General Conference Feeds the Spirit
Contributed By By Jason Swensen, Church News staff writer
“There is nothing like being at general conference. The Conference Center was so reverent and so filled with the Spirit. It is amazing to be with so many people from so many places who have come together for one purpose—to listen to the words of the prophets." —General conference attendee.
Article Highlights
- Attending general conference is a "precious" experience for a Texas woman who could have flown anywhere.
Recently, Maria Helena Munoz held in her hand a stand-by plane ticket. She had a big choice to make. The plane ticket was a gift from her daughter who works as a flight attendant for a major American airline. It was an open ticket that would allow her to travel almost anywhere in the world.
Sister Munoz is a busy woman. She works hard both at home and at her job in Houston, Texas. And she enjoys a few days at the beach or a fun-filled city as much as any traveler. But when she received the ticket, she knew exactly where she was destined.
“I knew that I needed to fly to Salt Lake City and attend general conference,” she said. “I needed to have my spirit fed and uplifted.”
So instead of globetrotting to more tropical climes, Sister Munoz boarded a Utah-bound plane.
She was able to secure a ticket to both the Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon sessions of general conference on April 5. On Sunday, she gathered with several friends and relatives to watch the important event on a live broadcast in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square.
“There is nothing like being at general conference. The Conference Center was so reverent and so filled with the Spirit. It is amazing to be with so many people from so many places who have come together for one purpose—to listen to the words of the prophets,” she said.
Her favorite message was from President Thomas S. Monson.
“The prophet taught about being kind to others and becoming better people.” [Read what President Monson said here.]
Sister Munoz always leaves general conference with a new list of personal goals to work on for the next six months. The many messages from the pulpit about missionary work and hastening the work of the gospel have inspired her to share her beliefs with more people from her neighborhood and workplace.
She wants to reach out to those people she doesn’t know well and share with them what is so precious to her. She wants them to feel the same way she feels when she leaves general conference.
Sister Munoz, who returned to Houston the day after general conference, does not know when she will have another stand-by ticket. But she has no doubt where she wants to be in six months.
“I can’t wait for October’s general conference.”
