Come Listen to a Prophet’s Voice

This weekend is one of my favorite holidays – General Conference.  For those of you who aren’t members of my faith let me give you a little bit of background on what this is.  We believe that our religion is a restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ during his ministry.  That church fell into apostasy (as prophesied in 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3).  As the apostles died out there were none worthy to replace them and so the authority to speak and act in the name of God was taken from the earth.  In 1830 our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to a young boy named Joseph Smith Jr. and restored that authority to the earth.  He reorganized the church under the direction of Jesus Christ to reflect the organization that existed in Christ’s original church.  In particular we believe that God speaks to prophets and apostles today just as he did in ancient times.  Twice a year, in April and October, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathers its members together for a two day conference.  During this conference we are given the opportunity to listen to those who are called to be prophets and apostles today.  The conference itself takes place in Salt Lake City, Utah however it is broadcast via satellite, cable, internet, radio and a host of other technologies to its over 14 million members worldwide.

I call it a holiday because during these weekends we stay home as a family to watch the conference proceedings.  Generally we make fun food, stay in our pajamas and just sit around watching the TV all day.  When I was younger I mostly looked forward to staying in my pajamas and not going to church on Sunday, but now I most look forward to hearing the words of God given directly for the people today.  God loves the people on earth today as much as in ancient times and it only makes sense that He would give us guidance and direction as He did to those in ancient times.  I’ve already started to plan some of the fun foods I want to make this weekend and put them on a Pinterest board.  I’m going to try my hand at making a Blooming Onion, which I think is what I’m most looking forward to making 🙂  If that turns out good I have a feeling it’s going to be a frequent addition to our menu!  Eric’s family had a tradition of each child getting to  pick out 1lb of bulk candy that they got to eat during the weekend, so we’ll probably let Sam go get some candy too to continue that tradition 🙂  Eric has also borrowed an extra TV and set it up in our bedroom so we can just all snuggle in bed while we watch together.  I’m excited to get to spend this weekend at home with my family enjoying some together time and listening to the words of the prophet.

If you want to hear a prophet speak today, or if you’ve ever wondered what we Mormons really believe I invite you to join us.  The banner at the top of this post will direct you to a site that will give you more information.  The sessions will be at 10am and 2pm MDT on Saturday and Sunday. Usually our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, gives his keynote address (for lack of a better term) as the last address on Sunday morning, starting around 11:30am.  The Mormon Tabernacle Choir usually does all of the music for that session so it’s worth tuning in for that  as well 🙂  Next week I hope to post some of my thoughts from this conference as well, so stay tuned!