Study General Conference With Me!

Hello there, my wonderful friends! And happy November 2020! These certainly are “unusual” times, but we indeed are receiving “unusual” blessings (in the BEST sense of the word). I have an invitation to extend to each one of you today… But first, a little background….

A few weeks ago I was listening to an address given by Dieter F. Uchtdorf entitled “Receiving a Testimony of Light and Truth” (from October 2014 General Conference). While the whole talk is wonderful, a certain phrase jumped out at me. He explains that if we want to receive light and knowledge from God, we must search His words… “that means reading the scriptures and studying the words of the ancient as well as modern prophets regarding the restored gospel of Jesus Christ…”

This may seem unremarkable at first, and you may be asking me, “What’s so out-of-the-ordinary about that?” But in that moment, the Spirit whispered to me that I needed to more fully put this counsel into play. It motivated me to ACT and DO something that could possibly be considered “unusual”.

Over the past two years I’ve made personal scripture study my #1 priority each and every day. The blessings that have come to me and my family because of that shift have been beautiful, timely, and exceedingly merciful. It wasn’t that I didn’t read or study consistently before that, but the PRIORITY I gave to that particular method of communion with God changed from important to VITAL, and that slight shift has proven monumental.

As I listened to Elder Uchtdorf deliver this statement, I realized that I needed to now give higher priority to the STUDY of MODERN prophets regarding the gospel of Jesus Christ. An idea started to brew at this point! I typically spend the weeks leading up to each semi-annual General Conference re-listening to the addresses given in the prior Conference. And then I spend the weeks following it by re-listening to the talks just given. The months in between each General Conference find me coming back to the addresses often but not on a consistent basis. I felt that that needed to change.

My order-loving and methodical nature kicked in at this point and devised a plan. Why not compile a “study schedule” of sorts that would help me dig into each and every talk during the 6 months between Conferences in a neat and orderly way? I shared the idea with my older two kiddos, and they were on board as well. So we sat down together and compiled a quick list of every address in the October 2020 General Conference. We sorted them into the coming 22 weeks between now and the next General Conference in April 2021.

I decided that I would share quotes and insights each week from one or two of the talks (as determined by our family-made study schedule) on my Michelle Soderberg Music Facebook page. Not sounding too “unusual” yet? Well, the idea that a new song (or two or three) and maybe some simple hymn arrangements might come out of this process was also discussed (“unusual” because I’m not regularly writing anything right now) as was the invitation to all of you (also “unusual” for me as I don’t typically share in such a public setting the spiritual stirrings of my soul).

So here’s the invitation!…

I welcome you to study these addresses along with my family and me each week!

If you aren’t on Facebook (or simply aren’t a fan of checking it regularly), I will deliver my messages straight to your email inbox each week. Don’t worry, I won’t “spam” you by any means… just ONE email per week sharing my own personal insights, favorite quotes, and a corresponding graphic or two.

Sound appealing?? All you need to do is subscribe to my newsletter, and you’ll be all set. How does one subscribe, you ask? Well, see that box to the right of this post that says “Join Our Mailing List”? Simply type in your email address and click “Sign Up”.

For all of you Facebookers, I will post the talks there at the beginning of the week and highlighted quotes throughout. Please head over and “LIKE” my page, check in frequently, and feel free to comment as you learn and grow your own light. If you feel so inclined, I also invite you to share the quotes I post or any of the content that you feel might benefit those in your sphere of influence.

For those of you choosing to receive my weekly email, the talk for the week will be included there!

These “unusual” times will indeed reap “unusual” blessings as we willingly “choose to lay hold upon the word of God” and share it with the world.

So… who’s with me?! We are stronger together and mighty with Christ! Let’s progress side by side on His path. 🙂