Growing up I only ever saw Sunday morning session of conference. The stake center was just too far away and we didn’t get conference through cable or our antenna. In fact, I figured the “extra” sessions were for people who lived in places where they couldn’t get to Sunday morning session because of time zone issues, like a courtesy for accommodating a worldwide church. Imagine my surprise when I sat down to do homework Saturday morning of conference my freshman year at BYU and my roommate asked me if I was going to watch conference! Um… no. I have homework. The prophet always spoke Sunday morning anyway; it wasn’t like I was missing something!
Now we have the audio playing in our house in the background as we do other things. And since we don’t live where everything closes down for conference, there is running around on Saturday that we can’t really prevent. And by the time Sunday afternoon comes around, I’m falling asleep.
So, I’m curious how you all watch conference. All the sessions? Just one? Is it background noise? Do you not bother at all and read/watch later?
I have found that delivery and tone of voice often matters in these conference addresses and though I find the Ensign or other online summaries helpful in letting me know what was actually said, the audio/visual component fascinates me. We TiVo conference and then I often cherry pick which to watch from speakers I’m interested or from talks I’ve already heard are especially good (or especially not good, as the case may be).
And I enjoy the choir–especially when they sing those truly Mormon hymns at full volume. You just can’t get that in written conference reports. I love the connection to my Mormon ancestors and friends that I feel through the strains of those familiar melodies.
Other: I watch all of them. About half attentively. Half as background (while I organize, cook, do homework, write thank you notes, etc., etc.).
I genuinely love conference, and the connection I feel to friends and (some) family members who I know are watching it far away.
I also miss my own years in Utah, where it feels like a holiday.
I use to watch even though I’m no longer a member, I stopped watching, or even reading the Ensign, too many talks are just so generalized, they leave out whole groups of people and after last conference when I believe it was Packer or Ballard who said,”Poor people are poor because they dont’ live righteous lives” I don’t have the whole text but, now I stop watching because of the hateful, hurtful comments of exclusion
I watch all sessions while knitting or x-stitching – and thoroughly enjoy it. I see it as my time; a time for me to rejuvenate and motivate.
I’m a knitter too! That’s why listening to the audio is the greatest! 8 hours of knitting time… So nice!
I used to watch all of them while embroidering, but I can’t handle that anymore. I watch or listen til I get annoyed then go do something else.
Can we add a category? I catch up on highlights on Facebook groups and blog threads. 🙂
I needed the “I sit down to watch & take notes but am regularly lulled to sleep by the GA’s voices” 🙂
We always watch all the sessions and do errands or chores before or in between Saturday sessions. The kids are only attentive part of the time but I always actively listen. For me, it’s a nice weekend of quiet at home time which I don’t get often enough and there is always at least one talk that addresses some aspect of my life at the moment.