LDS General Conference Fall 2018

[maize]

Seems we haven't had one of these threads recently but, for any LDS boardies watching/listening to Conference this weekend, I hope you will come discuss!

I'm so excited about the new 2 hour church schedule--this is exactly what I have been wanting for years (for non-LDS folks reading, our Sunday church schedule for decades has involved a three hour block of meetings that, well, gets really, really long for babies and little kids and their parents).

I know the two hour schedule has been followed in some places where many wards needed to share a chapel.

[MeaganS]

Yeah, it should be very interesting. I had heard rumors but didn't think they were true. 

I am in the Primary Presidency and am interested to see more info on how this changes Primary. 

And I am very excited about the new integrated curriculum. We've never been great about Family Home Evenings, but I feel like this approach would work well for us.

[maize]

1 minute ago, MeaganS said:

Yeah, it should be very interesting. I had heard rumors but didn't think they were true. 

I am in the Primary Presidency and am interested to see more info on how this changes Primary. 

And I am very excited about the new integrated curriculum. We've never been great about Family Home Evenings, but I feel like this approach would work well for us.

I appreciated the reminder that Family Home Evening did not have to be on Monday night. This is something that my husband and I have not seen eye to eye on--he tends to be a very by-the-book thinker and has not been really comfortable with holding FHE when it best fit our family schedule rather than trying to fit our family into a box that didn't work for us. 

I prefer Saturday or Sunday, earlier in the day. By the time my family can gather on a Monday evening everyone is tired and cranky.

[prairiewindmomma]

I am really excited about the changes also!!  We've had 2 hr church temporarily (during building renovations) and it was fantastic.  We no longer have babies or toddlers, but I still find 3 hrs to be really challenging--especially when we had 11-2 meetings.  Everyone is hungry and grumpy.

[Amira]

We won’t watch till next week because it’s a school night tonight and I need to get people in bed instead of staying up late.  But then there are always spoilers.  

2 hour meetings have long been needed overseas.  We’ve had church in some seriously challenging places and yet we still have gone for the whole three hours.  We’ve been doing 2.5 here and it’s lovely.  But I’m sad I won’t get my weekly Arabic Sunday School class anymore.

Dh and I just volunteered to staff the third hour of nursery.  I guess we’re out of a job. ?

[prairiewindmomma]

We've been having family home evening on Sunday evenings....there's just so much craziness on weekday school nights. By the time we eat and clean up, the shower wars begin as we try to get everyone clean, in pajamas, and through evening routines and still get to bed at a decent hour. 

[KrissiK]

Non-LDS here, but a question. What is a Family Home Evening?? Is it just for your family? Or do you invite other families?

[maize]

1 minute ago, Amira said:

We won’t watch till next week because it’s a school night tonight and I need to get people in bed instead of staying up late.  But then there are always spoilers.  

2 hour meetings have long been needed overseas.  We’ve had church in some seriously challenging places and yet we still have gone for the whole three hours.  We’ve been doing 2.5 here and it’s lovely.  But I’m sad I won’t get my weekly Arabic Sunday School class anymore.

Dh and I just volunteered to staff the third hour of nursery.  I guess we’re out of a job. ?

I was hoping you would weigh in on overseas and smaller branches.

[prairiewindmomma]

Hi, Krissi!

Family Home Evening is meant to be a time for families to gather together.  Often there is some sort of a spiritual lesson, but sometimes they are just fun.  We love to invite other families over from time to time for dinner or dessert and games. 

Family Home Evening is meant to be an addition to daily family scripture study---not the only spiritual instruction in the family during the week.

[maize]

9 minutes ago, KrissiK said:

Non-LDS here, but a question. What is a Family Home Evening?? Is it just for your family? Or do you invite other families?

The idea is to set aside time every week for the family to gather, do fun activities, and discuss spiritual matters. The idea can be adapted to fit the needs of any family. It's been a part of LDS culture for a long time, and Monday nights are always kept free from church meetings or activities to make that time available for families (between adult meetings, youth activities, sports, family activities, scouts, etc. pretty much every other evening sometimes has a church related event).

Edited October 6, 2018 by maize

[KrissiK]

6 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Hi, Krissi!

Family Home Evening is meant to be a time for families to gather together.  Often there is some sort of a spiritual lesson, but sometimes they are just fun.  We love to invite other families over from time to time for dinner or dessert and games. 

Family Home Evening is meant to be an addition to daily family scripture study---not the only spiritual instruction in the family during the week.

 

5 minutes ago, maize said:

The idea is to set aside time every week for the family to gather, do fun activities, and discuss spiritual matters. The idea can be adapted to fit the needs of any family. It's been a part of LDS culture for a long time, and Monday nights are always kept free from church meeting or activities to make that time available for families (between adult meetings, youth activities, sports, family activities, scouts, etc. pretty much every other evening sometimes has a church related event).

That sounds like a great idea!!

[prairiewindmomma]

Some of the things we've talked about in Family Home Evening recently: dealing with foul language and inappropriate behavior happening around them at school, how to say meaningful personal prayers, learning how to turn off our utilities (at the gas and water mains) in case of an earthquake, and how we each hear the Holy Ghost talking to us....  We've also had lots of families over with kids around our kids' ages--it's so hard to fit in fellowshipping during the school week and yet it's so important for us all to have good friends and for new families to our congregation to feel welcomed in and supported.

[maize]

I am curious to learn how Primary (children's Sunday School) will be handled under the new Sunday schedule. Also whether there will even be a standard pattern or if more will be left up to individual unit leadership. A small branch with ten Primary aged children has very different needs from a large ward with eighty children in the Primary. 

Edited October 6, 2018 by maize

[prairiewindmomma]

The last speaker who spoke about hiking up into the mountains and having his kids write on rocks to explain that Christ is the cornerstone of our church and that building a solid foundation on his teachings is important....

 

I just had to tell my kids that it is so not ok to write on rocks and deface property on public grounds.... 

[prairiewindmomma]

1 minute ago, maize said:

I am curious to learn how Primary (children's Sunday School) will be handled under the new Sunday schedule. Also whether there will even be a standard pattern or if more will be left up to individual unit leadership. A small branch with ten Primary aged children has very different needs from a large ward with eighty children in the Primary. 

I kind of wonder if sharing time is going to get cut.....it'll be twenty minutes of class time and twenty minutes of singing/announcements/brief lesson in sharing time.

I've often felt like the time allotted both in primary and in youth sunday school is a bit long....

[maize]

I missed out on who is speaking right now (I'm listening not watching) but appreciate the message about not letting fear rule our lives.

Edited October 6, 2018 by maize

[Amira]

3 minutes ago, maize said:

I am curious to learn how Primary (children's Sunday School) will be handled under the new Sunday schedule. Also whether there will even be a standard pattern or if more will be left up to individual unit leadership. A small branch with ten Primary aged children has very different needs from a large ward with eighty children in the Primary. 

Since I’m reading articles about this and not listening, it looks like primary will be divided between singing time and class time.  No more sharing time would be my very favorite thing about this. 

Sometimes it’s not SLC telling local units what do it, sometimes it’s area leadership.  More flexibility for local units is always better in my mind.  

[maize]

2 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I kind of wonder if sharing time is going to get cut.....it'll be twenty minutes of class time and twenty minutes of singing/announcements/brief lesson in sharing time.

I've often felt like the time allotted both in primary and in youth sunday school is a bit long....

My kids think I must have been writing letters to President Nelson because the schedule that was announced today is pretty much what I have been saying I would prefer for years. I've always thought if we would just shorten meetings a bit and cut out most time taken with announcements at church it would be really easy to shorten the overall time spent without losing anything of real value.

[prairiewindmomma]

3 minutes ago, maize said:

I missed out on who is speaking right now but appreciate the message about not letting fear rule our lives.

Elder Rasband

[prairiewindmomma]

If anyone is reading in on the thread and wants to check out what it is that we're talking about....we're watching conference sessions online (or via our Roku) from here: https://www.lds.org/?lang=eng Click on the "general conference" link if it's not automatically popping up for you.

[Butter]

51 minutes ago, maize said:

I'm so excited about the new 2 hour church schedule--

1

I've been a nursery leader for over a year now so I was really hoping for two hour church.  I love the babies, but I feel worn out like I've run a marathon every Sunday after church.  50 minutes of nursery will be so nice.  Also, if it means we don't feed them a snack (and I assume we won't), it'll save so much money.  I just recently bought $50 worth of snacks and we hope it'll last 6-8 weeks and we only have 10-12 kids any given Sunday!  They eat a *lot* at snack time.

We also recently took Adrian off his ADD meds because of an insurance/pediatrician issue and discovered he was having some side effects we didn't realize he was having because they happened so gradually.  It's turned out good that we had to take him off the Adderall, but two hours of primary is HARD for him on medication.  He was having a lot of trouble controlling himself by the end of church this past Sunday.  50 minutes of primary is going to be so much better for him.  He has gotten to the point (even on meds) where he says he hates church and I really don't like hearing that from him and I know it's because it's just so long for him to focus.  I really hope shorter primary will help kids like him.

35 minutes ago, maize said:

I appreciated the reminder that Family Home Evening did not have to be on Monday night.

 

Of necessity, we have had Family Home Evening on Sundays.  My oldest son works full time as a taekwondo instructor so Sunday works best for us.

I'm pretty down with this homeschool church thing.  I've been using Scripture Study for Latter-day Saint Families: Doctrine and Covenants with my 10 and 12 year old boys in school this year and it's been amazing for all of us.  I love learning with them.

[Forget-Me-Not]

So excited for the new schedule!  

[Amira]

I would love to see smaller branches use some of the extra time to socialize more after church, if that is a good option for the branch.  When you live far apart from each other, it’s nice to have some time on Friday/Saturday/Sunday to at least chat a bit, or let the kids run around together.  Usually it feels like everyone is rushing off to a calling and then home for naps or to feed hungry children.  It would be nice to slow things down a bit.

When we were in the Middle East in the 90s 2-hour church was the norm, especially in branches where most of the members were local.  Three hours of church plus transportation time added up to far too much time to ask members to leave their families on Fridays.  That would have helped a lot in some units we’ve attended in the US too.

 

 

[MeaganS]

11 minutes ago, Butter said:

I'm pretty down with this homeschool church thing.  I've been using Scripture Study for Latter-day Saint Families: Doctrine and Covenants with my 10 and 12 year old boys in school this year and it's been amazing for all of us.  I love learning with them.

 

I like the "homeschool" church description. Church meetings are to be like a co-op, but we're to teach the gospel mostly at home. Complete with shiny new curricula! 

Edited October 6, 2018 by MeaganS

[maize]

12 minutes ago, Amira said:

I would love to see smaller branches use some of the extra time to socialize more after church, if that is a good option for the branch.  When you live far apart from each other, it’s nice to have some time on Friday/Saturday/Sunday to at least chat a bit, or let the kids run around together.  Usually it feels like everyone is rushing off to a calling and then home for naps or to feed hungry children.  It would be nice to slow things down a bit.

When we were in the Middle East in the 90s 2-hour church was the norm, especially in branches where most of the members were local.  Three hours of church plus transportation time added up to far too much time to ask members to leave their families on Fridays.  That would have helped a lot in some units we’ve attended in the US too.

 

 

Yes! I think planning in some social time maybe after church meetings when everyone is already gathered together is a great idea.

[maize]

38 minutes ago, Butter said:

I've been a nursery leader for over a year now so I was really hoping for two hour church.  I love the babies, but I feel worn out like I've run a marathon every Sunday after church.  50 minutes of nursery will be so nice.  Also, if it means we don't feed them a snack (and I assume we won't), it'll save so much money.  I just recently bought $50 worth of snacks and we hope it'll last 6-8 weeks and we only have 10-12 kids any given Sunday!  They eat a *lot* at snack time.

We also recently took Adrian off his ADD meds because of an insurance/pediatrician issue and discovered he was having some side effects we didn't realize he was having because they happened so gradually.  It's turned out good that we had to take him off the Adderall, but two hours of primary is HARD for him on medication.  He was having a lot of trouble controlling himself by the end of church this past Sunday.  50 minutes of primary is going to be so much better for him.  He has gotten to the point (even on meds) where he says he hates church and I really don't like hearing that from him and I know it's because it's just so long for him to focus.  I really hope shorter primary will help kids like him.

Of necessity, we have had Family Home Evening on Sundays.  My oldest son works full time as a taekwondo instructor so Sunday works best for us.

I'm pretty down with this homeschool church thing.  I've been using Scripture Study for Latter-day Saint Families: Doctrine and Covenants with my 10 and 12 year old boys in school this year and it's been amazing for all of us.  I love learning with them.

 

Yeah we have more ADHD people than not in this household. 3 hours was an impossible length of time to focus. My 6 year old always says he hates church and I know it's just because he really can't sit still and focus for that long.

[umsami]

2 hours ago, maize said:

Seems we haven't had one of these threads recently but, for any LDS boardies watching/listening to Conference this weekend, I hope you will come discuss!

I'm so excited about the new 2 hour church schedule--this is exactly what I have been wanting for years (for non-LDS folks reading, our Sunday church schedule for decades has involved a three hour block of meetings that, well, gets really, really long for babies and little kids and their parents).

I know the two hour schedule has been followed in some places where many wards needed to share a chapel.

? I attended church with an LDS friend when I was in Middle School and I remember enjoying it...but thinking it went on for-ev-er.  I can see how this will be much better for Moms of littles! 

 

Hope your conference is a blessing to all of you watching.

[Butter]

And we're back!

[Amira]

I have to go to sleep now but I’ll expect a report of the women’s session when I wake up. ? I’m hopeful that some changes regarding women will be announced there.

[gardenmom5]

3 hours ago, maize said:

My kids think I must have been writing letters to President Nelson because the schedule that was announced today is pretty much what I have been saying I would prefer for years. I've always thought if we would just shorten meetings a bit and cut out most time taken with announcements at church it would be really easy to shorten the overall time spent without losing anything of real value.

 

this has been a real problem  in our RS.    between opening hymns/prayers/announcements/closing hymn/prayer . . . . I got about 20 minutes to teach a lesson.  and when people would add their two cents (and I'd have to bring it back on topic), I learned to break down what the subject was - present that and ignore the rest.

[maize]

I always enjoy Pres. Hinckley stories, I still miss him and the twinkle that was always in his eye.

[maize]

40 minutes ago, Amira said:

I have to go to sleep now but I’ll expect a report of the women’s session when I wake up. ? I’m hopeful that some changes regarding women will be announced there.

My dd's and I are looking forward to the Women's Session. 

[felicity]

I just learned about the change to two hours and while I understand the joy, I have a slightly differing opinion. My dh left the church about 15 years ago and teaching the gospel doesn't work well in our home. I won't be able to take advantage of the extra time to teach the gospel as a family. I totally get it and the three hour block can drag but for some of us, we need it. The response in the groups for spouses of those that are inactive is understanding but tearful. We've already lost so much and it feels like we're losing even more.

[maize]

6 minutes ago, felicity said:

I just learned about the change to two hours and while I understand the joy, I have a slightly differing opinion. My dh left the church about 15 years ago and teaching the gospel doesn't work well in our home. I won't be able to take advantage of the extra time to teach the gospel as a family. I totally get it and the three hour block can drag but for some of us, we need it. The response in the groups for spouses of those that are inactive is understanding but tearful. We've already lost so much and it feels like we're losing even more.

(((felicity)))

That is such a hard situation to be in.

Amira mentioned the idea upthread of some units taking advantage of the extra time to socialize with other members. Even if this is not happening on a ward or branch level maybe it would be possible for members who desire or need more time for spiritual nourishment for themselves and their families to find ways to spend time with others with similar needs and desires on Sundays? I think it would be worth discussing your concerns with your bishop or Relief Society leaders or ministering brothers/sisters and see if there is a way to turn this into a blessing for your family.

[felicity]

14 minutes ago, maize said:

(((felicity)))

That is such a hard situation to be in.

Amira mentioned the idea upthread of some units taking advantage of the extra time to socialize with other members. Even if this is not happening on a ward or branch level maybe it would be possible for members who desire or need more time for spiritual nourishment for themselves and their families to find ways to spend time with others with similar needs and desires on Sundays? I think it would be worth discussing your concerns with your bishop or Relief Society leaders or ministering brothers/sisters and see if there is a way to turn this into a blessing for your family.

 

I hate to keep being negative, but in my home that wouldn't work. My dh is wonderful, our home is happy, and he is completely supportive of all of us. Except in this one thing. For me and many people in the same situation as me, our spouses aren't supportive of us doing a lot of church activities. For me personally, anything outside of the three-hour block has to be negotiated and always end up in negative feelings on both of our sides. I hesitate to say more and get too personal and I absolutely appreciate your support and hugs. We'll work it out but it is definitely unsettling. I will be listening to Conference this week and I'm sure I'll feel better once I can. Thank you.

[maize]

1 minute ago, felicity said:

 

I hate to keep being negative, but in my home that wouldn't work. My dh is wonderful, our home is happy, and he is completely supportive of all of us. Except in this one thing. For me and many people in the same situation as me, our spouses aren't supportive of us doing a lot of church activities. For me personally, anything outside of the three-hour block has to be negotiated and always end up in negative feelings on both of our sides. I hesitate to say more and get too personal and I absolutely appreciate your support and hugs. We'll work it out but it is definitely unsettling. I will be listening to Conference this week and I'm sure I'll feel better once I can. Thank you.

I understand the realities of difficult spouse dynamics, I've dealt with plenty of challenges in that direction.

I am so sorry this is looking like an increased burden rather than a blessing for your family. I do hope you find personal comfort and encouragement in the Conference talks.

[prairiewindmomma]

Butter—is the bishop’s son in the MTC ward choir? On a closeup it looked like him. Or he has a doppelgänger out there...

[gardenmom5]

1 hour ago, maize said:

My dd's and I are looking forward to the Women's Session. 

is it available on lds.org?  or stake center only?   not sure what I want to do, if I want to go.

1 hour ago, felicity said:

I just learned about the change to two hours and while I understand the joy, I have a slightly differing opinion. My dh left the church about 15 years ago and teaching the gospel doesn't work well in our home. I won't be able to take advantage of the extra time to teach the gospel as a family. I totally get it and the three hour block can drag but for some of us, we need it. The response in the groups for spouses of those that are inactive is understanding but tearful. We've already lost so much and it feels like we're losing even more.

I'm sorry, it's hard. 

 

[maize]

I believe it will be broadcast like the other sessions. We are planning to watch on lds.org.

[maize]

I kinda want to refer to Elder Uchdorf as "the German Shepherd" from now on...

[MeaganS]

Yeah, our ward is having a potluck for Women's Session, but I won't be going. This is dd8's first Women's Session but dh is on a work trip and no way am I bringing all 4 of my kids to stay up past bedtime. We're watching it at home. I'll make popcorn to make it more fun. ?

[MeaganS]

Pres. Uchdorf had a great quote about religion being like a plow not a painting. I'll have to look it up when the printed version is out, but I liked it, especially since that is something I struggle with. 

[MeaganS]

13 minutes ago, maize said:

I kinda want to refer to Elder Uchdorf as "the German Shepherd" from now on...

 

Dh and I have a longstanding joke that Germans have words for everything. Whatever that word was that described Solomon's ennui made me giggle because of that. So specific. 

[gardenmom5]

46 minutes ago, maize said:

I kinda want to refer to Elder Uchdorf as "the German Shepherd" from now on...

after reading some german signs about german shepherds - in german, I can only think - Deutscher Schäferhund

he has a great sense of humor.   and he's always so cheerful.

32 minutes ago, MeaganS said:

 

Dh and I have a longstanding joke that Germans have words for everything. Whatever that word was that described Solomon's ennui made me giggle because of that. So specific. 

they do love their compound words . . . . .(although that wasn't one . . . and there are somethings . . . . )

Edited October 6, 2018 by gardenmom5

[Butter]

2 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Butter—is the bishop’s son in the MTC ward choir? On a closeup it looked like him. Or he has a doppelgänger out there...

Yes!  That was Dan!

[prairiewindmomma]

Thanks! We’ve been gone from the ward long enough that we are out of the loop of who all is serving (& where) , but we all jumped up and said, “That’s _____!” 

 

[moonflower]

I just gotta say that for some reason I, a distinctly non-religious person, really enjoy reading this thread on the years when you guys post one.  There are some things about religion that I think are super valuable, and this thread almost always makes me wistful about it.

[Butter]

9 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Thanks! We’ve been gone from the ward long enough that we are out of the loop of who all is serving (& where) , but we all jumped up and said, “That’s _____!” 

1

He's going to be serving in Honduras right where the Kimballs are living which is kind of crazy.

[prairiewindmomma]

That is crazy! I saw on the mission board outside of our chapel that one of the other wards in our building has a missionary in that same mission in Honduras.

It’s crazy how small the world can be sometimes.

[prairiewindmomma]

In this evening’s Women’s Conference I have really enjoyed the common theme of sharing love through serving others....that we can come to better know God by doing His will through that expression of love by serving others...