Five Days, Five Different Ways

Last week's post focused on ways of using the tools in the Ensign General Conference issue. Now that the November issue has arrived, I thought I'd take one more week to give you one more idea! Call it Five Days, Five Different Ways. Before I had kids, I taught language and literacy to people of all ages. In the field of language learning, we talk about the four skill areas: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The ideas below build off the idea that each of these skill areas is essential and will help you learn in different ways. Choose a talk you'd like to study, and then here's what you can do:

DAY 1: READ the talk for general themes and principles. Underline the ideas that stand out to you the most. Choose one quote (or more!) and write it on an index card. Place it where you will see it often during the week!

DAY 2: READING EXTENSION. Read the scriptures listed in the footnotes of the talk. Look for connections between the various references. If you have time, go further with each passage by reading the cross-references specific to those verses in the scriptures. You might be surprised where they take you! (Try doing this online where you can more easily follow a trail of hyperlinks.)

DAY 3: LISTEN to the talk on lds.org. Hearing the voices/inflections of the various speakers helps you glean more about what they are really trying to convey. Also, listening engages a different part of your brain. If you are an auditory learner, this may really help! After you listen, skim the talk and underline the comments that stood out to you differently.

DAY 4: TALK. Find a study partner or willing family member/friend. If you have family/friends with whom you can share your insights, talk to them and share your ideas! Bring up the questions you wrote down on Day One. Learn from each other! This is where our focus area of "Reading Together" really come into play!

For another spin/approach, think how you would teach from the talk. Outline some ideas for a Family Home Evening or other teaching context. What would you emphasize? Why? Is there some kind of object lesson you're familiar with that conveys the main idea? Or do you have a personal experience that underscores the theme? Save your notes for the next week's FHE or otherwise!

DAY 5: WRITE about it. Read the talk one more time. Write for a few minutes in your journal about what you have learned, how it has changed your understanding, and/or what you take away from it to influence your own life.

Even if you don't want to do five days in a row, some of these ideas may give you a new way to study and learn from the General Conference talks. Whatever you do, don't miss out on the wondeful wisdom and direction they offer!

One last thought: you may have noticed that some of the features listed in last week's post are not outlined in the same way in this issue. Check out the General Conference website and the For Youth Today link for similar resources online!