The Oasis of General Conference

I can’t explain it; perhaps I don’t need to. General conference weekend feels like a holiday weekend. And no, it’s not because I can watch church in my jammies. Though that doesn’t hurt.

I loved the feel of general conference growing up, even though I scarcely comprehended the importance of it. It permeated our tiny house, as every radio and TV were tuned to it.

During seminary years, it was part of my grade to listen to at least two sessions and take notes. Having that incentive, conference began to have more meaning, and once in a while, I heard something that started the seeds of a testimony growing.

In the early years of our marriage, I pined for it, as we too often missed it for family events.

I always wanted to go back and read the talks after I’d heard them, but it took close to 15 years of marriage to start the habit and add it to inconsistent study time. Thanks to a stake president’s invitation, I finally read every single talk once before the next conference came around again. At the time, it felt like a huge accomplishment.

Now, general conference isn’t just a bi-annual weekend to anticipate; it’s also a vital daily life preserver in a turbulent sea of everyday living.

In the season when reading conference talks felt like a challenge, those two weekends every spring and fall felt like an oasis in a lone and dreary desert. General conference provided living water to drink deeply from, and to luxuriate in after the previous six months of privation.

All too soon I was back in the dessert, yet at some point, I finally came to learn that I could drink from that water the entire six months. To feast on inspired words all year turned those talks into a daily vitamin - as vital to my spiritual well-being as my daily dips-turned-dives into the Book of Mormon.

The last several weeks has found me exhausted from my signature cough.  To those who have heard it: no, I do not have tuberculosis or emphysema. No, I did not take up smoking at age 4.  I simply cough this not-so-dainty cough nearly every time I get a cold for what seems like FOREVER.

Feeling exhausted and useless, I prayed about how I could use my time better than Netflix or an insipid game on my phone.  I received a most unusual and unexpected invitation: go back and read all the conference talks again before general conference.

But wait, there’s more. The invitation included going back and listening to every single Inklings Institute class, the Instagram class offered by Sister Emily Freeman every Thursday morning, each on an individual conference talk from the previous general conference.

Accepting this inspired invitation yielded remarkable results.  As I finished today I re-read these amazing words of President Russell M. Nelson:

“I invite you to consider carefully the following three statements:

1. The gathering of Israel is evidence that God loves all of His children everywhere.

2. The gospel of Abraham is further evidence that God loves all of His children everywhere. He invites all to come unto Him - ‘black and white, bond and free, male and female; …all are alike unto God.’

3. The sealing power is supernal evidence of how much God loves all of His children everywhere and wants each of them to choose to return home to Him.”

(Russell M. Nelson, “Rejoice in the Gift of  Priesthood Keys,” General Conference, April

2024)

I was struck with “good, better, best” tone of President Nelson’s list which he cited as evidence of God’s infinite love for His children.

Because of glutting myself in the oasis of living water for the last 3 or 4 weeks, every talk had somehow culminated to this beautiful list, and the Spirit gave sweet clarity to it:

1. To be gathered - and to gather (Moses’ keys) - we are invited to the wedding. Everyone is invited.

2. To accept the gospel of Abraham (Elias’ keys) - we are invited to come in in a higher and holier way - as the bride - under the protection of a covenant. Everyone is invited to enter the covenant.

3. To partake of the sealing power (Elijah’s keys) - we are invited to stay - forever a part of God’s family, to “go no more out.” (Revelation 3:12)

This is why daily water is so much better than the glutting once at an oasis, living my life like a weary little spiritual camel, expecting the huge drink to last for six months.  The messages become more interconnected, more relevant to current problems, and so very much more intimate and personal.

General conference talks have become a part of my personal liahona, with new writing every six months according to my faith and diligence (1 Nephi 16:29).

As the world darkens and the sea I’m navigating continues to grow more turbulent, general conference twice a year definitely feels like an oasis again, but general conference every day feels more like a steady IV drip of heavenly strength and nourishment, far more vital than even a daily vitamin.

I’m so grateful I accepted the invitation to immerse in the living water of general conference this last month. General conference is a lifeline that connects me to my Father, my Savior, and my study companion - the Holy Ghost.

It’s my lifeline to Home.  And it’s this weekend.