The idea that we have living Apostles and Prophets is truly astounding. We are fortunate to have a semi-annual general conference to be able to hear from them. With the advent of the internet, and satellite technologies most every member anywhere on the planet can participate in the conference. Why then are there so few members who can recall even the topic of most of the General Authorities from the last conference which was less than 6 months ago? We fail to review the talks well. Most every conference closes with a prophetic counsel to review the talks. They are available on-line in mp3 for iPods and the like or to play on your computer, they are available in text, or pdf format for printing, and they are published in the Ensign and Liahona magazines.
4 yrs ago I was challenged by a Stake President to review the conference weekly, which I thought would be a great undertaking. However, I accepted the assignment, and have continued with it even after moving out of the Stake. I listen while in the shower, and sometimes in the car. I figured I spend almost 2 hr/wk in the shower, and with drying and shaving/prep time that is more than 3 hrs. 3 hrs gets me through 2 1/2 sessions. The other 2 1/2 sessions (yep Priesthood Sessions talks are online now too), take another 3 hrs, but with a 15 min each way commute, to work, I get that cranked out very efficiently. I know what you’re saying, your music or talk radio get your day going. Hello! We have living prophets, we need to know what they are telling us to do, so grab an iPod on eBay for $25-30 and get started. Its very simple to set up, and if you need help ask your home teachers, or visiting teachers, one of them will know how to do that, and you’ll have an answer to the question, is there anything we can do for you?
My life is different because I know all the talks from last general conference. I occasionally read through them since I get far more studying them, but I know the topics and can quote from them extensively. I learned from President Draper that almost every question can be answered from a quote in the last 2 or 3 general conferences. How would your missionary work change if you could say to a comment on almost any topic, “That is really neat, one of the Apostles from my church was saying something similar just 2 months ago in a conference “ You can do it!
