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Keep riding the General Conference “high” with the following Family Home Evening ideas to try with your children, spouse or friend tonight. (Though if you’re really pressed for planning time, give Living Scriptures Streaming a try, just $1 for the first month with code STREAM1.)

Share favorite stories and lessons-learned

The highlight of General Conference for many are the rich but succinct stories that quickly illustrate a gospel principle or message. Take turns sharing your favorite stories and lessons learned with your family or a friend to cement the messages heard over conference weekend. If you missed it, revisit Elder Gary E. Stevenson’s analogy of the recent solar eclipse, Bishop W. Christopher Waddell’s story about unexpectedly vacationing with his mother-in-law or Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson sharing about her grandson’s example to seek out others to serve.

Boy-girl swap

Although men and boys are invited to attend priesthood session and women and girls are invited to women’s session, messages shared at these meetings are often applicable to everyone. Invite mom and/or daughter to share stories and lessons learned at Women’s Session and dad and/or son to give a summary of Priesthood Session. If you’re on your own or with a friend, pick a talk you didn’t hear from Priesthood or Women’s Session and give it a listen. A great place to start is Value Beyond Measure by Sister Joy D. Jones, General Primary President, about or infinite worth, or The Priesthood and the Savior’s Atoning Power by Elder Dale G. Renlund about the power of the Atonement.

#ShareGoodness online

They say the best way to reinforce learning is to teach someone else what you’ve learned. #ShareGoodness by sharing your favorite conference messages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or via email or text to a friend. Share positive conference memes, your favorite stories, speakers or lessons learned online, and then take turns as a family sharing (in person) what you’ve posted online.

Talk about themes

Although topics are rarely, if ever, assigned to speakers in General Conference, noticeable themes still tend to emerge as talks are given throughout conference weekend. What themes and trends did you notice? Which talks supported this theme? Discuss with your family or friends what you can learn from these larger themes and topics. Consider revisiting talks by President Russell M. Nelson and Brother Tad R. Callister about the power of the Book of Mormon or talks by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Elder Gary E. Stevensen, Elder Quentin L. Cook and Elder W. Craig Zwick about seeking perspective and avoiding comparison or perfectionism. You could also review talks about service, the family, the Sabbath Day, responding to adversity, etc.

Re-listen to missed talks

Did you miss the first talk on Saturday morning or Elder M. Russell Ballard’s talk when your nap ran long between sessions on Sunday? Listen in to any talks you might have missed to complete your conference weekend experience.

Get to know the leaders who spoke

Did you hear a talk from a new women’s leader or general authority you hadn’t heard from before? Get to know these remarkable, faithful leaders through their bios on LDS.org or Mormon Newsroom. Pick a leader, read their bio and share what you learned, along with a summary of their General Conference message. What can you learn about their background and upbringing? Have they served a mission? What languages do they speak? What countries have they lived in? What is their leadership experience inside and outside the Church? If these leaders have social media pages, consider following them on Facebook or Twitter. Getting to know our leaders and tuning in to their messages year-round will provide new, faithful role models and enhance the messages they share at General Conference and elsewhere.

First Presidency round-up

Did you miss the talks by members of the First Presidency? Revisit their talks below to make sure you catch these important messages:

Three Sisters; A Yearning for Home; Bearers of Heavenly Light - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

The Lord Leads His Church; Fear Not to Do Good- President Henry B. Eyring

Topics

Make a list of basic gospel topics and talk about the talks that fit into these categories. Topics could include faith, repentance, the Atonement, the Book of Mormon, the Restoration, living prophets and apostles, the Holy Ghost, temples, family history work, commandments, scripture study and more. Share key messages and/or stories from talks that covered these categories. Review talk summaries here.

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This story is sponsored by Living Scriptures. Learn more about Living Scriptures.

LDS General Conference is a great way to build family unity and spirituality, but it might end up being a missed opportunity if you don't prepare — especially if you have young children.

Little kids might have a hard time paying attention to a full weekend of Conference talks, but there are some simple ways to get them ready. Use these activities to get you and your family on the right track.

1. Keyword listening/Conference bingo

Although General Conference isn't for several weeks, you can help your kids get ready to listen earnestly by challenging them to listen for certain keywords at church each Sunday.

For instance, choose words or phrases that are common and hold doctrinal significance, such as "missionary," "prophet," "temple," or "priesthood." As your children keep their ears pricked for these keywords, help them keep a running tally. If they can get each word, reward them with a prize or small treat following church that day.

This will help them be more than ready to play Conference Bingo when Conference weekend finally arrives.

2. Singing hymns and 'name that tune'

Congregational hymns are a part of General Conference, and it's always more fun if you are familiar with the music. In the weeks leading up to General Conference, gather as a family to sing some spiritual music each week. This makes for an enjoyable sabbath day activity. If no one in your family plays the piano, you can play the music from lds.org music archives. Start with the Primary Children's Songbook and finish with a hymn or two.

If you want to make things really fun for young children, play "name that tune" with some favorite Primary songs. Children learn by example, so, if you're not singing, they probably won't want to, either. When you're all singing together as a family, individual members are less likely to feel self-conscious. By the time Conference weekend arrives, you can enjoy singing aloud together during the congregational hymns.

3. Attend Music and the Spoken Word

Music and the Spoken Word is a broadcast on Sunday mornings at the Conference Center, where General Conference takes place. Each Sunday at 9 a.m. MST, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square perform a variety of spiritual music along with uplifting words spoken.

This decades-old tradition is a wonderful way to start Sunday morning and also will prepare your children for the same type of broadcast as General Conference. If you can attend this broadcast in person, it benefits children as a dry run of sorts for General Conference attendance.

4. General Authority memory game

The General Authorities and officers of the church change from time to time. It's quite a few people and faces to remember.

Help your children recognize and care about the speakers at Conference by creating a General Authority memory game. Print two copies of the chart found on lds.org on cardstock, and then play memory (sometimes called "concentration" or "match-up") as a family activity in the weeks leading up to Conference.

5. Watch The Living Scriptures Streaming

Conference talks often reference stories from the scriptures, and your children are more likely to listen if the stories sound familiar. Other than reading scriptures together as a family, watching Living Scriptures Streaming provides a way to become familiar with stories from the Bible and The Book of Mormon.

As your children watch these videos, they'll connect with characters from the scriptures and understand the meaning behind the parables and narratives. Then, when speakers at General Conference pull principles and doctrines from the scriptures, it will be that much easier for your children to understand and follow.

If you currently have access to Living Scriptures Streaming, get started now at livingscriptures.com. Get your subscription, so your kids will be ready for scripture-filled talks at General Conference.

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Whether it's a smartphone, tablet, watch, laptop, virtual reality headset or computer, it's most likely your child is an active user of one or more of these devices. In moderation, screen time can be a healthy experience for your child to learn, play and develop new skills. However, if not kept in check, even a very young child can develop a severe addiction to screens, inhibiting and slowing the development of other important skills like social interaction and making sense of the real-world.

It's not easy to balance this as a parent, especially if your child throws a fit at the very mention of having to "turn it off."

Here are five tips to help you establish a healthy screen time balance for your kids.

Talk to your kids about technology

While this one might seem obvious, all too often parents are finding out about new apps and new technologies months, even years after their children start using them. One of the best things parents can do to begin to effectively create a healthy screen time balance is to understand what the apps and programs are that are kid appropriate and that kids find most popular. With that being said, it is also vital that children know what to do when they see something inappropriate, or if someone they don't know tries to establish contact with them. This knowledge can only come from parents talking to their kids about this, clearly and directly so there is no misunderstanding.

Helping children understand that it takes more than just passively staring at a screen to create friendships is imperative for their social development and growth. Make sure your child understands that while technology can help us learn things and stay in touch with people they love, it is always a privilege and not something that can be abused.

Set screen time rules

Whether screen time has become a dominant activity for your child or if they are just starting to familiarize themselves with technology, it is important to set screen time rules. If your child is a spending too much time on the screen, an abrupt change might be necessary but also may incite unintended consequences, much like, unfortunately, what you would see from an addict going through withdrawals. If your child is on the screen more than two hours per day, perhaps start by decreasing that amount by 15 minutes per day for a few days until they get down to a healthy dose of daily screen time. Also, making sure that your child is not viewing a screen at least 90 minutes before bedtime will help them rest better and be less irritable.

Create a supportive environment

One of the best things a parent can do to help achieve a healthy balance in screen time would be to first practice this balance themselves. Children will do what they see their parents do, and it will be difficult to implement new rules if the parents aren't willing to do the same. Other simple measures can be taken to add to this environment, like setting aside two-hour blocks in the day that are "screen free," keeping TVs and screens out of the bedroom and actively playing with your kids in some sort of physical activity or board game.

Teach children to prioritize screen-time activities

The vast amount of activities, games and apps can be very overwhelming to a child. Making the most of these apps is even harder. Another way to help cultivate a healthy balance is to set aside time within their designated screen time that must be used for learning something good. For example, Living Scriptures and their streaming service is a great resource for learning the stories from the scriptures and modern history.

Set the example

Another way to create balance in screen time is to set the example. Show your kids screens are not required to have fun and that playing outside, using imagination and exploring are even more rewarding than playing game or chatting with friends on their devices. This is hard to do and takes effort, but the pay off in terms of their happiness and overall well-being will be well worth it.

A healthy balance is necessary for a child to develop normally and happily. While implementing some of these practices will take effort and might be painful for a child and their parent, the child will thank the parent someday for helping them navigate through this ever-changing sea of technology.

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Not everyone is familiar with the strange but endearing ways of Latter-day Saints, but they definitely have some character traits that set them apart from most. Even if you didn’t grow up in Utah, most Mormon families are more than familiar with the following six cultural trends:

1. Innocent 'bad' words

If your home growing up was a place where “fart” was a bad word, you might be a Mormon. Although not every Mormon was taught not to say crude words, most experienced some type of innocent word being outlawed. The offending words (aside from regular swear words) could include but aren’t limited to the following: “fart, butt, shut up, stupid, crap, suck,” etc.

2. Strange foods

Despite what some might say, Mormons have a strange affinity for abnormal food combinations. If every family gathering you went to included a casserole dish of green (or some other type) of Jell-O with carrot shavings in it, you likely grew up in a Mormon family. In addition to gelatin desserts with random vegetables snuck in, you might have enjoyed funeral potatoes and “Better Than Whatever” cake.

3. Mormon acronyms

Most people are bamboozled by the seemingly endless collection of acronyms common in Mormon vernacular. But, if you grew up Mormon, you’re likely not going to have any trouble deciphering the following common acronyms also known as Mormon-ese:

• FHE (family home evening)
• MTC (missionary training center)
• BYC (bishop’s youth committee)
• D&C/BOM (Doctrine and Covenants/Book of Mormon)
• DI (Deseret Industries)
• YSA (young single adult)
• WoW (Word of Wisdom)
• RM (returned missionary)
• EFY (especially for youth)
• CTR (choose the right)
• MoTab (Mormon Tabernacle Choir)

As with any tight-knit culture, abbreviations rule the day, and Mormon-raised people have little issue with translating each one of the above.

4. Catchy tunes

Music is a huge part of the Mormon culture and worship, so it only makes sense that certain songs are well-known throughout the worldwide Mormon community. Non-Mormons might not get excited when they hear “Popcorn Popping,” or “Scripture Power,” but these songs and other Primary (Sunday School portion of Mormon worship for young children) classics will always get a rousing response from anyone that grew up singing the songs each Sunday at church.

5. Caffeine controversy

It’s commonly known that Mormons abstain from alcoholic beverages as well as coffee and tea, but fewer non-Mormons know that even caffeinated soda is up for debate. According to the Word of Wisdom (the Mormon law of health including dietary restrictions), “…as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good…” Some Mormons claim that this scripture along with other urgings from church leaders includes any caffeinated beverage within the list of off-limit substances. So if you were raised to say Sprite was OK but Dr Pepper wasn’t, then chances are you grew up Mormon.

6. Sunday movies

Sundays are often a day to relax and enjoy some time off. However, most Mormons believe they should not engage in typical outdoor recreation, work, or spending on Sundays, so other forms of entertainment take place. One such form of entertainment that seems to be sanctioned for the Sabbath is The Living Scriptures videos, which take scriptural stories from the Mormon scripture canon and turn them into cartoon movies for kids.

Because the movies are stories straight from the scriptures used by Mormons, most Mormon kids grew up watching these pleasing videos on Sunday, for FHE and more.

If you still want your kids to enjoy the scriptural stories and lessons taught in these videos, know that you can stream the videos to your devices instantly at the click of a button. Learn more at www.livingscriptures.com today.

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