Summary Of 184th Annual LDS General Conference, Sunday Afternoon General Session: Elder William Walker Pays Tribute To Mormon Pioneers

The closing session of the 184th Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints featured a ringing testimony of the divinity of Jesus Christ and a tribute to the Prophet Joseph Smith on the anniversary of the LDS Church's founding. Joseph Smith was cited as a powerful example of how truth is always accompanied by opposition, and the stronger the truth, the greater the opposition. But one of the talks I found most inspirational was delivered by Elder William R. Walker, who sought to renew understanding and appreciation of the sacrifices of Mormon pioneers who trekked across the Great Plains and carved out Zion in the Intermountain West and make them more relevant to a modern globe-girdling church; as a matter of fact, Elder Walker hit the biggest home run of the Conference with his talk, as far as I'm concerned.

Video, audio, and written archives are now available HERE. Mormon Newsroom provides photo galleries of speakers and surroundings.

Summaries of Other Conference Sessions:

-- Saturday Morning General Session
-- Saturday Afternoon General Session
-- Saturday Evening Priesthood Session
-- Sunday Morning General Session

Summaries of the talks are available through the Deseret News Conference Page, although some of the information is also gleaned from LDSConf Twitter. Clicking on the speaker's name will take you directly to the Deseret News story about the speech (after the jump):

Summary Of 184th Annual LDS General Conference, Sunday Morning General Session: The Meaning Of Gratitude, Adversity, And Love

The Sunday Morning General Session of the 184th Annual LDS General Conference created no headlines, but instead resulted in some good old-fashioned honest counsel. On the menu was a call for more gratitude particularly during times of trouble, following up on good intentions, and a lesson on how Jesus Christ's two great commanders, Love the Lord and love your neighbor, are interactive and inseparable. One of the sisters issued a call for us to resist becoming merely a "checklist church".

Video, audio, and written archives are now available HERE. Mormon Newsroom provides photo galleries of speakers and surroundings. Good secular-oriented coverage and a photo gallery provided by the Salt Lake Tribune.

Summaries of Other Conference Sessions:

-- Saturday Morning General Session
-- Saturday Afternoon General Session
-- Saturday Evening Priesthood Session
-- Sunday Afternoon General Session

Summaries of the talks are available through the Deseret News Conference Page. Clicking on the speaker's name will take you directly to the Deseret News story about the speech (after the jump):

Summary Of 184th Annual LDS General Conference, Saturday Evening Priesthood Session: Becoming Better "Priesthood Men"

Despite the Ordain Women sideshow, the Saturday Evening Priesthood Session of the 184th Annual LDS General Conference proceeded smoothly. From the counsel given to become better Priesthood men, and the repeated caution for us to show courage and stand for what is right at the risk of social unpopularity, it appears the brethren are trying to firm us up to become a "peculiar people" once again, as the "era of good feeling" towards us begins to wind down. Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave an outstanding talk on the issue of women and the Priesthood, reminding us that although women don't have Priesthood offices, they are not without Priesthood power.

Ordain Women Sideshow: As promised, the Ordain Women activists showed up to attempt to get tickets to enter the all-male Priesthood Session. Although as many as 500 were expected, in the end only 200+ were in evidence according to the Salt Lake Tribune and KSL Channel 5. KSTU Channel 13 claims 300 showed up. They were turned away, and it appears this will be the last time Ordain Women uses this tactic for the foreseeable future. For their part, Ordain Women claims 510 people showed up to support their effort.

Video and audio archives are now available HERE; written transcripts will follow by mid-week. Mormon Newsroom provides photo galleries of speakers and surroundings.

Summaries of Other Conference Sessions:

-- Saturday Morning General Session
-- Saturday Afternoon General Session
-- Sunday Morning General Session
-- Sunday Afternoon General Session

Summaries of the talks are available through the Deseret News Conference Page. Clicking on the speaker's name will take you directly to the Deseret News story about the speech (after the jump):

Summary Of 184th Annual LDS General Conference, Saturday Afternoon General Session: LDS Membership Now Over 15 Million Worldwide

The Saturday Afternoon General Session of the 184th Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints kicked off with the usual spate of housekeeping announcements. The most noteworthy hierarchical change involved Elder Tad R. Callister, who was released as one of the seven presidents of the First Quorum of the seventy and called to serve as the Sunday School General President. There was also counsel offered to improve interpersonal communications, to achieve a higher level of mature obedience, and to persevere in the faith even in the face of opposition and adversity.

In addition, updated membership statistics current as of December 31st, 2013 were provided; the LDS Church now has 15,082,028 members of record, an increase from 14,782,483 members at the end of 2012. The number of children of record, or born to church members, was 115,486. The number of converts baptized was 282,945. The number of Church units grew to 3,050 stakes, 405 missions, 571 districts and 29,253 wards and branches. And the Church had 83,035 full-time missionaries and 24,032 church-service missionaries.

Video, audio, and written archives are now available HERE. Mormon Newsroom provides photo galleries of speakers and surroundings.

Summaries of Other Conference Sessions:

-- Saturday Morning General Session
-- Saturday Evening Priesthood Session
-- Sunday Morning General Session
-- Sunday Afternoon General Session

Summaries of the talks are available through the Deseret News Conference Page. Clicking on the speaker's name will take you directly to the Deseret News story about the speech (after the jump):

Summary Of 184th Annual LDS General Conference, Saturday Morning General Session: No New Temples, But Plenty Of Discipleship And A Defense Of Traditional Marriage

On April 5th, 2014, the Saturday Morning General Session of the 184th Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints kicked off with the announcement that no new temples are being planned. Instead, President Thomas S. Monson said the Church would focus on completing 28 temples around the world already under construction or announced at earlier conferences. President Monson did add that the Church will continue the process of determining needs and of finding locations for temples yet to come, saying that we are a "temple-building and a temple-attending people". Throughout the remainder of the session, the common theme was discipleship. There were warnings issued against pornography and self-righteousness, and a strong defense of traditional marriage. One new development; for the first time, the general women leaders of the church’s auxiliary organizations -- Relief Society, Young Women and Primary -- were seated among members of the Quorum of the Seventy. Normally, the women sit off to the right.

Video, audio, and written archives are now available HERE. Mormon Newsroom provides photo galleries of speakers and surroundings. Good secular-oriented coverage and a photo gallery provided by the Salt Lake Tribune.

Summaries of Other Conference Sessions:

-- Saturday Afternoon General Session
-- Saturday Evening Priesthood Session
-- Sunday Morning General Session
-- Sunday Afternoon General Session

Summaries of the talks are available through the Deseret News Conference Page. Clicking on the speaker's name will take you directly to the Deseret News story about the speech (after the jump):

Walking A Covenant Path Back To God The Theme Of The Historic LDS General Women's Meeting

Heralding the upcoming LDS General Conference meeting was the General Women's Meeting on March 29th, 2014. For the first time, the Young Women and the ladies of the Relief Society assembled together, along with Primary girls as young as age eight. A representative from each of the Relief Society, Young Women, and General Primary Presidencies spoke, along with the customary member of the First Presidency. A multi-generational choir of women representing over 290 stakes within a 100-mile radius of the Conference Center provided the music. The overall message was an invitation to women to unite and walk a “covenant path” back to our Heavenly Father. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, two of the spokespersons of Ordain Women, Hannah Wheelwright and Suzette Smith, were in attendance, but they avoided pushing their agenda and instead praised the concept of intergenerational mentoring that was promoted, and appreciated the balanced discussion between sisterhood and discipleship.

Those who missed the broadcast can watch it on the General Conference Archive page. Here's a YouTube embed of the entire video playlist for the meeting; the forward and back arrows on the bottom permit you to toggle between the talks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mpBw7SAWSQ&list=PLClOO0BdaFaNWGTdSq0_EgcD8yrwsutTO



Short summaries of each talk are provided below, linked back to the designated Deseret News article:

-- Sister Rosemary Wixom, Primary General President: Sister Wixom expounded on how covenants can protect, prepare and empower. She explained that entrance to the path of eternal life comes through the gate -- the ordinance and covenant of baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. With baptism comes a life-changing transition. As individuals partake of the sacrament and renew their baptismal covenant, they are able to look to the temple, and other ordinances they will participate in that, when coupled with the Atonement, can lead to exaltation in the celestial kingdom. Furthermore, as we strive to keep our covenants, our feelings of inadequacies and imperfection begin to fade, while the ordinances and the covenants of the temple come alive.

-- Sister Bonnie Oscarson, General Young Women’s President: Sister Oscarson called upon women to relax and rejoice in their divine differences. She said that the adversary motivates women to be particularly hard on themselves, and that when they compare themselves to one another, they will always feel inadequate or resentful of others. She reminded the audience that there is no other group of women in the world who have access to greater blessings than Latter-day Saint women. LDS women can all enjoy the full blessings of priesthood power through keeping baptismal and temple covenants. We have living prophets to lead and teach, and we also enjoy the great gift of the Holy Ghost, which serves as a comfort and guide in our lives. LDS women are blessed to work hand in hand with righteous brothers as we strengthen homes and families.

-- Sister Linda K. Burton, Relief Society General President: Sister Burton addressed the topic, “Wanted: Hands and Hearts to Hasten the Work". She noted that together as sisters and in unity with living prophets, seers and revelators with restored priesthood keys, women can walk as one, as disciples, as servants with willing hearts and hands to hasten the work of salvation, becoming like the Savior. She asked women, young women and girls to answer the Savior’s call to become part of His work — the work of a disciple. In what might be considered by some to be a gentle reproof to the Ordain Women movement, Sister Burton told the women in attendance, “I have seen your strength. I have seen your faith. You have something to give and you are willing to give it. You do this without fanfare or publicity, drawing attention to the God you worship not yourselves, and with no thought of what you will receive".

-- President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency: President Eyring spoke about the path that women, young women and girls must take on the journey back to our Heavenly Father. Addressing the topic, “Daughters in the Covenant,” President Eyring said a number of girls in the meeting were baptized recently and received the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. Although the memories of the feelings associated with baptism may be less clear with the passage of time, some of those feelings come back whenever we listen to the sacramental prayers. But although no two Latter-day Saints will have the same memories of the day they were baptized, we all felt God's approval, the desire to forgive and be forgiven, and an increased determination to do right. President Eyring also credited his mother for preparing him to make the baptismal covenant and all other covenants that would follow.

President Eyring also noted that we were tutored by our Heavenly Father before mortality. The Father helped us understand and accept that we would have trials, tests and opportunities perfectly chosen for each of us. We learned that our Father had a plan of happiness to get us safely through those trials and that we would help bring others safely through theirs. This plan is marked by covenants with God, and it is a free choice to make and keep covenants.