Over the weekend, millions of people tuned in to hear messages from leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints and the music of choirs at the 194th Annual General conference. Each session was packed to a capacity crowd that has not been allowed since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, 10,000 people were allowed in the Conference Center, but this year it increased to 18,000.
The talks throughout the conference seemed to focus on a central theme which was the importance of temple worship and how members of the Church can build and or strengthen their relationship with Heavenly Father through prayer.
The need for temple worship and prayer started with a well-missed and beloved apostle of the Church, President Jeffrey R. Holland, who joked about not being able to speak at conference for nearly two years.
“Brothers and Sisters, I've learned a painful lesson,” President Holland said. “Since I last occupied this pulpit in October of 2022. That lesson is if you don't give an acceptable talk, you can be banned for the next several conferences. You can see I'm assigned early in the first session of this one. What you can't see is that I'm positioned on a trap door with a very delicate latch.”
During the Saturday afternoon session, the BYU-Idaho choir was invited to perform and participate in the spiritual gathering. BYU-Idaho Radio caught up with some of the students at the session who shared their opinions on what singing at conference meant to them.
“I already feel the spirit,” Xander Robinson said. “And what we are about to do is very amazing, one-in-a-lifetime experience and I’m just very excited to be here.”
Manuel Abreu, another member of the choir said, “I think singing in general conference has been a very uplifting experience. “This is my second time doing it and I think it is very rewarding.”
President Russell M. Nelson closed out the Sunday afternoon session by giving his prophetic counsel of how prophet and founder Joseph Smith’s dedicatory prayer at the Kirtland Temple empowers people to meet the challenges of life in these last days. President Nelson also gave a call to action relating to the prayer.
“I encourage you to study that prayer recorded in Doctrine and Covenants, Section 109. That dedicatory prayer, which was received by revelation, teaches that the temple is a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God,” he said.
BYU-Idaho President Alvin F. Meredith III and Sister Jennifer Meredith instantly embraced the invitation and took it to heart.
“I was particularly touched by the messages and the encouragement to be a temple going people,” President Meredith said. ”And we're going to recommit ourselves, to be regular temple attenders, like President Nelson has invited us.”
For an in-depth recap of each individual talk from general conference visit byuiscroll.org/. If you missed any sessions from general conference, KBYR 91.5 and 88.3 FM will replay every talk at the top of the hour in the upcoming days.