The Mormon missionaries I had contacted for my copy of the Book of Mormon (I haven't chosen the month yet, but I will also be learning about the LDS Church as part of my "Year of Faiths" experience) stopped by my home again a few days ago, with a schedule of their General Conference.
The entire LDS world spends two weekends a year hearing from their prophets at this conference, which is held in Salt Lake City, Utah, but shown live on TV and through the Internet. So this weekend, I spent a lot of time in front of the TV (still am - catching up!) tuning in to the conference, in-between hanging shutters on the house.
(I'm drinking coffee as I watch - which is wholly against the Book of Wisdom, for which I suffer a little guilt - and parsing Greek verbs for a quiz.)
I'm struggling with the fact that the speakers are all males, mostly white (there is a special women's session in which this is not the case), but I'm going to try and listen with an open mind and heart, and hear what they have to say. My LDS friends, after all, strive to stand apart as a "peculiar people," and they live their lives in a way that indeed sets them apart - some of the hardest workers, strongest families and dearest friends I've ever had.
What is standing out about the conference to me, in particular, are the commercials in-between sessions. They are so focused on families - messages about the sacredness of time spent with our children, and building up our homes. There also is a theme that surfaces in the talks - little, daily efforts of devotion to faith produce great fruit. This encourages me to be more faithful to my own tradition in daily life.
You can find the conference here: lds.org
