We love Conference at our house! Don't you?
I love that I have a system already in place for Conference prep--it makes FHE leading up to the fun weekend a breeze! I thought I would share it with you, since it's pretty much awesome (although, every last bit is stolen from Pinterest!)
First, though, some snippets from one of my new favorite books, "52 Life Changing Questions from the Book of Mormon."
"...Before Elder Neil L. Anderson was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, he served as a member of the Seventy. On one occasion, he found himself among a group of deacons in the southwestern United States. 'Who are your favorite ball players?' Elder Anderson asked. The boys responded by telling him about every player on the Atlanta Braves baseball team. They knew the starting lineup, who the home-run leader was, the pitcher with the best record, and even those on injured reserve. Elder Anderson then asked the boys if they knew the names of those serving in the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. No response. Elder Anderson recalled, 'Finally, the name of the prophet was spoken. With some encouragement, the last name of one of the counselors in the First Presidency surfaced. No other names were known.
As fun and interesting as it is to follow the careers of professional athletes, we need to spend a little more time focusing on the players on the Lords team....
If I were to hold up a picture of these Brethren, would you recognize each of them? We rarely pay close attention to someone we do not recognize or know....
...Perhaps more important, could you share with me a recent decision where you changed something in your life because of counsel received from one of these 15 men...?"
So, here's what I did. I found THIS blog on Pinterest. She has a get to know you sheet and a picture for each of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. I printed them off (saved them to my computer first) and laminated them.
Then I put them up a few weeks before Conference and we talk about them at dinner. Eventually all the kiddos will know them all. For now, we are working on the First Presidency and President Packer. Katelyn is going to learn a few more this year.
The kids love this. We love to find which Apostles went to BYU, which Apostles have the same jobs as our Grandpas, which Apostles like to bake bread like Daddy, which Apostles speak another language. It's fun!
My Grandpa taught something powerful at our FHE this week. He said that the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve have paid the price to know the Savior and be especially in tune to the direction we are to be given. We should make sure we also make the sacrifices necessary to listen to their words, learn from them, and apply them--!
Happy Conference weekend, everyone!