We Invite You...

RECEIVING PERSONAL REVELATION THROUGH GENERAL CONFERENCE

Purpose of Conference. "Members of the Church are entitled to personal revelation as they listen to and study the inspired words spoken at general conference. As you prepare for general conference, I invite you to ponder questions you need to have answered. For example, you might yearn for direction and guidance by the Lord regarding challenges you are facing. Answers to your specific prayers may come directly from a particular talk or from a specific phrase. At other times answers may come in a seeminly unrelated word, phrase, or song. A heart filled with gratitude for the blessings of life and an earnest desire to hear and follow the words of counsel will prepare the way for personal revelation." (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "No Ordinary Blessing," Ensign, Sept. 2011, 4).

"I invite you to listen...by the power of the Spirit, to the speakers who will address you [in conference]. If you will do so, I do no hesitate that you will be uplifted, your resolution to do what is right will be stronger, you will find solutions to your problems and your needs" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, Nov. 1996, 5).

PREPARING FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE

Pray for the Brethren. "Each time a general conference approaches, you can pray that the Brethren who speak and who lead us will have the Holy Spirit. I will make a twofold promise to you. First, your prayers will be answered if they are offered with faith and with confidence. Second...as the Brethren speak, you will be able to listen and hear the words of god as he instructs you through his servants. You will recognize the words of truth that you need" (Henry B. Eyring, Drawing Close to God, 22)

Our Preparation. (1) Read the talks from last conference. (2) Fast and pray to obtain the Spirit, which is essential to get the most from conference (D&C 50:21). (3) Get enough sleep the night before!

"In a few days opens another general conference of the Church. The servantts of the Lord will counsel us. You may listen with anxious ears and hearts, or you may turn that counsel aside...what you shall gain will depend not so much upon their preparation of the messages, as upon your preparation for them" (Boyd K. Packer, "Follow the Brethren," BYU address, Mar. 1965)

Keep the Commandments. While one person regarded general conference as "nothing but a political convention" another was "so moved that tears ran down his cheeks, and his voice so choked that he could not join in the singing." "How are these different responses accounted for? The members of one group were observing and keeping the commandments of God and the others were not... One group enjoyed the Spirit of the Lord and the others did not" (Marion G. Romney, in Conference Report, Apr. 1942)

Listen by the Spirit. "If [the general authorities] teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit, one of us will touch on your circumstance, sending a personal prophetic [message] just to you" (Jeffrey R. Holland, "An Ensign to the Nations," Ensign, May, 2011, 113)

Write Down Your Feelings and Impressions. "As [the general authorities] have talked [at conference], some of you have been prompted by the Spirit about private things the Lord wants you to do something about. You have been impressed to know what to do. Those feelings are the very most important part of our time together. They are a personal message of the Lord to you. Remember that message. Follow it precisely, now, for your happiness" (Richard G. Scott, Ensign, May 1989, 37)

GENERAL CONFERENCE IS A GUIDE FOR OUR LIVES

"May we long remember the messages we have heard. As we receive the issues of the Ensign and Liahona magazines which will contain these messages in written form, may we read and study them" (Thomas S. Monson, "At Parting," Ensign, 2011, 114)

"Our modern-day prophets have encouraged us to make the reading of the conference edition of [the Ensign] an important and regular part of our personal study. Thus, general conference becomes, in a sense, a supplement to or an extension of the Doctrine and Covenants" (Howard W. Hunter, "The Heavens Are Open," from Come unto Me, Church video, 1988)

"For the next six months, your conference edition of the Ensign should stand next to your standard works and be referred to frequently" (Ezra Taft Benson, "Come unto Christ, and Be Perfected in Him, Ensign, May 1988, 84)

(Typed up and given to me by my Institute teacher, Bruce Andreason)