General Conference Prep

Our church holds a two-day General Conference every 6 months where we can listen to the leaders of our church.  I love to listen but with 4 little boys in the house it's not exactly an easy task.  To make it a more enjoyable weekend for the entire family I have found that with a little extra prep work it can be fantastic!  I'm going to share a few of my secrets with you!

Every year before General Conference we review and learn a little about the First Presidency and Apostles.  It helps the boys to focus a little better when they recognize the faces, know the names, and know a fun fact about the men they are listening to over the course of the weekend.  Because--let's face it--no child wants to sit and listen to speakers for a total of 8 hours!  (Yes, I make my kids listen on Saturday too!)

One year I decided that I wanted to make our Family Home Evenings leading up to General Conference a little more interactive and perhaps a little more memorable.  Each week we learn about several members of either the first presidency or 12 apostles.  Then we do an activity that correlates with one of those men. Here are a few ideas that have been fun for our family:

*Fishing for General Authorities because President Monson loves to fish.  (I hooked paper clips to cards of the Apostles and First Presidency.  When we caught each one we would name them and state a fact about that man.)

*Bake banana bread together (and eat it for dessert) because President Eyring enjoys baking bread with his family.

 *Make and fly paper airplanes because President Uchtdorf  was a pilot.

*Paint with watercolors because water coloring is a hobby of Elder Richard G. Scott.

*Play a game of backyard football because Elder Holland and Elder Cook played football, Elder Bednar met his wife while playing flag football, and Elder Cook is a fan of our OU Sooners.

Other times I have had each of the boys pick a General Authority to teach everyone about.  The boys like to make notes of what they are going to say.  One year my oldest drew pictures to remind himself that President Monson raised pigeons, can wiggle his ears and played chess with his son.

Last fall Mr. J taught us that President Uchtdorf was a pilot, has read Harry Potter, and likes to dance.

Here are some links to the church bios of the First Presidency and 12 Apostles.  If you've heard one of them speak and they've mentioned something personal that might be of interest to your family then use that as one of your facts.  For instance, Elder Cook spoke at a stake conference of ours and mentioned his love of the OU Sooners (where my husband got his masters)--that is always one of our fun facts now.  Or that Elder Scott and his wife have the same names as my husband and I!

Thomas S. Monson, Henry B. Eyring, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Boyd K. Packer, L. Tom Perry, Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks, M. Russell Ballard, Richard G. Scott, Robert D. Hales, Jeffrey R. Holland, David A. Bednar, Quentin L. Cook, D. Todd Christofferson,  Neil L. Andersen.

There are so many fun ideas that you could use . . . and these are just a few of mine!   I would love to hear what you do to prepare your kids for General Conference!