What is a Mormon General Conference?

Salt Lake City - LDS Conference Center (Photo credit: Kwong Yee Cheng)

Why do members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) have a General Conference?

Twice per year, for two days on a weekend, members of the Church gather in Salt Lake City, or in local LDS chapels and around radios, satellite TVs, and Internet media devices in other parts of the world. They get together to hear the words of a living prophet of God.

A living prophet of God?

English: The perform in the during General Conference of . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What if I told you that Moses or Elijah or Isaiah had come back from the dead and offered to speak at a special place and time? Would it be worth it to you to attend? Even just out of curiosity?

Mormons believe in the ancient prophets of the Bible. They believe God never changes, never forgets His promises to His children. They believe God always wants to speak to His children. They believe God continues calling prophets. He raises up worthy men whom He knows will faithfully follow Him and fulfill the calling to be His Voice on the earth just as He did anciently.

The first prophet of this dispensation (time of teaching the Gospel) was Joseph Smith. He was succeeded by Brigham Young, who was succeeded, in turn, by other men.

English: Thomas S. Monson. Photo by Brian Tibbets (tibbets.org) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The present-day prophet (as of this writing) is Thomas S. Monson. We address him by the title "President". We believe that, just as Peter of the Old Testament was the prophet, seer, and revelator for his generation, President Monson is the prophet, seer, and revelator for our generation. He is the mouthpiece of the Lord on the earth and holds the same special authority as Peter had to administer the restored Church of Jesus Christ.

When people join the LDS faith, they are not converted to the prophet, but to Jesus Christ. The prophet is Christ's direct representative on the earth. When the prophet speaks, it is the same as if the Lord is speaking.

When is General Conference?

General Conference is scheduled regularly every six months, during the first weekends of April and October. It is structured into five separate sessions:  Saturday and Sunday mornings from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm MDT and 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm MDT with a Saturday evening session from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm MDT. The Saturday evening session is only attended by priesthood boys and men or broadcast via satellite to a local chapel.

During every General Conference, Mormons anticipate eagerly the opportunity to hear what the Lord has commanded the prophet to say to them.

For example, during the Saturday morning session of October General Conference in 2012, President Monson announced two new temples would be built.

President Monson also delivered the groundbreaking announcement that the starting age of missionary service would be changed from 19 to 18 years of age for men and from 21 to 19 years of age for women.

The decisions that lead to these types of announcements, whether the changes be administrative or doctrinal, are not made solely by the prophet. They are revealed to him by God and to his counselors during private moments of inspiration and then proposed and decided upon collectively and unanimously in council with the Quorum of Twelve Apostles.

The Church is indeed a "living" church to which God continually reveals new knowledge, warns of impending adversity, and counsels us on how to live more virtuous lives in a world that is in constant moral decay.

If you would like to experience the counsels given to members of the LDS Church by caring and inspired leaders, you can do so in the same manner as the vast majority of members of the LDS faith. I invite you to watch the archived sessions found on the LDS.org website. Invite your family to join you, and then discuss what you have seen and heard. Post here in the comments if you have questions, or ask someone you know who is LDS. Missionaries can also answer your questions via the live chat feature of Mormon.org, or by talking on the phone at 888-537-6600 (U.S. and Canada only). You can locate a meetinghouse near you on Mormon.org.

Related articles

• LDS Church announces historic changes to missionary age requirements

Book of Mormon Month - Day 26: The Power of Scripture

RICHARD G. SCOTT

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

From a talk given during the October 2011 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

"Scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our minds and give place to guidance and inspiration from on high."

In my judgment, the Book of Mormon teaches truth with unique clarity and power. For example:

“And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.

“And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works” (Alma 7:23–24).

And another:

“And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

“But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure” (Moroni 7:45–48).

My precious wife, Jeanene, loved the Book of Mormon. In her youth, as a teenager, it became the foundation of her life. It was a source of testimony and teaching during her full-time missionary service in the northwest United States. When we served in the mission field in Córdoba, Argentina, she strongly encouraged the use of the Book of Mormon in our proselytizing efforts. Jeanene confirmed early in her life that those who consistently read the Book of Mormon are blessed with an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a greater resolve to obey His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the divinity of the Son of God.¹ For I don’t know how many years, as the end of the year approached, I would see her sitting quietly, carefully finishing the entire Book of Mormon yet another time before year’s end.

In 1991 I wanted to give a special Christmas gift to my family. In recording the fulfillment of that desire, my personal journal states: “It is 12:38 p.m., Wednesday, December 18, 1991. I’ve just concluded an audio recording of the Book of Mormon for my family. This has been an experience that has increased my testimony of this divine work and strengthened in me a desire to be more familiar with its pages to distill from these scriptures truths to be used in my service to the Lord. I love this book. I testify with my soul that it is true, that it was prepared for the blessing of the House of Israel, and all of its component parts spread throughout the world. All who will study its message in humility, in faith believing in Jesus Christ, will know of its truthfulness and will find a treasure to lead them to greater happiness, peace, and attainment in this life. I testify by all that is sacred, this book is true.”

Street Preacher Videos

Every 6 months the Church holds its General Conference. The Latter-day Saints cherish these events as moments wherein they can hear sermons given by their leaders, whom they believe are inspired Prophets, Seers and Revelators, including but not limited to members of the Quorum of the Seventy, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First Presidency of the Church.

However, with every General Conference comes the Street Preachers - Evangelical fundamentalist Protestants (normally) who, among other things, proclaim that the Latter-day Saints are going to hell, that they follow a false prophet, that they worship a "different Jesus" and especially that they are not Christians.

These videos were shot by me at the October 4th, 2008 General Conference. Watch these videos and ask yourself, 

"Are these Street Preachers 'Christian'?"

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Normally I would not post these videos on the blog, since I do not enjoy the spirit that they invite. Nevertheless, I believe that it is crucial for everyone to see the thoroughly un-Christian behavior of those who accuse the Latter-day Saints as not being Christian.

Are Mormons Christian?

Judging by this "Wordle", which was created by analyzing the text of the most recent Semi-annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I'd say it's a big, beautiful "Yes". Frequency of use determines word size.

Robert D. Hales: The Apologist Apostle

Listening to the Sunday Morning Session of General Conference has been very uplifting and edifying. Especially pertinent to me was a talk given by Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. He spoke on how we as Latter-day Saints should conduct ourselves in dealing with criticisms of the Church and handling those who are hostile to the truth of the Restoration.

The entire talk can be seen here.

Just click on the Sunday Morning Session bar and then on Elder Hales' talk.

Follow #ldsconf on Twitter!

I'm truly excited about the social networking potential of Twitter for helping LDS and other Christians connect whenever LDS General Conference is on. Check out http://thriveis.com/ldsconf/ to see how LDS folks are chatting with each other about their impressions and understandings of each talk.

Wonderful!!

LDS General Conference Is In Session

Come join in watching General Conference. The next session starts today (Saturday) at 2pm MDT, 3pm CDT, 4pm EDT.

Currently playing is LDS World Report and new LDS commercials.

If you want to catch up, streaming video files are available immediately following the broadcast.