Preparing for General Conference

General Conference is coming up!

General Conference is my favourite time of year. We get the chance twice a year to hear from Prophets and Apostles of our Heavenly Father. But the thing is, we only get this chance twice a year. General Conference only comes around every 6 months. We need to make the most of it when it is here!

But how can we make the most of it? What do we as members of the church, or investigators, need to do in order to be prepared for this amazing conference?

I was fortunate enough this past week to get to teach a relief society lesson on preparing for general conference and making it a meaningful experience. Honestly, I am so glad that I got to teach this lesson. I learned so much about preparing for general conference. I got to talk about things that I had never talked about before.

There are so many things to think about when preparing for general conference. I found a great article on the LDS youth website called "Getting the Most out of General Conference". This article really got me thinking. It talked about different things that we can do before, during, and after conference in order to make it meaningful. It helped me realize that preparing for conference really is a process. It requires attention before, during, and after.

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General conference involves quite a bit of preparation before hand. One of the things that I hear most often is to prepare a question to bring to conference. This is extremely important. General conference is made for us, and the Lord has so many things for us to hear. But we need to have an understanding of what we want to know. Our Heavenly Father is prepared to answer our questions, but sometimes we just need to ask. When preparing before hand, we can also fast and go to the temple. These are things that we can do that will help us to be more in tune with the spirit. There are some temporal things that we can do to prepare that will allow us to be more in tune with spiritual promptings during conference. In my relief society class, we came up with a list of things that we can do in order to be more prepared. We came up with things like getting enough sleep the night before, making sure that we have all of our note taking materials ready to go, and having things prepared for the weekend. We don't want a whole lot of distractions while we are trying to listen to the wonderful messages being shared.

There things that we can do during the conference as well. The main thing? LISTEN!! We need to listen intently as the prophets and apostles are speaking to us and sharing the messages of the lord. They have worked so hard preparing for this, so we should be listening. If that means having doodle pages ready or having to take a Pinterest break every once in a while... do it. I found a couple of great focus grabbing activities that allow you to write notes while colouring or doodling. Let me tell you, I will be downloading them. You should also look your best while attending conference. Even if you are watching at home, you should be dressed for it. Take the time to show the Lord the appreciation he deserves. Sunday Best is the way to go!

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After General Conference is over, take the time to be sad, because we won't get this again for another 6 months. Once you have gotten it out of your system, take the time to review your notes and set personal goals for yourself. Also, show extreme gratitude for conference. Thank the Lord for the messages he has prepared. Thank the general authorities as well. Send them a letter. They really appreciate it. I read in an article that the words spoken at conference are like our compass for the next few months. Continuously go back after conference and re-read and re-watch the talks that were given. You will learn something new every time that you do.

It may feel like a lot of work to prepare for general conference, but I can promise you this... it's worth it. General Conference is the time when we can hear messages from the lord that are meant for us! We can learn so much during those two days, but only if we are open to it, and only if we properly prepare.

Come listen to a prophets voice! Tune in on Saturday October 1st and Sunday October 2nd at 10:00am MST. The sessions are being broadcast at any chapel and on lds.org. It is also being live streamed on youtube.

I hope you all enjoy conference this year!! Let me know what you think!

- Liz

Apple Picking

Hey All

So today, Marissa and I completed the first thing on our Project Autumn list. We went Apple Picking!! It was actually a lot of fun! Something I would definitely do again.

We decided to start off the day with Brunch, and oh my goodness, we ate so much food. It was actually embarrassing. But delicious. It really was though... Sunset Grill... go there!

After that, a Michaels trip was definitely needed. How does one get through a Saturday without going to Michaels. Oh, and if you don't know what I am talking about, you need to crawl out of that rock you are living under, and go out. It is the single greatest craft store ever. It is a teachers paradise and party planners thrive there. Anyway, we got some stuff for the Teal Pumpkin Project, and of course, I bought new note cards, because I'm hopeless. I digress.

Then it was time to actually go apple picking. We went to an orchard called Orchalaw Apple Farm in a little town between Brampton and Georgetown. It was a pretty good orchard. There was really a lot to choose from. It was a little confusing though because there are two areas connected to the farm. One for apple picking, and another there you can do other fun activities like baking a pie, or at least that's what Marissa told me.

The way they had it set up was we paid on entry and got a bag for our apples. It was 26 dollars to fill the bag which comes out to about 20 pounds of apples. Neither of us needed that many apples, so the cost and the apples were split. On the weekends, they offer free wagon rides into the orchard. This was actually great! we got to have a bit of fun on the wagon, and we were able to get to the good apples.

The honeycrisp apples were the favourite of the day. I think at least half of our bag was honeycrisp apples. We were super lucky though, because they said they don't normally let people pick those. But they opened it up for the public. They are actually really expensive, and we got them fresh for a half decent price. We also got some Macs and some Galas, but those aren't as impressive.

I really loved getting to spend so much time with a good friend in the orchard picking and eating apples. We worked together finding and picking the best ones, and by the end of it, we were so tired. We 100% buckled the apples into the backseat of the car as well. Now, I just have to figure out what to do with 10lbs of honeycrisp apples. I am going to find some recipes... any ideas? I will definitely let you know how they turn out!

This experience opened my eyes a little too. This is something that I definitely want to do with my family. When I am married with kids, I want to bring them to an orchard. I want to take them apple picking. I don't want to be one of those moms either who picks all the apples while my kids follow behind. I really want them to get them involved and make it a really memorable experience. I have goals guys!

Item one on Project Autumn has been a success. Please stay tuned for more of our adventures! 

- Liz

Project Autumn

Hey all!

So one thing you need to know about me is that I love autumn. Autumn is my favourite season. Always has been and probably always will be. Fall is just so wonderful. The air is cold and crisp, there are so many colours around, the clothes are just the best, and there is a great selection of drinks at Starbucks!

This fall, I just want to experience everything around me. I want to do all of the typical autumn things. It may be basic, but I don't care. It's what I want to do. I just want to have a little fun. That is why my best friend Marissa and I have started Project Autumn.

We found a "fall bucket list" online at simplykierste.com and decided that we were going to complete it. We have decided however, that we are going to replace tailgating with camping, because we are not about the tailgating lifestyle. That, and it's not really a thing here in Canada.

Marissa and I have been trying to get something like this done for a long time, and I think this is the autumn that we finally do it. It's going to happen guys. I promise.

I will be keeping you updated with the progress of this project with more posts. In fact, there should be one coming at you very soon!!

- Liz

Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/top/3418/0/84-inspiring-quotes-from-October-2015-LDS-general-conference.html