As the editor of Church News, general conference is the best time of the year. When I earned my degree in journalism, I loved covering athletic events and breaking-news stories. Decades later, I still love covering news as it happens. And there is no better news to publish than the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Covering general conference is both similar to and completely different from sports and news. Watching a great play develop on the court and hearing the gospel message explained in a way that helps answer a prayer can each bring a smile to my face. But an answered prayer helps build an eternal foundation in a way a sporting event can’t.
While I look forward to participating in general conference with as much emotion as some do for a big game or tournament, my excitement hit a brick wall six months ago.
On Saturday morning, April 4, I woke up before dawn with a pain that I could only explain as feeling like a porcupine was trying to find a home in my eye. My wife quickly took me to see a doctor who put numbing gel in my eye in order to evaluate the situation.
With the pain dissipating, I was ready to thank him and head to the office to cover two days of messages from Church leaders. Pain hadn’t driven away my excitement. The doctor was less optimistic about my plan.
Just because I couldn’t feel pain in that moment didn’t mean the problem had gone away. The medicine that temporarily relieved my pain was buying the doctor time to figure out what was happening. After concluding his evaluation, he informed me that I had a condition that would take time, medicine and rest to heal.
I explained to him that I needed to be at work for two days and I would happily take time to rest after the weekend. He politely informed me that this was a terrible idea that could have permanent consequences for my vision.
Covering general conference wasn’t going to happen. Watching general conference wasn’t going to happen. I was prescribed a myriad of eye drops and told to stay in a dark room for two days until a specialist could see me after the weekend.
Church News has a great team of skilled and dedicated individuals who moved forward without missing a beat, and my eyes have since received the care they need to help avoid future problems.
The experience forced me to participate in general conference in a different way than I had before. I couldn’t see the speakers or the musicians. I couldn’t see the images of Temple Square as it moved forward with renovations. I couldn’t see on the TV screen how to spell the last name of new General Authority Seventy Elder Clement Matswagothata when he spoke. And I couldn’t take notes (at least not legibly) like I had since I was a boy.
Conference began with a call just for me — “We Listen to a Prophet’s Voice.” I needed to listen. I had to listen. There was no other way for me to engage with conference this time around.
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square sang:
“The prophet has confirmed that by [the Savior] we are known.
“Attend, ye earth! The prophet speaks; come, listen and obey.
“He is the man who holds the keys of priesthood pow’r today.”
While I couldn’t write news summaries or excerpts of messages, I could listen to the Prophet. So I did. It wasn’t the experience I planned on; it was the experience I needed.
As the conference concluded, I focused on the verbs used by Church President Dallin H. Oaks in his final message of the weekend.
“The Spirit of the Lord has inspired all of us to concentrate our worship, focus our learning and unite our testimonies on the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Father’s plan for our eternal increase and joy,” he said.
Inspire, concentrate, focus, unite — I didn’t have to see or watch conference to feel or do those things.
When he invited individuals to revisit the teachings of the conference, he didn’t tell us to watch them. He asked us to “study and ponder,” “act in faith,” “treasure up,” “act upon” and “follow the directions” that were given.
Sitting in the dark, I listened to inspired messages and felt the Holy Ghost. Whether we listen, watch or read the messages of another general conference, I know that Heavenly Father will help us learn what we need to in our individual circumstances.
— Jon Ryan Jensen is editor of the Church News.
