Conference Prep: The Church vs. You
With General Conference-season comes the need for preparation, for members and leaders alike. Getting the most out of the Conference experience requires an environment suitable for a spirit of inspiration. So, as you contemplate which snack will best complement your conference-watching experience (hint: it’s the non-crunchy ones), the Church is gearing up for one of its biggest events of the year.
How The Church Prepares
This coming weekend, over 100,000 people will filter in and out of the Conference Center for the 187th Annual General Conference — and millions more will tune-in across the globe.
With so many participating in General Conference world-wide, it’s no surprise just how much (figurative) blood, sweat, and tears go into creating an atmosphere conducive to the spirit.
Thousands of tickets are printed, thousands of vehicles parked, and thousands of meals organized.The Conference Center’s assistant manager of facilities and events oversees all this and ensures that the building itself is prepared to the utmost degree of perfection.
Over 900 volunteer guest service missionaries help conference attendees check tickets and find seats.
The floral arrangements that encircle the podium in seasonal color are planned months in advance. Each stem, each frond, and each petal are considered from the perspective of the audience to ensure the plants uplift rather than distract.
“We hope to create a feeling of peaceful harmony through universal artistic design principles and elements. We coordinate plant heights, textures, leaf size and the very important element — color,” Eldon Cannon, group manager of ground services, explained in a 2014 Mormon Newsroom article.
Over 1,500 translators prepare conference talks for the 700 interpreters who will read the talk in nearly 100 non-english languages.
“From the linguistics point of view,” explained linguist Sead Osmani, one of the three leaders of the Church’s Interpretation teams, “success comes as I stretch my ability to use the correct words during the interpretation. Before the interpretation goes forward, I prepare the talk in my native language (Italian). Because I have come to know the talk very well, if the general authority departs from his prepared text, I am comfortable interpreting those remarks and then returning to the written text.”
Church Food Service employees work an approximate 13,000 hours, preparing 12,000 meals for the hundreds of volunteers in between conference sessions.
Those speaking in General Conference begin preparing their talks months in advance. In a 2016 interview with Mormon Channel, Elder Oaks described how he prepares his addresses:
“I begin that process six months in advance, and usually by two to four months ahead of the April or October conference, I know the subject I’m supposed to speak about. It’s indelibly impressed upon my mind, and then I have that confirmed because thoughts begin to flow on that subject—sources come to my attention . . . sometimes I receive a letter from a member that gives me an important insight on the subject—and then I begin writing drafts.”
How You Can Prepare
A grand task on the large scale, conference prep can also seem insurmountable on the private scale. As mere mortal vessels, how can we truly ready our minds to receive such large amounts of heavenly wisdom and guidance?
LDS.org offers some great tips to ensure you’re getting the most out of your conference experience:
- Writing down questions you’d like answered
- Preparing note-taking materials
- Review the names and faces of General Authorities
- Get a good night’s rest
These tips are awesome, but for those of us with a tendency to doodle in the margins, a little incentivizing never hurt.
Enter the General Conference Activity Packet.
For a small fee of zero dollars and a little paper and ink, you can have access to a complete activity guide. Perfect for anyone wanting to connect with their inner-child, or anyone who is a child, the packet is available as a free pdf on the LDS Bookstore website.
The packet is rife with games and coloring pages related to famous scripture stories perfect for keeping the spirit in-between sessions (or when the closing prayer goes a little too long). To ensure you’re paying attention to the messages being shared, the packet also includes a fun section with cartoon apostles and space to write notes and revelations. However, a notebook is still recommended since the space provided was intended for the spiritual musings of a five, not thirty-five, year-old.