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Ten Memorable Conferences
By Davis Bitton

One might glean the impression that general conferences of the Church have followed like clockwork from 1830 to the present, with the same themes repeated year in and year out. Understandable as these superficial impressions might be, the fact is that every conference has unique features. Some conferences stand out as unusual. I offer a few examples.

October 1844. At Nauvoo, Illinois, the first conference after the assassination of the Prophet Joseph Smith was held. An important meeting sustaining the leadership of the Twelve Apostles had taken place on 8 August, and they, with Brigham Young as president, would preside over the Church until the end of 1847.
October 1848. At a general meeting in the fort in Salt Lake City, Brigham Young was unanimously sustained as president of the Church, with Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards as his counselors. The First Presidency had been organized the previous December at Kanesville, Iowa, and sustained by a conference there and subsequently in Salt Lake City. But President Young was on the trail in April, so it was in October that he and his counselors, Heber C. Kimball anad Willard Richards, were seated on the stand and again sustained as presidency in a general conference.
October 1867. The first conference in the present Salt Lake Tabernacle was held. Since the previous tabernacle still stood, on the site now occupied by the Assembly Hall, the new building was called "the large tabernacle" or "the new tabernacle." Sustained as an apostle at this same conference was Joseph F. Smith.
April 1877. The annual spring conference was held in the sparkling new St. George Temple, which was now "fully dedicated," having been partially dedicated earlier in the year. Not so well known as it should be is the extensive reorganization of the stakes instituted by Brigham Young at this time. In about four months President Young would pass away, but the temple-building program and the ambitious new stake reorganization would continue.
April 1919. No conference was held because of the influenza epidemic, but a "postponed" conference was held in June.
April 1930. The Church had reached its centennial year. President Heber J. Grant read a lengthy address to the world by the First Presidency. Presenting his six-volume Comprehensive History, Elder B. H. Roberts quoted some critics who thought Mormonism was destined to wither into irrelevance. He, on the other hand, testified of the truth of the restoration, including the Book of Mormon, and the foreordained world mission of the latter-day work. "Zion is lengthening her cords and is strengthening her stakes, and multiplying her altars to the true God by the erection of temples, stake houses, and chapels throughout the land," Roberts said. "It seems to me that the chief activity of our President, Heber J. Grant, in late years, has become the dedicating of places of worship throughout and in all parts of the land of Zion." Total Church membership was about 530,000.
April 1936. The United States and the world were experiencing the suffering of economic depression. The extent of relief conditions had been reported at the previous October general Priesthood meeting. Now an important message outlining the principles of the security or welfare program was issued by the First Presidency on 7 April 1936. "Our primary purpose," said President Heber J. Grant in October, "was to set up, in so far as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling principle of the lives of our Church membership."
April 1942. Due to gasoline rationing and wartime conditions,
general conference was limited to 500 leaders in Assembly Hall. These smaller meetings continued until 1945.
April 1951. President George Albert Smith having died, David O. McKay was sustained as Church president, with Stephen L. Richards and J. Reuben Clark as counselors. Some people wondered if President Clark, previously first counselor, was being demoted when he was named second counselor. President McKay emphasized his high regard for both these apostles and said their placement in the new First Presidency simply followed their relative seniority in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. President Clark responded: "In the service of the Lord, it is not where you serve but how."
October 2001. The tragedy of 9/11, the destruction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center by terrorists, had occurred less than a month earlier. Standing in the new Conference Center, President Hinckley helped the Saints take their bearings. Modestly he said he did not know what the immediate future held. Aware of the grim warnings in Matthew 24 and other scriptural passages, he realized civilization was fragile, but he did not wish to be an alarmist and did not think the time had arrived for an "all-consuming calamity." In the meantime, amidst perilous times, the Saints should be prudent, maintaining peace in their hearts and their homes. In his closing address of the conference, our dear prophet, full of compassion, shifted from addressing the congregation to addressing God directly in prayer. Many eyes were moist.

Within my lifetime I can think of several conferences that have special meaning for me because I was in attendance, or someone closely related to me provided music, or something was said that spoke to my personal need of the moment. One can readily imagine a group testimony meeting in which different people tell of conferences that had extraordinary importance for them. General conferences are not stagnant pools but a stream of living water.

From April 1830 to the present, when gathered in general conference, or listening to a broadcast, Latter-day Saints "listen to a prophet’s voice" — the presiding prophet, other prophets, seers, and revelators, and leaders of the auxiliary organizations, all of whom speak of eternal things while showing their application in the real world we live in. It is long, fascinating, and still vital tradition.

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