General Conference was back near the beginning of this month and we got to “gather” with our whole family. And our whole worldwide church. How cool is that? Ok, not in person, but man alive, sometimes I sure love technology. More about that in a second, first of all, what is General Conference you might ask? Well, it is a worldwide gathering for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It happens two weekends a year, in April and October. For a whole weekend, there are services broadcast to the whole world from our church leaders.
There are three two-hour sessions on Saturday, and two on Sunday. (Yes, that is a LOT of conference.) But I love the chance to slow down, listen for guidance in my own life, gather with family and friends, bake together (of course), and to have a chance for a mini renewal in life. I love that I can listen and re-listen to those talks any time I want.
Sometimes that mini renewal takes some humbling and a lot of slow-down pondering. I love that I got to start out the weekend with my mom and sisters on Zoom talking about women and our role in church. It was such a good way to kick things off to have my heart in the right place. Are we not always working to have our hearts in the right place? I think that is one of the most important works we can do. And gosh, sometimes it’s sure a wrestle!
Lu and I baked two different kinds of cinnamon rolls (new recipes) while listening to conference in the kitchen until late at night. Just the two of us.
Oh how I hope we’ll both remember these days filled with just the two of us working alongside each other. She looks pretty serious in this photo but believe me, she loves this.
We have suddenly reached a point where Lucy doesn’t ask to read together at night any more.
How strange is it that things like that just happen. I think as mothers sometimes we don’t even notice until we look back…”oh wait, remember when we used to do that?” But this one is different, because I’m still in the middle of it, not forgotten. Maybe we’re still “in the middle” enough that it will come back, but either way, I’m so glad I got so much extended time snuggling reading with that girl. With a seventeen year old I think that’s a new record.
And I have to pause to talk about these cinnamon rolls for two seconds…
We have always made the same recipe for our “conference cinnamon rolls” for as long as I can remember. But this year, I decided to switch it up. I don’t know why I decided to try TWO new recipes, but it was kind of a fun challenge.
My friend Kristyn has such great recipes. We tried this one:
And also this one:
They were both pretty incredibly delicious, especially when warm. But the first one may have won out in our taste test.
I love that Grace carried on the tradition and made our original cinnamon rolls for a huge group at her house.
Love that girl.
Ok but back to conference. On Sunday we sat and watched.
And also gathered with friends between sessions. So many people from our ward-before-ward-three-wards-ago who I love so much.
My favorite thing is that our WHOLE FAMILY got to be on the phone together after that last session. And when I say all, I mean everyone…including Claire in Australia and Murphy’s antics crawling all over Max and Abby.
I loved the velvet feeling that enveloped my heart with everyone’s faces filling up my screen, and everyone sharing thoughts about conference. Two different pictures because Lucy was sitting on the other side of the couch from us.
Did they feel the velvet? Did it make them get lumps in their throats too? Or is that just a mom thing? I know not to ever take things like that for granted.
Loved these thoughts shared on the youngwomenworldwide Instagram.
Probably my favorite was “God is in relentless pursuit of YOU” from our newest apostle, and to be aware of how you use your own personal time. I’ll come back and write more about those asap.
I’ll just close with Murphy…who sure makes us light up!
Why do you need guidance?
I’m glad you asked this question, Kristine. It made me pause… Do I really need guidance? From who and why? I think I do need guidance from God because I really believe he knows more about life (and everything else) than I do, and that He really loves me and cares about me. I also believe in prophets and in the inspiration/direction God gives to them and other women and men who lead in the church. There’s a lot more to think about on this subject, but I’m glad you asked and now I have some food for thought. 🙂
I liked this question too, and so appreciated Camile’s answer (thank you Camile!). I don’t know that I could have answered any better!
On a personal note, I do feel like I am seeking for direction every day. Whether it is to know how to help and encourage a particular child, how to look into future ideas for Lucy and help her navigate them, how to connect with and help empower more mothers, how to serve and reach outside of myself in a more meaningful way, how to “be there” for my husband in more intentional ways, what should I do to expand my mind and my heart? Oh I just have so many questions. And I feel that Camile hit it so perfectly when she said I believe in a God who can give nudges and guidance.
I’m just trying to be still enough to align myself with goodness and ways to reach outside of myself.
I heard that they made a big statement on garments are to be worn day and night.
As a member do you feel they need to be changed for women?
Do you feel like they radio do remind you of Jesus, or would you personally prefer a necklace or jewelry?
I know Elle has struggled and that’s no one’s business but I’d love to know how she feels as a young adult.
I’m not LDS but many friends are and I find this topic so nuanced and fascinating, especially as the wording around garments had changed several times in the last few years and I love to learn from others beyond my circle about their thoughts on this.
I wrote a whole blog post about this over here: https://71toes.com/some-thoughts-about-lds-garments/. I hope that answers your questions! But I will say that yes, I do feel like they remind me of Jesus, especially when I am intentional about working to remember that. And I love and need that reminder every day.
When you refer to the Church please follow the official name: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Yet for a hundred years plus the official name of the ‘Choir’ was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The commercials I remember watching urging people to call to get their free bible or free Book of Mormon also said, or ask your Mormon neighbor for a copy. That was the church doing that. The LDS was in deference to wanting to separate from other brands of the latter day movement. The church will rebrand itself again, just like when they changed the font of the missionary name tags. Jenn isn’t a member. COJCOLDS does not roll off tongue so it will probably change in 20 years again. I don’t know how old Jenn is but the rest of the world doesn’t have to go around with all the changes cause you all want to identify under yet another name change.
I’m not sure who that was aimed at as Shawni did use the full name of the church?
But Shawni, how stinking cute is Murphy!!!
I love conference, it’s twice a year where my soul craves guidance and love from our leaders. The world can be a heavy place at times, and listening to a prophet and apostles is a wonderful thing.
xoxo
Just curious how cinnamon rolls became the go to for conference weekend. I have a sister who moved to Utah a few years ago and this came up in conversation recently. When/how did this become a thing in the broader LDS culture? Does anyone know?
I was actually wondering this same thing when I was writing this post! I have no idea. We started making them years and years ago and I don’t know why. But it’s a pretty fun tradition.
xoxo
Does anyone know how cinnamon rolls became a thing for conference weekend? This recently came up in conversation with my sister who moved to Utah a few years ago. Anyone know when or how this happened?