General Conference

Only twice a year do we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints get to listen to all of the living prophets and apostles speak to the whole world about topics which through much study and prayer have been revealed to them as the things we need to hear right now at this time. I am always excited for General Conference and it is sad to hear other people who weren't able to get anything out of it or didn't make the time to take advantage of this gift. I was walking home from campus today and I overheard a few people talking about it saying that what is the point when they always seem to say the same thing every time.

It is said to think that we have so many individuals in the Church who don't understand the principles behind revelation. The word itself means to reveal or disclose facts, many times associated with man receiving this information from a divine or supernatural agency or source. I typically don't go into definitions but let's think about this for a moment... If revelation is about revealing or disclosing information typically that would mean that the recipient would need to be seeking or searching for that information. I remember being taught from a young age to always go to the temple and also to prepare for conference by coming with questions in mind. These questions didn't always have to deal with doctrine or the gospel but could be about my life and the actions or direction that I need to take. The point is that if I am not able to get anything out of a meeting it is because I hadn't prepared myself to be looking and listening for answers because sometimes the answers that we get aren't to the questions that we had originally asked.

The beauty of conference is the fact that the messages haven't changed all too much over time. God hasn't given up on us quite yet because I am sure that from personal experience I haven't mastered everything he has asked of me up to this point. Another little miracle is the fact that you can't take the messages that they share at face value either. Depending on where I am in life, I have different concerns or questions and many times you can listen to conference and get all of your questions answered. It is a miracle that the same talk that touched me or helped me can do the same thing for a completely different person with completely different concerns. What these men speak is modern day revelation, in essence living scripture. It should be no surprise then that people are able to have experiences similar to mine. Am I perfect and always feel spiritually enlightened at every meeting and always have that the feeling that the Spirit is with me? If I did, God would have taken me home and risen me up by now so by the fact that I am typing this means that by no stretch of the imagination am I there yet. But the point I am trying to make is that if you are wanting, desiring, and really trying to improve then you will always have questions and you will always have the potential to receive this kind of revelation. The greatest blessing is that the more you search it out and learn to recognize it, then the more that it will continue to come as long as you are willing to follow it.