I eagerly look forward to General Conference each October and Ap
ril. Last October was no different. If anything I needed the spiritual renewal even more as I felt like my reserves; physically, emotionally and spiritually, were completely depleted. The end of September found me yearning for the messages from our dear prophet and other General Authorities to teach me and to remind me of those plain and precious truths which would help me on the pathway of refilling my lamp. “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:” (Proverbs 6:23)
I was also faced with the reality of three young active boys. My sons still being quite young at the ages of 6, 4 and 1 ½ years old don’t always comply with requests to be reverent. Most Sundays an hour in the chapel for Sacrament meeting is stretching the older boys’ abilities and Timothy rarely was able to remain in the chapel longer than it took the Sacrament to be passed. Certainly 2 days in front of the television for multiple hours quietly watching something other than cartoons on PBS was more dream than reality. When I shared my need and my concerns with my husband we both prayed for inspiration and guidance. The Monday morning before conference donned without either of us having any clear idea on what we could do differently than previous years to encourage a more reverent viewing of Conference. So I set about preparing as I had in years past; printed off Conference coloring pages from the Friend, looking through our Gospel Art Kit for pictures of the church leaders who would be speaking to share with the boys for Family Home Evening, and continuing to pray that it was enough or that one of us would be further inspired.
That evening after dinner we gathered in the living room and began Family Home Evening as planned. Partially through the lesson my 4 year-old, Ben, wanted to know where President Hinckley’s picture was. So I opened the binder to pull it out and as I was closing it the pages fell open to the picture of King Benjamin speaking to his people.
The thought came to my mind to share with them how the people gathered to listen to their prophet and king and how it was similar to what we would be doing soon. So after finishing our discussion on who we would be hearing speak at conference with a small side trip to remind the boys about how when President Hinckley “went to live with Father in Heaven” and President Monson was chosen as our new prophet I decided to nix the matching game I had planned and tell them the story of King Benjamin from the book of Mosiah.
“We inevitably must make choices. If we know the doctrines and principles of the gospel, we can make wise decisions. If our lives are pure, the Spirit will guide us. Then we will be able to symbolically pitch our tents toward the temple (see Gen. 13:18) and the covenants we have made to the Lord, and we will be in the world and not of the world.” ( Quentin L. Cook, “Lessons from the Old Testament: In the World but Not of the World,” Liahona, Feb 2006, 39–41)
When my husband asked the boys about the symbolism of the people of King Benjamin pitching their tents towards the temple, and who King Benjamin was to them the lesson really seemed to come alive. The boys really got involved in thinking of ways that our family could pitch our tents so that we could hear the important words spoken by our prophet. We decided that it probably wasn’t possible for all the members of the church to take their camping tents to Salt Lake and set them up around temple square to hear our prophet speak. However, there was no reason that we could not set up our camping tent in the living room of our home and have it pitched so that the door was toward the television set to help us remember that we needed to be looking and listening to the words of our church leaders because they had important information to impart to us. Thus Family Home Evening ended with two young boys very excited for the upcoming General Conference and myself and my husband wondering what we had gotten ourselves in for. Later that night, we decided that if their behavior was atrocious after the first session that we would take the tent down and resort to something else.
“And they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his tent with the door thereof towards the temple, that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them;” (Mosiah 2:6)
Saturday morning for General Conference dawned with much excitement around our home. Following breakfast everyone eagerly pitched in to clean up the kitchen, move the necessary furniture, and assemble their pillows and blankets. The tent was pitched just in time for the last song from the Music and the Spoken word segment. All three boys practically flew into the tent to find their spots. I grabbed the clipboards, crayons and coloring pages prepared specifically for Conference and stashed them just outside the tent as I followed my husband inside. What happened next continues to surprise and amaze me. The older two boys were riveted to the television as President Monson welcomed us to Conference while 18 month old Timothy sat on my lap and clapped. About half way through I pulled out one coloring page and a few crayons for the older boys and Timothy quietly climbed on top of my husband and then slid down to the floor over and over again. Despite the fact that Conference began at 10 AM and Timothy’s usual naptime was also 10 AM he was well behaved and quiet for the entire first session. I was not only able to hear the messages but write down a few impressions I had from the talks.
The Saturday afternoon session was a bit more rowdy and I was beginning to think that the following day we would only use the tent for the morning session as the novelty seemed to have worn off. However, once a large bowl of cinnamon popcorn was brought in to share their hands and mouths were fully occupied and we heard wonderful messages on being a Zion people and the importance of Prayer. There was much disappointment and many attempts at talking us out of taking the tent down as the session ended. The boys were talking about the talk on being more reverent during Sacrament meeting, and ways in which they could be angels and help others. Their pleas to put the tent up continued long into our traditional dinner of nachos and only ended when they received a promise that before the morning session began it would be re-erected.
Come, listen to a prophet’s voice,
And hear the word of God,
And in the way of truth rejoice,
And sing for joy aloud.
We’ve found the way the prophets went
Who lived in days of yore.
Another prophet now is sent
This knowledge to restore.
(“Come, Listen to a Prophet’s Voice,” Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, no. 21)
Sunday brought remarkable a repeat of the previous days behavior. This time however Samuel began asking questions about the talks and asking how he could follow their counsel. Before long Benjamin was building and expanding on the questioning Samuel had begun. As Elder Quentin L. Cook told the story of his young son telling his mother, “Hope ya know, we had a hard time!” Samuel curled up next to me and told me that sometimes he feels like that too. As the strains of the final song ended we all bowed our heads for the closing prayer. Immediately following the speakers, “Amen”
I was offering yet another prayer of thanksgiving for a merciful Father in Heaven who had heard my plea and known my heart and provided a way for our family to be together, for us to set righteous paths before them and for my need to be refilled when Ben spoke up his words bringing tears to my eyes. “Mama,” he said, “I wish we could watch Conference everyday!”
