April 2022 LDS General Conference

Every six months, we get a General Conference featuring the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Was there anything newsworthy this time around? The top fifteen leaders, comprised of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, has remained unchanged since 2018. The following shows their order of seniority, the year they were called to the Q12, the initials of the church president who called them, name, birthday, current age, and where they were born.

==First Presidency==
(1) 1984-(SWK)-Russell M. Nelson - 9/9/1924 - 97 - USA-UT
(2) 1984-(SWK)-Dallin H. Oaks - 8/12/1932 - 89 - USA-UT
(5) 1995-(GBH)-Henry B. Eyring - 5/31/1933 - 88 - USA-NJ

==Quorum of Twelve Apostles==
(3) 1985-(SWK)-M. Russell Ballard - 10/8/1928 - 93 - USA-UT
(4) 1994-(HWH)-Jeffrey R. Holland - 12/3/1940 - 81 - USA-UT
(6) 2004-(GBH)-Dieter F. Uchtdorf - 11/6/1940 - 81 - Czech (German)
(7) 2004-(GBH)-David A. Bednar - 6/15/1952 - 69 - USA-CA
(8) 2007-(GBH)-Quentin L. Cook - 9/8/1940 - 81 - USA-UT
(9) 2008-(TSM)-D. Todd Christofferson - 1/24/1945 - 77 - USA-UT

(10) 2009-(TSM)-Neil L. Andersen - 8/9/1951 - 70 - USA-UT
(11) 2015-(TSM)-Ronald A. Rasband - 2/6/1951 - 71 - USA-UT
(12) 2015-(TSM)-Gary E. Stevenson - 8/5/1955 - 66 - USA-UT
(13) 2015-(TSM)-Dale G. Renlund - 11/1/1952 - 69 - USA-UT
(14) 2018-(RMN)-Gerrit W. Gong - 12/23/1953 - 68 - USA-CA
(15) 2018-(RMN)-Ulisses Soares - 10/2/1958 - 63 - Brazil

The biggest story would be a report that is no longer part of General Conference, but is released on the church website during Conference. I can understand why they no longer want to report the numbers during. While still growing, the church's rate of growth has been steadily declining for decades.

The last time the church saw a membership increase of more than 

4% - 1991

3% - 1999

2% - 2013

1% - 2019

The church has had less than 1% growth for the second year in a row, which hasn't happened since the 1850's, in the times of the Utah War. Covid is likely the primary reason for the "less than 1%" but the leaders have to keep wondering why the decline continues. The church is on pace to have shrinking numbers before the end of the decade. 

Total Membership / Growth %

2012 14,782,473 2.36%

2013 15,082,028 2.03%

2014 15,372,337 1.92%

2015 15,634,199 1.70%

2016 15,882,417 1.59%

2017 16,118,169 1.48%

2018 16,313,735 1.21%

2019 16,565,036 1.54%

2020 16,663,663 0.60%

2021 16,805,400 0.85%

As to the actual talks, no revelations. Emphasis on all eligible young men to go serve a two-year mission. David Bednar said don't listen to critics of the church. Dale Renlund gave an obnoxious talk about Heavenly Mother, warning against speculation while providing zero enlightenment beyond "Don't pray to Her." Dallin H. Oaks gave the clincher, doubling down against gay marriage and LGBT people in general - "The Lord has required His restored Church to oppose social and legal pressures to retreat from His doctrine of marriage between a man and a woman, to oppose changes that homogenize the differences between men and women or confuse or alter gender."

And then of course, Oaks goes on to suggest anyone who has a problem with that is from Satan: "Our Heavenly Father’s plan allows for 'opposition in all things,' and Satan’s most strenuous opposition is directed at whatever is most important to that plan. Consequently, he seeks to oppose progress toward exaltation by distorting marriage, discouraging childbearing, or confusing gender. However, we know that in the long run, the divine purpose and plan of our loving Heavenly Father will not be changed."

If the church really wanted to turn things around, it'd forego the seniority order for the Presidency and make Dieter F. Uchtdorf the next prophet, but I think the egos of the men ahead of him would never allow that. "Over our dead bodies, literally" would be the sentiment.

Breaking Down Jeffrey R. Holland's "Musket-Fire" BYU Address

I wanted to give some serious time to really reflect on what Holland said in his BYU address. What were the goals of the talk, and did he achieve them? And what does it say about the direction of the Church from a man who is very likely to be head of the Church in a few years?

The first few paragraphs are pleasant, filled with nostalgia, giving us background for his love for BYU. The first section that really struck me was this one:

One of our colleagues seated here this morning speaks of his first semester, pre-mission enrollment in my friend Wilford Griggs’s History of Civilization class. But this was going to be civilization seen through a BYU lens. So as preambles to the course, Wilf had the students read President Spencer W. Kimball’s “Second Century Address” and the first chapter of Hugh Nibley’s Approaching Zion.

Taken together, our very literate friend says these two readings “forged an indestructible union in my mind and heart between two soaring ideals — that of a consecrated university with that of a holy city. Zion, I came to believe, would be a city with a school [and I would add, a temple, creating] something of a celestial college town, or perhaps a college kingdom.”

Now I decided to read Kimball's address is full of warnings that BYU will always put spiritual matters above academics when the two are seen in conflict, and it included lines like this Pres. Taylor quote: 

"Whatever you do, be choice in your selections of teachers. We do not want infidels to mold the minds of children... I would rather have my children taught the simple rudiments of a common education by men of God, and have them under their influence, then have them taught in the most abstruse sciences by men who have not the fear of God in their hearts."

This foreshadows nicely where his talk is going to go. He soon refers to this letter he received.

Imagine the pain that comes with a memo like this one I recently received. These are just a half-dozen lines from a two-page document:

“You should know,” the writer says, “that some people in the extended community are feeling abandoned and betrayed by BYU. It seems that some professors (at least the vocal ones in the media) are supporting ideas that many of us feel are contradictory to gospel principles, making it appear to be about like any other university our sons and daughters could have attended. Several parents have said they no longer want to send their children here or donate to the school.

“Please don’t think I’m opposed to people thinking differently about policies and ideas,” the writer continues. “I’m not. But I would hope that BYU professors would be bridging those gaps between faith and intellect and would be sending out students that are ready to do the same in loving, intelligent and articulate ways. Yet, I fear that some faculty are not supportive of the Church's doctrines and policies and choose to criticize them publicly. There are consequences to this. After having served a full-time mission and marrying her husband in the temple, a friend of mine recently left the church. In her graduation statement on a social media post, she credited [such and such a BYU program and its faculty] with the radicalizing of her attitudes and the destruction of her faith.”

The weighted language of that final line. No way to verify it. "The radicalization of her attitudes and the destruction of her faith." Any chance the friend of this writer would categorize her leaving much, much differently?

What doctrines or policies are getting criticized exactly? Is there anything specific we can examine? Not really, so it's up to Holland to take on the journey of examples. A few paragraphs later, he says this.

Three years later, 2017, Elder Dallin H. Oaks, not then but soon to be in the First Presidency where he would sit, only one chair — one heartbeat — away from the same position President Nelson now has, quoted our colleague Elder Neal A. Maxwell who had said:

“In a way[,] [Latter-day Saint] scholars at BYU and elsewhere are a little bit like the builders of the temple in Nauvoo, who worked with a trowel in one hand and a musket in the other. Today scholars building the temple of learning must also pause on occasion to defend the kingdom. I personally think,” Elder Maxwell went on to say, “this is one of the reasons the Lord established and maintains this university. The dual role of builder and defender is unique and ongoing. I am grateful we have scholars today who can handle, as it were, both trowels and muskets.”

Then Elder Oaks said challengingly, “I would like to hear a little more musket fire from this temple of learning." He said this in a way that could have applied to a host of topics in various departments, but the one he specifically mentioned was the doctrine of the family and defending marriage as the union of a man and a woman."

So of all the directions he could have gone with this, with the metaphor of musket fire, he reaffirms the Church's opposition to gay marriage. And then this:

If a student commandeers a graduation podium intended to represent everyone getting diplomas in order to announce his personal sexual orientation, what might another speaker feel free to announce the next year until eventually anything goes? What might commencement come to mean — or not mean — if we push individual license over institutional dignity for very long? Do we simply end up with more divisiveness in our culture than we already have — and we already have too much everywhere.

Now this was irresponsible at best and dishonest at worst. Holland should have known that Matty Easton's speech was pre-approved by the BYU administrators. If he didn't, why didn't he check first before sub-tweeting him to the world? If he did, is this his way of firing a musket shot across Pres. Worthen's bough that it never should have been pre-approved? And the slippery slope fallacy! Come on, he knows better than this. And said it anyway.

In that spirit, let me go no farther before declaring unequivocally my love and that of my Brethren for those who live with this same-sex challenge and so much complexity that goes with it. Too often the world has been unkind, in many instances crushingly cruel, to these our brothers and sisters. Like many of you, we have spent hours with them, and wept and prayed and wept again in an effort to offer love and hope while keeping the gospel strong and the obedience to commandments evident in every individual life.

But it will assist everyone in providing such help if things can be kept in some proportion and balance in the process. For example, we have to be careful that love and empathy do not get interpreted as condoning and advocacy, or that orthodoxy and loyalty to principle not be interpreted as unkindness or disloyalty to people. As near as I can tell, Christ never once withheld His love from anyone, but He also never once said to anyone, “Because I love you, you are exempt from keeping my commandments.” We are tasked with trying to strike that same sensitive, demanding balance in our lives.

This is tortuous. "We love you, but we don't condone you." And he concludes with that passive voice. We are tasked. Tasked by who? If the Lord really reveals things to his prophet, then why won't he be clear here? It is so frustrating.

My Brethren have made the case for the metaphor of musket fire, which I have endorsed yet again today. There will continue to be those who oppose our teachings and with that will continue the need to define, document, and defend the faith. But we do all look forward to the day when we can “beat our swords into plowshares, and [our] spears into pruning hooks,” and at least on this subject, “learn war [no] more.”[13] And while I have focused on this same-sex topic this morning more than I would have liked, I pray you will see it as emblematic of a lot of issues our students and community face in this complex, contemporary world of ours.

His remarks were planned. He wanted to throw down the gauntlet of being anti-LGBT and look forward to some day when the swords can be beaten into plowshares. Well, they can do that now. They can stop attacking the LGBT community, LGBT members, LGBT children, instead of emboldening the far-right DezNat wing of the Church that they specifically will not condemn. This is what his remarks inspire.

He concludes thusly:

Light conquers darkness. Truth triumphs against error. Goodness is victorious over evil in the end.

I believe deep down he's doing the best he can with what he knows. But just like the church couldn't stay the "Blacks can't hold the Priesthood or receive temple endowments" church forever, they will eventually have to change their doctrine that homosexuals can only go to the Celestial Kingdom if they stay celibate their entire lives. The sooner they do it, the better off they and their membership will be.

Some other thoughts:

- He quoted Dallin H. Oaks for his musket-fire remarks. I expect to see more and more apostles and General Authorities quoting Oaks from now on. Oaks is next in line to be President of the Church (as Nelson turns 97 next month), and hey, he'll need to think about whom he wants in his First Presidency. He'll need to think about about who the next Apostle should be. Wouldn't hurt to be on his good side.

- I've seen good people find his remarks inspiring. There's a lot of positive thinking in there. I could see how those words could be their takeaway while the more problematic parts of his talk don't resonate. 

- Does this give us a hint of where he'll take the Church once he's President, if he lives that long? I believe it means "Wait for President Uchtdorf."

LDS Church Growth Slowest Since 1857

The growth rate of membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been steadily declining for about 20 years, around the explosion of the popularity of the internet. But this year - I'm assuming COVID's played a big part - the decline in growth has been steep.

- Lowest growth rate since 1857. A 0.6% growth rate hasn't been seen since the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

- Lowest growth rate compared to world population increase since 1857. First time the church's growth rate did not out-pace the world population growth.

- Lowest total convert baptisms since 1973. Convert baptisms were a little more than half of what they were in 2019.

- Lowest total membership increase since 1973.

- Lowest child of record since 1993. A little more than half of the child of record count from 2012.

It's also the second year in a row the numbers add up to only 0.56% who died or had their names removed. The Church never releases these numbers. I calculate it from all the other numbers they provide. If you go off the death rate of the world and assumed the same death rate within the church, the dead would be around 130,000 alone, and who knows how many actually have their names removed each year?

==First Presidency==

(1)  1984-(SWK)-Russell M. Nelson - 9/9/1924 - 96

(2)  1984-(SWK)-Dallin H. Oaks - 8/12/1932 - 88

(5)  1995-(GBH)-Henry B. Eyring - 5/31/1933 - 87

==Quorum of the Twelve Apostles==

(3)  1985-(SWK)-M. Russell Ballard - 10/8/1928 - 92

(4)  1994-(HWH)-Jeffrey R. Holland - 12/3/1940 - 80

(6)  2004-(GBH)-Dieter F. Uchtdorf - 11/6/1940 - 80

(7)  2004-(GBH)-David A. Bednar - 6/15/1952 - 68

(8)  2007-(GBH)-Quentin L. Cook - 9/8/1940 - 80

(9)  2008-(TSM)-D. Todd Christofferson - 1/24/1945 - 76

(10) 2009-(TSM)-Neil L. Andersen - 8/9/1951 - 69

(11) 2015-(TSM)-Ronald A. Rasband - 2/6/1951 - 70

(12) 2015-(TSM)-Gary E. Stevenson - 8/5/1955 - 65

(13) 2015-(TSM)-Dale G. Renlund - 11/1/1952 - 68

(14) 2018-(RMN)-Gerrit W. Gong - 12/23/1953 - 67

(15) 2018-(RMN)-Ulisses Soares - 10/2/1958 - 62

LDS Growth Still Under 2% a Year

For that was billed to be “an historic conference,” there wasn’t that much different to make this particular one unique as any other one lately. There was the “Hosanna” shout, which commemorated the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith’s First Vision. There was a “Proclamation” that contained about 80% of what was in the 2000 proclamation on the Living Christ. There was a new logo, taking the Christus. Everything else as far as I can tell was the same. Some people released, new people called, some new temple locations announced…

What interests me most these days (at least when there’s no new apostle to be called) is what the numbers show. While this is the sixth year in a row with growth under 2%, the drop-off wasn’t as low as it was the year before. The Church doesn’t release statistics on how people of record die each year, nor how many resignations/excommunications there were, so I use the other numbers they do give to calculate that.

Last year it worked out that 140,000 died or resigned but this year it was only 90,000. That shows an unusually low amount based on trends. When I asked around about it, some said it may be due to how the Church has made it more difficult to resign. Now you have to have a notarized signature to get your name removed if you go through QuitMormon. Still, a mere 0.56% drop from the rolls indicate that either hardly anyone died, hardly anyone resigned, or the numbers aren't quite accurate. This isn't the first year the numbers have caused me to raise an eyebrow.

==First Presidency==

(1)  1984-(SWK)-Russell M. Nelson - 9/9/1924 - 95 - USA-UT

(2)  1984-(SWK)-Dallin H. Oaks - 8/12/1932 - 87 - USA-UT

(5)  1995-(GBH)-Henry B. Eyring - 5/31/1933 - 86 - USA-NJ

==Quorum of Twelve Apostles==

(3)  1985-(SWK)-M. Russell Ballard - 10/8/1928 - 91 - USA-UT

(4)  1994-(HWH)-Jeffrey R. Holland - 12/3/1940 - 79 - USA-UT

(6)  2004-(GBH)-Dieter F. Uchtdorf - 11/6/1940 - 79 - Czech (German)

(7)  2004-(GBH)-David A. Bednar - 6/15/1952 - 67 - USA-CA

(8)  2007-(GBH)-Quentin L. Cook - 9/8/1940 - 79 - USA-UT

(9)  2008-(TSM)-D. Todd Christofferson - 1/24/1945 - 75 - USA-UT

(10) 2009-(TSM)-Neil L. Andersen - 8/9/1951 - 68 - USA-UT

(11) 2015-(TSM)-Ronald A. Rasband -- 2/6/1951 - 69 - USA-UT

(12) 2015-(TSM)-Gary E. Stevenson - 8/5/1955 - 64 - USA-UT

(13) 2015-(TSM)-Dale G. Renlund - 11/1/1952 - 67 - USA-UT

(14) 2018-(RMN)-Gerrit W. Gong - 12/23/1953 - 65 - USA-CA (Chinese)

(15) 2018-(RMN)-Ulisses Soares - 10/2/1958 - 61 - Brazil

Russell M. Nelson's Five Truth Claims

I saw a lot of reaction online to Russell M. Nelson’s devotional at BYU on this day, even September 17, 2019, and thought I’d do some analysis.

TRUTH #1 - You are sons and daughters of God.

“You are the children whom God chose to be part of His battalion during this great climax in the longstanding battle between good and evil—between truth and error.  I would not be surprised if, when the veil is lifted in the next life, we learn that you actually pled with our Heavenly Father to be reserved for now.”

Between truth and error. A few things on this. Every generation since Joseph Smith has been taught that they are the chosen generation. Everyone is made to feel like these are the last days and they’ll probably be alive for the Second Coming. And if the opposite of truth is error, then WHY has been the church’s prophets and apostles been full of so many errors over the years?

TRUTH #2 - Truth is truth.

“Some things are simply true.  The arbiter of truth is God—not your favorite social media news feed, not Google, and certainly not those who are disaffected from the Church.”

This is the equivalent of Trump calling everything he doesn’t like “fake.” News isn’t the truth, Google’s not the truth and “certainly” not those people who were all in the church but left when they realized it wasn’t true. Believing in the church requires its members to believe several things that are scientifically, verifiably not true. And he knows that. He uses fear here. Since the days of Smith, the most dishonest evil people there are are ex-Mormons. The Sons of Perdition. Well, maybe those people just started looking at the truth. The real truth. The factual truth. The verifiable truth. Truth not based on feelings.

TRUTH #3 - God loves every one of us with perfect love.

“God knew that because of the adversary’s deceptive tactics and traps, the covenant path would not be easy to find or to stay on.  So, He sent His Only Begotten Son to atone for us and to show us the way. The godly power available to all who love and follow Jesus Christ is the power to heal us, strengthen us, cleanse us from sin, and magnify us to do things we could never do on our own.  Our Savior is the Divine Exemplar who marked the path that we are to follow.”

When I went back and re-researched everything about the church, I was amazed I’d never noticed how Satan is invoked all the time. All. The. Time. Satan is a constant boogeyman for everything. Belief in God requires belief in the adversary. Didn’t pray this morning? Victory for Satan. Have doubts about an angel commanding Smith to start practicing polygamy? Victory for Satan. Cognitive dissonance? You guessed it.

TRUTH #4 - The Lord Jesus Christ, whose church this is, appoints prophets and apostles to communicate His love and teach His laws.

“Sometimes we as leaders of the Church are criticized for holding firm to the laws of God, defending the Savior’s doctrine, and resisting the social pressures of our day.  But our commission as ordained Apostles is “to go into all the world to preach (His) gospel unto every creature.”  That means we are commanded to teach truth. 

"In doing so, sometimes we are accused of being uncaring as we teach the Father’s requirements for exaltation in the celestial kingdom.  But wouldn’t it be far more uncaring for us not to tell the truth—not to teach what God has revealed? 

"It is precisely because we do care deeply about all of God’s children that we proclaim His truth.  We may not always tell people what they want to hear. Prophets are rarely popular. But we will always teach the truth!… 

"Our commission as Apostles is to teach nothing but truth. That commission does not give us the authority to modify divine law. 

"For example, let’s consider the definition of marriage.  In recent years, many countries, including the United States, have legalized same-sex marriage.  As members of the Church, we respect the laws of the land and abide by them, including civil marriage.  The truth is, however, that in the beginning—in the beginning—marriage was ordained by God!  And to this day it is defined by Him as being between a man and a woman.  God has not changed His definition of marriage.”

Polygamy, anyone?

Let’s look at one sentence in there again.

“We will always teach the truth!”

No you won’t and no you haven’t. Even now, you’re finessing the November 2015 “policy” when you called it “revelation” in 2016. It wasn’t the truth when Smith taught it’s God's law for him to marry other men’s wives, when Brigham Young taught that the mixing of races should result in death on the spot, when John Taylor taught that polygamy would stay on Earth until the Second Coming, when Harold B. Lee taught that a person’s race and disability were penalties for behavior in the premortal life, when the temple ceremony contained the Law of Vengeance for 70 years.

Does Jesus really appoint these prophets and apostles? Because that would imply Jesus is a white supremacist. Why was the ban on blacks holding the priesthood there until 1978? Jesus was cool with the racist policy in 1977? He was cool with prophets like George Albert Smith calling it doctrine? He didn’t want to call any non-white apostles until the last apostle who’d been there before 1978 had died?

If Jesus communicated with them in any way, why did no one in the FP/Q12 know that Richard Lyman had been having an affair for almost 20 years? Where was the communication, the discernment? Why did the church fall for the salamander letter for so long? What evidence is there that the church is lead by revelation? What “revelations” have there really been?

The rampant dishonesty from the leaders is so frustrating.

TRUTH #5 - You may know for yourself what is true and what is not by learning to discern the whisperings of the Spirit.

“The Spirit” is what is known as elevated emotions. Everyone feels it, and they feel it for things that aren’t true. People feel it as confirmation that the FLDS church is true, that Islam is true, that Heaven’s Gate is true. Many LDS members are conservative, and they listen to Ben Shapiro, and Shapiro’s motto is “Facts don’t care about your feelings.” Well, the church teaches to listen to your feelings and ignore the facts. Unless your feelings contradict church teachings, in which case it’s probably Satan deceiving you.

Other quotes:

“The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve have continued to seek the Lord’s guidance and to plead with Him in behalf of His children who were affected by the 2015 policy. We knew that this policy created concern and confusion for some and heartache for others. That grieved us.”

Jesus sounds pretty heartless to implement this policy in the first place then.

“As a result of our continued supplication, we recently felt directed to adjust the policy such that the baptism of children of LGBT parents may be authorized by bishops without First Presidency approval, if the custodial parents request the baptism and understand that a child will be taught about sacred covenants to be made at baptism.”

Felt directed = confirmation bias. I can't imagine still trying to raise my LGBT kid in this church.

“Though it may not have looked this way to some, the 2015 and 2019 policy adjustments on this matter were both motivated by love—the love of our Heavenly Father for His children and the love of the Brethren for those whom we serve.”

So you admit it was from you and not from God? Let’s look at what you said in January 2016:

“When the Lord inspired His prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, to declare the mind of the Lord and the will of the Lord, each of us during that sacred moment felt a spiritual confirmation. It was our privilege as Apostles to sustain what had been revealed to President Monson. Revelation from the Lord to His servants is a sacred process, and so is your privilege of receiving personal revelation.” 

The gaslighting is unbelievable.

“Ask your Heavenly Father if we truly are the Lord’s Apostles and prophets.  Ask if we have received revelation on this and other matters. Ask if these five truths are—in fact—true.”

I’ve been a faithful member for over 40 years. A returned missionary. Callings ranging from quorum presidencies to nursery. I did a lot of praying when my shelf broke. I did a lot of praying and reading and studying and meditating, searching and pondering, and it lead me to one conclusion. The LDS church is not and has never been what it claims to be. Like most religions it’s full of good people doing the best they can, but to believe it fully, you have to believe in things that are just not true. 

LDS Church Growth Slows for 6th Straight Year

I wondered why they removed announcing church statistics during General Conference last year, but they left it the Audit report, which is exactly the same talk every year. My suspicion is because the numbers have been demonstrating a slowing of growth for many years now. That doesn't mean the church isn't still growing, but at this rate, the church is 7-8 years away from seeing its numbers actually shrink.

Total Membership - 16,313,735 represents a 1.21% increase from last year, but this is the fifth year in a row the church has failed to see at least 2% growth. This has never happened in the history of the church, even in the 1850's where the numbers shrank two years in a row. This is also the sixth year in a row where growth is lower than it was the year before. Compare this to the average growth rate of 2.47% in the 2000's or 3.61% in the 1990's. The 2010's so far average 1.81%. 2018 was the slowest growth rate for the church since 1937. It's also the first time since 1982 that total membership didn't jump by at least 200,000 members.

Children of Record - This is where the church is seeing steady decline. This is the fifth year in a row where the number of children of record has gone down. 2008 was the year where this number hits its all-time high of 123,502. The church had a natural fountain for growth with increasingly large families, but with more and more young people waiting for marriage and have fewer children, this can no longer be counted on.

Converts - The spike in the amount of missionaries had zero effect on the annual convert baptism number. 1999 is the last year the church saw over 300,000 convert baptisms.

Dead/Names Removed - This is not a number the church releases. I calculate this based on the other numbers by adding the converts/children numbers and subtracting from the total membership number of the year before. This year that number would be 140,868, a record high. Now granted, there's no way to really know the accuracy of this numbers based on all other reported numbers. Because when you look at them over the year, 1999 was a year where the numbers suggested that no one died or had their names removed, and another 8456 members materialized out of nowhere. We've seen some high profile excommunications lead to mass resignation movements lately. I think it shows that more people who leave the church aren't just not attending; they're actively taking the steps to have their names removed from the records.

LDS General Conference October 2018 Highlights

==First Presidency==
(1)  1984-(SWK)-Russell M. Nelson - 9/9/1924 - 94 - USA-UT
(2)  1984-(SWK)-Dallin H. Oaks - 8/12/1932 - 86 - USA-UT
(5)  1995-(GBH)-Henry B. Eyring - 5/31/1933 - 85 - USA-NJ

==Quorum of Twelve Apostles==
(3)  1985-(SWK)-M. Russell Ballard - 10/8/1928 - 90 - USA-UT
(4)  1994-(HWH)-Jeffrey R. Holland - 12/3/1940 - 77 - USA-UT
(6)  2004-(GBH)-Dieter F. Uchtdorf - 11/6/1940 - 77 - Czech (German)
(7)  2004-(GBH)-David A. Bednar - 6/15/1952 - 66 - USA-CA
(8)  2007-(GBH)-Quentin L. Cook - 9/8/1940 - 78 - USA-UT
(9)  2008-(TSM)-D. Todd Christofferson - 1/24/1945 - 73 - USA-UT

(10) 2009-(TSM)-Neil L. Andersen - 8/9/1951 - 67 - USA-UT
(11) 2015-(TSM)-Ronald A. Rasband -- 2/6/1951 - 67 - USA-UT
(12) 2015-(TSM)-Gary E. Stevenson - 8/5/1955 - 63 - USA-UT
(13) 2015-(TSM)-Dale G. Renlund - 11/1/1952 - 65 - USA-UT
(14) 2018-(RMN)-Gerrit W. Gong - 12/23/1953 - 64 - USA-CA (Chinese)
(15) 2018-(RMN)-Ulisses Soares - 10/2/1958 - 60 - Brazil


=====
SATURDAY MORNING SESSION
=====

RUSSELL M. NELSON
President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
"Opening Remarks"

The long-standing objective of the Church is to assist all members to increase their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and in His Atonement, to assist them in making and keeping their covenants with God, and to strengthen and seal their families. In this complex world today, this is not easy. The adversary is increasing his attacks on faith and upon us and our families at an exponential rate. To survive spiritually, we need counter-strategies and proactive plans...

QUENTIN L. COOK
Quorum of the Twelve
"Deep and Lasting Conversion to Our Heavenly Father"

*Announces and give details about church moving from 3 to 2 hours starting in 2019*

I testify to you that in the deliberations of the Council of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the temple, and after our beloved prophet petitioned the Lord for revelation to move forward with these adjustments, a powerful confirmation was received by all. Russell M. Nelson is our living President and prophet. The announcements made today will result in profound blessings for those who enthusiastically embrace the adjustments and seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost.

M. JOSEPH BROUGH
2nd Counselor, Young Mens Presidency
"Lift Up Your Head and Rejoice"

The Savior faced hard things: “The world … shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.”  Because of that loving-kindness, Jesus Christ suffered the Atonement. As a result, He says to each one of us, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

STEVEN R. BANGERTER
of the Seventy
"Laying the Foundation"

Consistent, wholesome family traditions that include prayer, scripture reading, family home evening, and attendance at Church meetings, though seemingly small and simple, create a culture of love, respect, unity, and security. In the spirit that accompanies these efforts, our children become protected from the fiery darts of the adversary so embedded in the worldly culture of our day.

RONALD A. RASBAND
Quorum of the Twelve
"Be Not Troubled"

I add my witness to the messages of President Russell M. Nelson and Elder Quentin L. Cook given moments ago of the harmony and unanimity of the Council of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I know these revelatory announcements are the mind and the will of the Lord and will bless and strengthen individuals, families, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for generations to come...

The Lord is with us, mindful of us and blessing us in ways only He can do. Prayer can call down the strength and the revelation that we need to center our thoughts on Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice. The Lord knew that at times we would feel fear...

When we are tentative in our commitments to the Lord, when we stray from His path leading to life eternal, when we question or doubt our significance in His divine design, when we allow fear to open the door to all its companions—discouragement, anger, frustration, disappointment—the Spirit leaves us, and we are without the Lord.

DAVID A. BEDNAR
Quorum of the Twelve
"Gather Together in One All Things of Christ"

We live in a remarkable and revelatory season of the restored Church of Jesus Christ. The historic adjustments announced today have only one overarching purpose: to strengthen faith in Heavenly Father and His plan and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and His Atonement...

Sometimes as members of the Church we segment, separate, and apply the gospel in our lives by creating lengthy checklists of individual topics to study and tasks to accomplish. But such an approach potentially can constrain our understanding and vision. We must be careful because pharisaical focus upon checklists can divert us from drawing closer to the Lord.

DALLIN H. OAKS
1st Counselor, First Presidency
"Truth and the Plan"

There is a God, who is the loving Father of the spirits of all who have ever lived or will live.

Gender is eternal. Before we were born on this earth, we all lived as male or female spirits in the presence of God.

We have just heard the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square sing “I Will Follow God’s Plan.” That is the plan God established so that all of His spirit children could progress eternally. That plan is vital to each of us.

Under that plan, God created this earth as a place where His beloved spirit children could be born into mortality to receive a physical body and to have the opportunity for eternal progress by making righteous choices. To be meaningful, mortal choices had to be made between contesting forces of good and evil. There had to be opposition and, therefore, an adversary, who was cast out because of rebellion and was allowed to tempt God’s children to act contrary to God’s plan....

In the course of mortal life, we would all be soiled by sin as we yielded to the evil temptations of the adversary, and we would eventually die. We accepted those challenges in reliance upon the plan’s assurance that God our Father would provide a Savior, His Only Begotten Son, who would rescue us by a universal resurrection to an embodied life after death. The Savior would also provide an atonement to pay the price for all to be cleansed from sin on the conditions He prescribed. Those conditions included faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and other ordinances performed by priesthood authority...

Under the great plan of our loving Creator, the mission of His restored Church is to help the children of God achieve the supernal blessing of exaltation in the celestial kingdom, which can be attained only through an eternal marriage between a man and a woman (see D&C 131:1–3). We affirm the Lord’s teachings that “gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose” and that “marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan.”...

Some are troubled by some of our Church’s positions on marriage and children. Our knowledge of God’s revealed plan of salvation requires us to oppose current social and legal pressures to retreat from traditional marriage and to make changes that confuse or alter gender or homogenize the differences between men and women. We know that the relationships, identities, and functions of men and women are essential to accomplish God’s great plan....

We are beloved children of a Heavenly Father, who has taught us that maleness and femaleness, marriage between a man and a woman, and the bearing and nurturing of children are all essential to His great plan of happiness. Our positions on these fundamentals frequently provoke opposition to the Church. We consider that inevitable. Opposition is part of the plan, and Satan’s most strenuous opposition is directed at whatever is most important to God’s plan. He seeks to destroy God’s work. His prime methods are to discredit the Savior and His divine authority, to erase the effects of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, to discourage repentance, to counterfeit revelation, and to contradict individual accountability. He also seeks to confuse gender, to distort marriage, and to discourage childbearing—especially by parents who will raise children in truth.

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SATURDAY AFTERNOON
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D. TODD CHRISTOFFERSON
Quorum of the Twelve
"Firm and Steadfast"

The temptations and tribulations we experience, plus any testing that the Lord sees fit to impose, can lead to our full conversion and healing. But this happens if, and only if, we do not harden our hearts or stiffen our necks against Him. If we remain firm and steadfast, come what may, we achieve the conversion the Savior intended when He said to Peter, “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren,” a conversion so complete that it cannot be undone.

DEAN M. DAVIES
1st Counselor, Presiding Bishopric
"Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice"

The chief cornerstone and building block of the Church and for our lives is Jesus Christ. This is His Church. President Nelson is His prophet. President Nelson’s teachings witness and reveal for our benefit the life and character of Jesus Christ. He speaks lovingly and knowingly of the Savior’s nature and of His mission. He has also borne frequent and fervent testimony of the divine calling of the living prophets—the Presidents of the Church—under whom he has served.

Now, today, it is our privilege to sustain him as the Lord’s living prophet on the earth. We are accustomed to sustaining Church leaders through the divine pattern of raising our arms to the square to manifest our acceptance and support.

ULISSES SOARES
Quorum of the Twelve
"One in Christ"

When we promise at baptism to follow the Savior, we witness before the Father that we are willing to take upon us the name of Christ. As we strive to acquire His divine attributes in our lives, we become different than we were, through the Atonement of Christ the Lord, and our love for all people increases naturally. We feel a sincere concern for everyone’s welfare and happiness. We see each other as brothers and sisters, as children of God with divine origin, attributes, and potential. We desire to care for each other and bear one another’s burdens. This is what Paul described as charity.

GERRIT W. GONG
Quorum of the Twelve
"Our Campfire of Faith"

Dear brothers and sisters, isn’t it marvelous to receive continuing revelation from heaven through President Russell M. Nelson and our Church leaders that invites us to live in new and holier ways, at home and at church, with all our heart, mind, and strength?..

In various times and ways, we all feel inadequate, uncertain, perhaps unworthy. Yet in our faithful efforts to love God and to minister to our neighbor, we may feel God’s love and needed inspiration for their and our lives in new and holier ways. With compassion, our Savior encourages and promises we can “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men.

PAUL P. PIEPER
of the Seventy
"All Must Take Upon Them the Name"

Our Heavenly Father wants to make it absolutely clear that the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, is not simply one name among many. The Savior’s name has singular and essential power. It is the only name by which salvation is possible. By emphasizing this truth in every dispensation, our loving Father assures all of His children that there is a way back to Him. But having a sure way available does not mean that our return is automatically assured. God tells us that our action is required: “Wherefore, all men [and women] must take upon them the name which is given of the Father.”

DIETER F. UCHTDORF
Quorum of the Twelve
"Believe, Love, Do"

We achieve that abundant life not by focusing on our own needs or on our own achievements but by becoming true disciples of Jesus Christ—by following in His ways and engaging in His work. We find the abundant life by forgetting ourselves and engaging in the great cause of Christ. And what is the cause of Christ? It is to believe in Him, love as He loved, and do as He did. Jesus “went about doing good.” He walked among the poor, the outcast, the sick, and the ashamed. He ministered to the powerless, the weak, and the friendless...

God knows you. You are His child. He loves you. Even when you think that you are not lovable, He reaches out to you. This very day—every day—He reaches out to you, desiring to heal you, to lift you up, and to replace the emptiness in your heart with an abiding joy. He desires to sweep away any darkness that clouds your life and fill it with the sacred and brilliant light of His unending glory...

The love God speaks of is the kind that enters our hearts when we awake in the morning, stays with us throughout the day, and swells in our hearts as we give voice to our prayers of gratitude at evening’s end.

This is the inexpressible love Heavenly Father has for us.

It is this endless compassion that allows us to more clearly see others for who they are. Through the lens of pure love, we see immortal beings of infinite potential and worth and beloved sons and daughters of Almighty God.

Once we see through that lens, we cannot discount, disregard, or discriminate against anyone...

You will find that this Church is filled with some of the finest people this world has to offer. They are welcoming, loving, kind, and sincere. They are hardworking, willing to sacrifice, and even heroic at times.

And they are also painfully imperfect. They make mistakes. From time to time they say things they shouldn’t. They do things they wish they hadn’t.

But they do have this in common—they want to improve and draw closer to the Lord, our Savior, even Jesus Christ. They are trying to get it right.

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WOMEN'S SESSION
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JOY D. JONES
Primary General President
"For Him"

Can you think back on a time when you lovingly reached out with sincere effort to help someone in need and felt that your efforts went unnoticed or perhaps were unappreciated or even unwanted? In that moment, did you question the value of your service? If so, may the words of King Benjamin replace your doubt and even your hurt: “Ye are only in the service of your God.”6

Rather than building resentment, we can build, through service, a more perfect relationship with our Heavenly Father. Our love for and devotion to Him preempts the need for recognition or appreciation and allows His love to flow to and through us.

MICHELLE D. CRAIG
1st Counselor, Young Women's General Presidency
"Divine Discontent"

We should welcome feelings of divine discontent that call us to a higher way, while recognizing and avoiding Satan’s counterfeit—paralyzing discouragement. This is a precious space into which Satan is all too eager to jump. We can choose to walk the higher path that leads us to seek for God and His peace and grace, or we can listen to Satan, who bombards us with messages that we will never be enough: rich enough, smart enough, beautiful enough, anything enough. Our discontent can become divine—or destructive.

CRISTINA B. FRANCO
2nd Counselor, Primary President
"The Joy of Unselfish Service"

Sisters, are we giving our all to the Lord without reservation? Are we sacrificing of our time and talents so the rising generation can learn to love the Lord and keep His commandments? Are we ministering both to those around us and to those we are assigned with care and with diligence—sacrificing time and energy that could be used in other ways? Are we living the two great commandments—to love God and to love His children?5 Often that love is manifest as service.

HENRY B. EYRING
2nd Counselor, First Presidency
"Women and Gospel Learning in the Home"

Part of the Lord’s current sharing of knowledge relates to accelerating His pouring out eternal truth on the heads and into the hearts of His people. He has made clear that the daughters of Heavenly Father will play a primary role in that miraculous acceleration. One evidence of the miracle is His leading His living prophet to put far greater emphasis on gospel instruction in the home and within the family...

While I do not know all the Lord’s reasons for giving primary responsibility for nurturing in the family to faithful sisters, I believe it has to do with your capacity to love. It takes great love to feel the needs of someone else more than your own. That is the pure love of Christ for the person you nurture. That feeling of charity comes from the person chosen to be the nurturer having qualified for the effects of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The motto of the Relief Society, which my own mother exemplified, seems to me inspired: “Charity Never Faileth.”

DALLIN H. OAKS
1st Counselor, First Presidency
"Parents and Children"

Children are our most precious gift from God—our eternal increase. Yet we live in a time when many women wish to have no part in the bearing and nurturing of children. Many young adults delay marriage until temporal needs are satisfied. The average age of our Church members’ marriages has increased by more than two years, and the number of births to Church members is falling. The United States and some other nations face a future of too few children maturing into adults to support the number of retiring adults. Over 40 percent of births in the United States are to unwed mothers. Those children are vulnerable. Each of these trends works against our Father’s divine plan of salvation.

Latter-day Saint women understand that being a mother is their highest priority, their ultimate joy...

My dear sisters, if you participate in any meanness or pettiness—individually or with a group—resolve now to change and encourage others to change. That is my counsel, and I give it to you as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ because His Spirit has prompted me to speak to you about this important subject.

RUSSELL M. NELSON
President
"Sisters Participating in the Gathering of Israel"

The deep longing of my heart to make a difference in the world—like only a mother does—bubbled up from my heart. Through the years, whenever I have been asked why I chose to become a medical doctor, my answer has always been the same: “Because I could not choose to be a mother.”

Please note that anytime I use the word mother, I am not talking only about women who have given birth or adopted children in this life. I am speaking about all of our Heavenly Parents’ adult daughters. Every woman is a mother by virtue of her eternal divine destiny...

Men can and often do communicate the love of Heavenly Father and the Savior to others. But women have a special gift for it—a divine endowment. You have the capacity to sense what someone needs—and when he or she needs it. You can reach out, comfort, teach, and strengthen someone in his or her very moment of need.

Women see things differently than men do, and oh, how we need your perspective! Your nature leads you to think of others first, to consider the effect that any course of action will have on others.

*Somewhere in here, he urged the women of the church to go on a 10-day social-media fast.*

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SUNDAY MORNING
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M. RUSSELL BALLARD
Acting President, Quorum of the Twelve
"The Vision of the Redemption of the Dead"

In October 1918, 100 years ago, President Joseph F. Smith received a glorious vision. After almost 65 years of dedicated service to the Lord in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and just a few weeks before his death on November 19, 1918, he sat in his room pondering Christ’s atoning sacrifice and reading the Apostle Peter’s description of the Savior’s ministry in the spirit world after His Crucifixion.

He recorded: “As I read I was greatly impressed. … As I pondered over these things … , the eyes of my understanding were opened, and the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I saw the hosts of the dead.” The full text of the vision is recorded in Doctrine and Covenants section 138.

BONNIE H. CORDON
Young Women General President
"Becoming a Shepherd"

As we strive to follow the Savior’s example, we must first know and number His sheep. We have been assigned specific individuals and families to tend so we are certain that all of the Lord’s flock are accounted for and no one is forgotten. Numbering, however, is not really about numbers; it is about making certain each person feels the love of the Savior through someone who serves for Him. In that way, all can recognize that they are known by a loving Father in Heaven.

JEFFREY R. HOLLAND
Quorum of the Twelve
"The Ministry of Reconciliation"

Surely each of us could cite an endless array of old scars and sorrows and painful memories that this very moment still corrode the peace in someone’s heart or family or neighborhood. Whether we have caused that pain or been the recipient of the pain, those wounds need to be healed so that life can be as rewarding as God intended it to be. Like the food in your refrigerator that your grandchildren carefully check in your behalf, those old grievances have long since exceeded their expiration date. Please don’t give precious space in your soul to them any longer. As Prospero said to the regretful Alonso in The Tempest, “Let us not burden our remembrance with a heaviness that’s gone.”

“Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven,” Christ taught in New Testament times. And in our day: “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.” It is, however, important for some of you living in real anguish to note what He did not say. He did not say, “You are not allowed to feel true pain or real sorrow from the shattering experiences you have had at the hand of another.” Nor did He say, “In order to forgive fully, you have to reenter a toxic relationship or return to an abusive, destructive circumstance.” But notwithstanding even the most terrible offenses that might come to us, we can rise above our pain only when we put our feet onto the path of true healing. That path is the forgiving one walked by Jesus of Nazareth, who calls out to each of us, “Come, follow me.”

SHAYNE M. BOWEN
of the Seventy
"The Role of the Book of Mormon"

I have read the accounts of the First Vision; I have read the Book of Mormon. I have prayed as directed by Moroni and asked “God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ” if the Book of Mormon is true. I bear witness today that I know the Book of Mormon, as the Prophet Joseph Smith said, is “the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man [will] get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” The Prophet Joseph also declared: “Take away the Book of Mormon and the revelations, and where is our religion? We have none.”

NEIL L. ANDERSEN
Quorum of the Twelve
"Wounded"

The scriptures teach that we will taste the bitter and the sweet and that there will be “opposition in all things.” Jesus said, “[Your Father] maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Wounds of the soul are not unique to the rich or the poor, to one culture, one nation, or one generation. They come to all and are part of the learning we receive from this mortal experience.

RUSSELL M. NELSON
President
"The Correct Name of the Church"

Today I feel compelled to discuss with you a matter of great importance. Some weeks ago, I released a statement regarding a course correction for the name of the Church. I did this because the Lord impressed upon my mind the importance of the name He decreed for His Church, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

It is a correction. It is the command of the Lord. Joseph Smith did not name the Church restored through him; neither did Mormon. It was the Savior Himself who said, “For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”...

Thus, the name of the Church is not negotiable. When the Savior clearly states what the name of His Church should be and even precedes His declaration with, “Thus shall my church be called,” He is serious. And if we allow nicknames to be used or adopt or even sponsor those nicknames ourselves, He is offended.

What’s in a name or, in this case, a nickname? When it comes to nicknames of the Church, such as the “LDS Church,” the “Mormon Church,” or the “Church of the Latter-day Saints,” the most important thing in those names is the absence of the Savior’s name. To remove the Lord’s name from the Lord’s Church is a major victory for Satan. When we discard the Savior’s name, we are subtly disregarding all that Jesus Christ did for us—even His Atonement...

Taking the Savior’s name upon us includes declaring and witnessing to others—through our actions and our words—that Jesus is the Christ. Have we been so afraid to offend someone who called us “Mormons” that we have failed to defend the Savior Himself, to stand up for Him even in the name by which His Church is called?

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SUNDAY AFTERNOON
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HENRY B. EYRING
2nd Counselor, First Presidency
"Try Try Try"

When we speak for Him, we serve Him. “For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?”

Speaking for Him requires a prayer of faith. It takes a fervent prayer to Heavenly Father to learn what words we could speak to help the Savior in His work. We must qualify for the promise: “Whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.” Yet it takes more than speaking for Him to take His name upon us. There are feelings in our hearts we must have to qualify as His servants.

BRIAN K. ASHTON
2nd Counselor, Sunday School General Presidency
"The Father"

There is much we do not understand about becoming like the Father. But I can testify with certainty that striving to become like the Father is worth every sacrifice. The sacrifices we make here in mortality, no matter how great, are simply incomparable to the immeasurable joy, happiness, and love we will feel in God’s presence. If you are struggling to believe it is worth the sacrifices you are asked to make, the Savior calls to you, saying, “Ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath … prepared for you."

ROBERT C. GAY
Presidency of the Seventy
"Taking Upon Ourselves the Name of Jesus Christ"

Can any one of you imagine our Savior letting you and your burdens go unnoticed by Him? The Savior looked upon the Samaritan, the adulterer, the tax collector, the leper, the mentally ill, and the sinner with the same eyes. All were children of His Father. All were redeemable.

Can you imagine Him turning away from someone with doubts about their place in God’s kingdom or from anyone afflicted in any manner? I cannot. In the eyes of Christ, each soul is of infinite worth. No one is preordained to fail. Eternal life is possible for all.

MATTHEW CARPENTER
of the Seventy
"Wilt Thou Be Made Whole"

Through His ministry, Christ taught that He had power over the physical body. We cannot control the timing of when Christ’s healing of our physical ailments will occur. Healing occurs according to His will and wisdom. In the scriptures, some suffered for decades; others, their entire mortal lives. Mortal infirmities can refine us and deepen our reliance upon God. But when we allow Christ to be involved, He will always strengthen us spiritually so we can have greater capacity to endure our burdens.

Ultimately, we know that every physical ailment, malady, or imperfection will be healed in the Resurrection. That is a gift to all mankind through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

DALE G. RENLUND
Quorum of the Twelve
"Choose You This Day"

Our Heavenly Father’s goal in parenting is not to have His children do what is right; it is to have His children choose to do what is right and ultimately become like Him. If He simply wanted us to be obedient, He would use immediate rewards and punishments to influence our behaviors.

But God is not interested in His children just becoming trained and obedient “pets” who will not chew on His slippers in the celestial living room. No, God wants His children to grow up spiritually and join Him in the family business...

For those who believe in Jesus Christ, repent, are baptized, and endure to the end—a process that leads to reconciliation—the Savior forgives, heals, and advocates. He is our helper, consoler, and intercessor—attesting to and vouching for our reconciliation with God.

In stark contrast, Lucifer is an accuser or prosecutor. John the Revelator described Lucifer’s ultimate defeat: “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ.” Why? Because “the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.”

Lucifer is this accuser. He spoke against us in the premortal existence, and he continues to denounce us in this life. He seeks to drag us down. He wants us to experience endless woe.

JACK N. GERARD
of the Seventy
"Now Is the Time"

As we seek to know the Savior, we should not overlook the fundamental truth of who we are and why we are here. Amulek reminds us that “this life is the time … to prepare to meet God,” the time “which is given us to prepare for eternity” (Alma 34:32–33). As the well-known axiom reminds us, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Understanding our divine origins is essential to our eternal progress and can free us from the distractions of this life.

GARY E. STEVENSON
Quorum of the Twelve
"Shepherding Souls"

I don’t think it is a coincidence that six months prior to the revelatory announcement of yesterday—“a new balance and connection between gospel instruction in the home and in the Church”—the revelatory announcement on ministering was given. Beginning January, as we spend one less hour in our church worship, all that we have learned in ministering will help us rebalance that void in a higher and holier, home-centered Sabbath day experience with family and loved ones.

RUSSELL M. NELSON
President
"Becoming Exemplary Latter-day Saints"

Consider the great mercy and fairness of God, who, before the foundation of the world, provided a way to give temple blessings to those who died without a knowledge of the gospel. These sacred temple rites are ancient. To me that antiquity is thrilling and another evidence of their authenticity.

My dear brothers and sisters, the assaults of the adversary are increasing exponentially, in intensity and in variety. Our need to be in the temple on a regular basis has never been greater.



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FINAL THOUGHTS
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1. The loving acceptance of Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk is a nice counter-balance to the hard-nosed anti-LGBT message from Dallin H. Oaks. The First Presidency is worse off for not having Uchtdorf in it.

2. Way too many references to Satan, the adversary, etc.

3. The word "revelation" has been really watered down lately. Every policy change is now a 'Revelation!" Much emphasis on how this is the mind and will of the Lord. And a lot of it is done in passive voice, which feels sneaky.

4. The drastic changes Pres. Nelson has made, going against the Hinckley/Monson norm of embracing the nickname "Mormons" gives me hope that future presidents will be able to boldly undo some other aspects of their predecessors. I think when it's Holland's turn, he'll get rid of the November 2015 policy, for instance.