`It's fun'

Our family has kept and updated a list of "commandments" given in general conference for more than 20 years. It is not a long list, just one page. We keep copies in our daily planners and on the refrigerator where these commandments can be frequently reviewed and integrated into our goals, plans and lives. We have found that it takes a lifetime to keep all those commandments. You don't rear a family or complete your family history in a day. So don't become discouraged. Don't become complacent either. Implement those teachings into your daily life. Over time you will notice a difference. We keep more of the commandments now than we did five, 10 or 20 years ago. It is a continuing process to be enjoyed. It's fun! - Bruce Davey, Bellevue, Wash.

Strength to act

If you have prepared to really tune in to the general conference, the power of the Holy Ghost can cause you to feel that a particular speaker is delivering a message just to you. Wear your Sunday clothes, even at home if that's where you're listening to conference. Fast, if you wish. Pray before and after each session. Pay attention, and urge your children to do so. Listen to the music as well as the talks. Then you will be strongly impressed by the Holy Ghost with a specific message from the conference.

After this impression, the "how-to" part of applying the teachings to life will also be provided by the Holy Ghost - tailored to your own personal situation. To assist the Holy Ghost in giving you specific guidance, write your impression from the conference in your journal. Talk with your loved ones about what struck you during the conference. Admit you would like to be able to apply the teachings to your own life. When you share your hopes and dreams, they have a way of coming to pass more easily.

Pray as a family and as an individual for opportunities for putting the messages into practice, the wisdom to recognize these opportunities and the strength to act on them. - Barbara Szabo, Logan, Utah

Enriched, blessed

- We purchase an extra copy of the conference report so that both my husband and I will have a copy to study and mark.

- I look for specific counsel as I read that can apply in my life. If there is counsel that is important for the whole family, we try to discuss it together.

- We purchase the audiocassettes of conference talks - a worthwhile investment for us. I learn much as I listen to them while I run in the mornings.

There is a great spirit that accompanies the words of the prophets and apostles. We can be enriched and blessed as we study and heed their words. - Julie Morain, Fort Collins, Colo.

Specific actions

To better discern and apply the Lord's intended messages to the Church at general conference, try using the following suggestions:

- Watch for theme reiteration or repetition of other themes or ideas in the talks of the Brethren. Since the same Spirit inspires all, anytime the speakers express similar thoughts, perhaps it may be wise to consider it an additional witness that the Spirit is very desirous that the Church get this particular message.

- Read and underline key passages in conference reports in Church publications, particularly those that clarify doctrine; render personal inspiration to you for your callings as a parent, home or visiting teacher or priesthood leader; that contain prophetic elements or promises; or those that provide guidance on current issues.

- List specific actions that the Brethren counsel to apply in our lives today, then . . . "do it," as President Spencer W. Kimball used to say. Remember, the just live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (D&C 84:44), or the mouths of His servants . . . it is the same. (D&C 1:38.) - Michael B. Smurthwaite, Gilroy, Calif.

Ponder, reflect

I videotape each general conference session aired, then play the tape as often as possible during the next six months, pausing and replaying segments I wish to ponder and reflect upon. Hearing the talks over and over like this helps incorporate them into my daily thinking and actions.

The audiotapes are even more portable and flexible, and I've listened to them while dressing, exercising or cleaning the house. - Kathie Chase Christensen, West Point, Utah

Listen with mind, heart

As an institute of religion teacher in Sacramento, Calif., I developed for my students' use a general conference work sheet that included the following suggestions:

- Listen to the conference addresses with both mind and heart and make appropriate notes.

- Record names of speakers on the left side of the work sheet and what you feel they are saying to you.

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- Let the Spirit guide you as you translate the messages into your words.

- Listen for the imperatives - "thou shalts" - and use them to make a personal "to-do" list on the right hand side of the work sheet.

- Record other personal impressions at the bottom of the page.

- Place the completed sheet in your personal journal for follow-up. - David Keith Whitmer, Sacramento, Calif.

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