General Conference Traditions

I LOVE traditions! And I love General Conference. Every 1st weekend of April and October a General Conference is held where our dear prophet and other church leaders speak to us. And I truly believe that Thomas S. Monson is a real prophet who speaks for The Lord. Like Noah or Abraham of old. It is a great weekend to get answers to struggles or personal revelation on how we can better come unto Christ. It's always inspiring. I always feel the spirit. And everyone is welcomed to listen. They have two general sessions on Saturday and two sessions on Sunday. There is also a Priesthood session Saturday night. Always fun to see the Conference quotes on Pinterest after a session. Love that we can have reminders in our home after conference is over to help us remember the great things we learned.

Our Traditions:

We call it Pajama Church. You can go to a church building to watch it, but personally our family loves to lounge around in our jammies while we feel the spirit. 

Saturday Morning Dad goes and gets donuts. It keeps it simple and fun. 

Conference Bingo. My husband and sons love to put a "fuzzy" on a square when someone mentions faith, pioneers, temples, or whatever. I find it really helps them listen.

Conference Packets. It takes some prep but it's totally worth it. And sometimes you can find me early Saturday morning printing off pages to color or puzzles to do because life is so crazy. I really dislike having toys out unless it's for my baby. It's my personal preference, but I find my kids listen better. Each session is two hours (though there is musical numbers) and that can be hard for kids. I think they are more receptive to the spirit when they are coloring pictures of a temple or Noah's Ark.

In between the sessions I try to get my kids outside or dancing or something to get them moving. It makes it easier for the next session.

 1st time getting her piggies done, Saturday night session 2013

Saturday night is the Priesthood session. I like to go out with girlfriends to grab dinner. Or have a movie night where we can craft or paint nails. Last year we went to our friends house and watched Teen Beach Movie. It was perfect. Baby girl loved the dance scenes. My boys are pretty cool with musicals which I love. And someday when they are 12 they will go with their dad to the Priesthood session. Afterwards my hubby always goes out for a treat. It's a great time to talk about what you loved in that session.

My husbands family always made Banana Pancakes Sunday morning. To be honest, I'm not crazy about banana. Then my in laws started going to their cabin for conference weekend. My hubby wanted me to make banana pancakes. But I didn't want to. I decided to start a new tradition. (luckily he loves them so he has okay with the change.) So we made homemade cinnamon rolls. My 2nd boy was a baby at the time, so we didn't give him any frosting, but he worked on that thing the whole session. It's been 5 years since we started making them and it's my kids favorite thing about conference weekend.  I love that I can roll them out the night before. It makes it so much easier Sunday morning.

We also love doing a FHE before to get us ready. It's a great time to talk to our kids about any problems they may need help from. And our family night after conference we share our favorite conference talks. We got this idea from my friend Michelle. We lived in this great apartment complex with 4 other great couples. I love that we still do this. (Thanks Michelle!)

This year I finally got around to making a apostle matching game. I try to hard to help my kids know the apostles so they will be more likely to listen to their talks. It's so humbling to see what sponges are kids are.

We also try to evaluate our Emergency Preparedness. We check our batteries, rotate water storage, and and make some goals.

This year we won't be going over to my in laws for the 2nd Sunday session. It was always nice sharing our favorite talks as we made an easy dinner. I am so excited for this weekend. I love watching conference with my family. I love that we have a prophet on the earth today. And I love the whispering of the spirit that come to me on how I can be better.

Feel free to share your favorite conference traditions...