General Conference

This is a special edition. Elder Mundell wanted to share some thoughts about general conference that he thinks are insightful, but is too long for our usual weekly blog post, that might benefit the casual reader. 

I do not have any memory of conference growing up in southern California. Considering the LA market is so large, it's possible the Sunday morning session was shown on TV, but I don't recall. But I do have vivid memories of listening to the priesthood session after our family moved to Grants Pass, Oregon. Gilbert Mildenstein drove me to the church on Savage Street and I'd sit there with my head down listening to the audio amplified through a telephone line. I always enjoyed priesthood session the most because that was the one where all three members of the First Presidency spoke. 

The first time I saw general conference live on TV was freshman year at BYU. I kept thinking to myself, "these Utah Mormons are so lucky. They get to watch every session at home, even in their pajamas". But it was back to one session if we're lucky during my mission to northern Florida, and again later as a young lieutenant in Georgia. But in Guam, the whole time we lived there from 1985 to 2010, it was impossible to watch conference live due to the time difference, so we would watch taped broadcasts at the Barrigada chapel on Saturday and Sunday a week or two afterward. 

Fast forward to today, and it's simply amazing to me that everyone everywhere with internet access can watch conference at home, or if not, see it broadcast at their local ward or stake building. No longer do we have to wait until the Ensign arrives in the mail a month later to read the conference talks. I feel like the immediacy greatly enhances our ability to feel the spirit as we watch conference.

My understanding and perception of what general conference is has changed quite a bit since I was a young man. I used to think it was merely an opportunity for the church leaders to teach members about doctrine and common beliefs so that we were united together, and on the same page as much as possible. But now I see it as our modern-day version of the latter half of the New Testament. After the gospels and except for Revelation, the New Testament consists of letters from Peter (the senior apostle) and other apostles (mainly Paul) to branches of the church far away from church headquarters. Theses letters give inspired counsel specifically for those Saints, teach doctrine, correct false beliefs, and give support and encouragement to them. These epistles have been canonized, and are instructive to us nearly 2000 years later. The inspired words of the prophets and apostles are the latter-day epistles written specifically for us today. "And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation." (D&C 68:4) In that context, it all makes sense. "We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God." (9th Article of Faith) We no longer add new canonized scripture to the Doctrine and Covenants, because the modern day revelations in our day are now readily available as general conference talks on Gospel Library. It is truly incredible that it's so easy at our fingertips to go back and retrieve all the words that all the apostles and prophets have said since I was a young man. In a sense, our standard works are huge, and they continue to get larger every six months. 

If we think of the recent conference talks by the senior apostle and the other apostles in exactly the same way as the epistles of Peter, Paul and the other apostles were intended for the early Saints in the New Testament, our appreciation and understanding of the importance of general conference every six months will come more clearly into focus, and we are open to receive the word of God, through the Gift of the Holy Ghost by modern revelation, that is specifically given for us, in our day.