General Conference

One of my focuses for the month of September was to prepare the kids for general conference.  We ended up doing a 14 day countdown chain from lds.org.  We used the prompt as the topic of our dinner discussion each night.  When Saturday morning arrived Emily couldn’t wait for after lunch for it to begin.

We printed off bingo cards for the kids to fill up with a special cereal.  There was also lots of running around and playing.  During the second session of conference both days Emily made little dolls out of clay.  On Sunday she wanted us to do the play of Adam and Eve in the garden over and over again with them.

One of the activities in our countdown chain was to look at the pictures of the apostles and learn their names and a little about them.  After a few days of reviewing the chart we had a conversation about our favorite prophets in the Book of Mormon.  Emily said her favorite apostle from the picture chart was Ronald Rasband.

Nathan loved looking at the pictures but the person he loves is Gerrit W Gong.  He picked him out over and over and over again through the days leading up to conference.  All during the weekend he asked if Gerrit Gong (“Gee Gong”) was speaking.  Emily asked when President Monson was going to speak and prayed that he would feel better when we told her he was at home.

On Sunday morning we went for a family walk at the Celery Bog.  It was beautiful way to spend the morning.  When we got home we made crepes with lots of options for fillings.  It was delicious and we all probably ate too much.  Emily told us that she really really really wants us to go to the conference center to watch General Conference as a family.

Spending time together, watching the kids play and laughing, seeing the kid’s eyes light up when they recognized a scripture we’ve memorized and say, “We know that one too!”, and answering questions were all sweet experiences from this weekend.  As far as actually listening to the talks goes, I heard enough to know that I’m really excited to go back and study them.  As I was changing a diaper and trying to get Nathan settled for a nap, I was reminded of the story of the Good Samaritan and realized I was feeling a bit like the man trying to rush the to temple leaving the man lying in the road.  Thank goodness there are so many options for listening later.

For family home evening tonight we watched President Monson’s talk from last conference and part of a talk Gerrit Gong gave in October 2010.  Nathan was distraught when we turned off the movie and said, “Gee Gong!” over and over.  I’m so grateful for the chance to listen to inspired words from the apostles this weekend and feel God’s love for each of us.