own study, family discussions, family home evenings, family councils, and personal interviews with each of your children concerning what they need to be taught individually."

What can we do to help young women receive the blessings of General Conference? 

• Because this month's unit is on becoming more Christlike - you could use one lesson to talk about favorite ideas from General Conference that help us become more Christlike. Or you could just invite the young women to share and discuss their favorite moments, and then help them see how the things they learned relate to Jesus Christ and his Atonement.
• Review the General Conference messages and find ones that fit well into the curriculum topics you feel inspired to teach. Use them in your lessons and activities.
• Soon excerpts from this conference should appear in the online curriculum. Until then, you may want to keep the memory and significance of General conference alive in the lives of young women by referring to it often in the context of your lessons.
• Emphasize the importance applying, doing, living the teachings of General Conference. Be an example in this. Share your own experiences with the girls.

The church websites can help us highlight and share General Conference

Highlights from General Conference are available on youth.lds.org.  These short video clips are easily downloaded and perfect to share in lessons or activities.

These General Conference excerpts now have quote images - easily shareable on FaceBook

If you want to print these quote images or share them another way, you can click on the Facebook link below the image which will take you to Facebook and you can download them from there. On my mac I right clicked and then chose 'save as.'

Here are just a few of them: