39. General Conference
- L Rshaw
- Oct 3, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 23, 2022
"Those who will address us have sought heaven’s help and direction as they have prepared their messages. They have been impressed concerning that which they will share with us.”
—Thomas S. Monson (Past Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; 1927 - 2018)
* Note: Closely related blog posts of mine which you may wish to check out include: "Prophets and Callings", "Church Organization", "Apostasy and Restoration", "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism", "Priesthood", "Return of the King -- Part 2", "Return of the King -- Part 4.1", "Return of the King -- Part 4.2" and "New Apostles"
**NOTE: If you wish to get in contact with missionaries of the Church to learn more, you can do so at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/requests/missionary-visit
Before I knew it, it was October and October means General Conference. Back home I would have stayed in my pajamas and eaten a hot breakfast on the couch with my family while watching it on TV. On special occasions, we might even go to downtown Salt Lake and watch it in person with the other 21,000 people in the Conference Center. (See "Temples -- Holy Houses of the Lord")
I mentioned this in "Mission Call -- Reynosa, Mexico", but as a recap, General Conference is a semi-annual occasion that usually takes place on the first weekend of April and October. General Conference is a time when we receive spiritual messages from living prophets, Apostles, and other leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (See "Church Organization" and "Prophets and Callings"). In addition to inspired messages, we hear beautiful music, and we might hear special announcements such as plans for new temples. But more than anything, General Conference is a time for each person to let the spirit teach them, and to recommit to be better disciples of Jesus Christ in the way that we live and treat others.
But I was several hundred miles away from all of that. I was in Mexico for the October 2014, April 2015, October 2015, and April 2016 General Conferences. In order to watch it in English, we had to cram ourselves into one of the chapel offices and watch it online while the rest saw it dubbed in Spanish in the chapel. We missed the first bit of the General Conference because we couldn’t connect our internet and then we couldn’t get the audio to sync with the video on Sunday. It was certainly a new experience for me! Nevertheless, despite minor technical difficulties, I was just grateful to hear familiar voices in English even if the audio or visual wasn’t perfect (I'd only been in Mexico for less than a month and English was a breath of fresh air).
I’m grateful for the technology that makes General Conference available in almost any language to be broadcast around the world so that practically no matter where you are, you can participate. Volunteers translate the messages into roughly 93 languages! It truly is a diverse worldwide church! How many other organizations can say that?
Sure, I felt a little homesick, but it was like I was at home just listening to fellow Utahans speak in English, not to mention the magical music of the Tabernacle Choir on Temple Square (Formerly, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir). Television is like a portal. It was like being home without being home. But I was in a second kind of home among my new friends, Elders Johnson, Stohel, Adams, Whitlock (My companion from the MTC who had gotten the green light to come to Mexico just a week or two before), Harvey, and Martinez. What better definition does one need for “home”?
It was just what I needed, to feast upon the words of God (2 Nephi 32:3) and to take a break from the hustle of constantly worrying about what time it was and where we needed to be. How blessed I felt to get to hear prophets speak! Sometimes we take that semiannual occasion for granted. But as a missionary, every 6 months I got to hit the streets and proclaim, “Come listen to a prophet speak this weekend!”. Only a small percentage of the world knows that God continues to speak today. Imagine their reaction if they knew that God continues to speak! Yet others would rather carry about with their tedious work and worldly concerns that have no eternal benefit for them; it blows my mind! Work is good but there are BETTER things. People need to seriously consider the THINGS THAT MATTER MOST! How sweet it was when people come and listen and rest from their labors! General Conference is for everybody, not just members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The words of the prophets apply to everyone alike because heaven speaks through the prophets! And the Holy Ghost can speak to each individual to testify that what is said is true.
Thankfully, we can re-watch or read the messages after they are given. The church has several monthly magazines where we can find the talks or we can search on Churchofjesuschrist.org or YouTube for more. No matter how many times we hear or read their messages, there can always be something new to gain or learn or remember; that’s why I like quoting them so much.
There is a reason why the prophets and Apostles speak to us every six months. Their messages are inspired and made for when we need them. It’s not that we are always receiving new doctrine, because it’s not always like that, but we don’t need new doctrine to learn something new or to hear something we needed to remember. Sometimes I look for answers to different questions I have. I think that is part of the genius of church attendance as well; the more we repeat things, the more we remember them. The more we keep them in our minds and hearts, the more likely we are to live them and that is the point. Sometimes we all need to take time to check how we are doing and where we stand. That is one of the key purposes of General Conference and going to church every Sunday, on the Lord’s Day.
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