General conference is only 8 days away! When I think of general conference, I think of revelation. Not just the headline-news-making revelations, but mostly the personal revelation that I’ve received during general conference.
General conference is what you make it.
It can be a fun pajama party with popcorn and cinnamon rolls. It can be a dull, draining waste of your whole weekend. Or it can be a powerful revelatory experience. It’s all about what you want to get out of it.
After getting home from my mission, my bedroom went through a major overhaul and in the process I found so many old journals and notebooks. Since I was 12, I made up my mind to be a note-taker during general conference. I went through lots of different phases, from a basic composition notebook to a fancy journal, to typing in Google Docs and occasionally joining in on the live-tweeting action.
While serving in Houston I feel like I learned a lot about how I receive revelation, and also how to record revelation. I used to be the one who would try to transcribe the entire talk word-for-word. I was so focused on what they were saying that sometimes I’d miss the entire meaning. Sort of like cramming for a test, I’d absorb it all just long enough to write it. But if you asked me a week later what I liked, I couldn’t tell you.
What I learned on my mission is that it’s okay to let your mind wander.
That is where some of my most precious revelation came from, during general conference, during zone conferences, even during prayers. From listening to the speaker, but most especially listening to the Spirit. It took some time for me to realize that maybe when I think I’m wandering, it’s actually the Spirit guiding me where I need to be.
During general conference I didn’t stress about writing every quote down exactly. Instead, I’d hear a phrase that would stand out, and from there I’d open my scriptures to a verse that taught the same principle. Or I’d think about how that phrase applied to my questions or concerns and respond to that. I’d continue to listen to the speaker, but the forefront of my mind would be focused on what the Spirit was teaching in that moment.
That idea seemed counter-intuitive and surprised me when I first realized it, but as I’ve focused on listening to the Spirit more and more during talks and lessons, I’ve come away edified. The feelings and impressions I have stick with me longer. And most of all I can see the blessings that come as I apply the revelation I receive.
revelation flows most readily when I don’t put up any artificial barriers.
And so when I was deciding how I want to structure how I study during general conference, I felt pretty strongly that I needed to simplify. There are some fantastic structured general conference journals out there, but I’ve seen in my life that revelation flows most readily when I don’t put up any artificial barriers.
So I put together a simple study journal. It has 11 unique pages that can be copied again and again and shared with friends and family members. These pages just have a simple heading, and then a dot-grid to provide freedom for writing and doodling and everything in between.
You can download it for FREE right here!
I cannot wait to find answers to the questions I have (and I have a lot right now). The fact that there are so many different ways we receive revelation is a testament to me that the Holy Ghost is so real and Heavenly Father is aware of each of us.
