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I know that the traffic on this site is slowing down. I hope that we can still comment on the next General Conference. I always get a lot out of everyone’s comments & observations.
Does anyone expect to hear anything that is considered “revelatory”?
If yes, what would it be? At some point I think they will drop coffee & tea from the WoW.
IMO, It’s not important.
I hope that the major focus is Jesus Christ.
I hope they drop phrases like: “the Covenant Path”?
Maybe we could start a contest where we guess how many times it is used in the talks.
Please think about posting what you hear or what you think was important.
Again, your comments help me a lot. I’m sure I’m not the only one.
Anything “revelatory?” No, but I don’t expect or believe there ever is. If it’s just changes to programs, etc., no also but because I think Nelson did everything he wanted to do up front and quickly because whodathunk he’d still be alive? I do respect and envy his longevity, and hope I’m as vigorous when I’m 20 years younger than he is now. I think and hope they will someday drop coffee and tea from the WoW, but I do not expect that to be soon and not with the current senior apostles (through at least Bednar, who will likely hold the seat for a while).
Ah, the covenant path. A “pool” might be fun. It is the current catchphrase along with “thinking celestially” apparently. Maybe we could do a pool for both. I’ll do a bit of research and give it some thought and come up with my vote.
We will likely have most sessions at least on TV because my wife is fairly orthodox. How much I’ll actually pay attention is the question as I am honestly fairly disinterested. That said, I do gain from the insights people here offer and have in the past only checked in on the talks people here have recommended.
General Conference isn’t my thing anymore and I do plan to get the “hot takes” from different points in the blogosphere. I think that there will be a balanced approach of talking about how young women can participate more on a more equal footing with their male peers (yay?) with doubling down on women’s life practices such as yoga pants.
The irony that Gen Z women are walking away from religion and into liberal politics is timely. They may try to say that the women and especially the young women coming of age now are walking away from the church because the mothers didn’t implement “Come Follow Me” or other church program at home properly to keep their daughters in church being tone-deaf that mothers don’t have the level of influence and control that was hoped for in the 2018 “Come Follow Me” rollout sessions of the women’s conference.
I think that there will be a lot of talk in the ways that “Patriarchy” worked for them and their families likely leaning heavily into “Complementary roles” and “Partnership” variants. I don’t anticipate it to be as helpful as a lot of resources out in the world, or out in other religions.
If God is looking out for us this conference, the leadership will leave the “Stay at Home Mom” vs “Working Mom” cultural war outside of the conversation. Most of us still have cognitive dissonance and battle scars from April 2024 – and the Priesthood Leadership is not qualified to treat those wounds (ironically, the silenced Heavenly Mother is more qualified to do so).
Like DJ, I expect nothing revelatory. No “Thus sayeth the Lord” messages. My thoughts on GC are summed up by a meme I saw some time back with captions that read, “Come see a prophet, seer and revelator do none of those things.” As for my expectations of what we’ll see, Nelson’s address will probably be short and pre-recorded, if he even speaks at all. I’ve heard talk that his age is catching up with him and his health is going. Oaks’ talk will probably be in a “prime-time” slot, as the Church prepares everyone for him to be sitting in the big chair next.
For the rest of it, I’ve developed a game I call “Drink Celestial”. For every time someone says, “covenant path”, “think Celestial”, “beloved prophet”, etc. have a sip of coffee. And a bonus sip at the end of a talk if no scriptures were quoted. More seriously though, the only talks I’ve enjoyed and found any value in the past few years has been Uchtdorf’s talks. And in reality that’s probably the only talk I’ll actually pay attention to, if I even watch it this time around.
I too look forward to Elder Uchtdorf’s talks. Why is that? For me,
He seems to center on the life & mission of Jesus.
He seems to discuss the basics of the gospel. ie. Faith, repentance, et.
He includes stories that are relatable.
What can I say. I’m a simple man with simple needs.
I think that we look to General Conference as a “connection point” with church leaders. Some leaders are great at “connection” and some leaders are more focused on discharging their duty to share the gospel and could care less about disconnecting from the leaders. Some leaders take General Conference as an opportunity to continue the culture wars along cultural traditions. Some leaders have had more life experience with “how the other half lives” to actually have meaningful insights and can properly mourn with us on the south side.
For me, I don’t trust the leaders with my moral authority because I ended up in a space as a Non-Christian and as near as I can tell, the church leaders have not walked in this space at all, and can only offer me fear-based shame and weightless platitudes in small quantities.
I agree with the perspective that those like Elder Uchtdorf who seem to have experienced more life experiences outside the Mormon Corridor tend to give more meaningful talks and insights. Here are my predictions for catchphrases:
Covenant path: 14
Think celestial: 12
I tend to shy away from temple predictions, but I will give a number: 20. Of those at least two in Utah, several in Africa. The midwest and eastern US might see a couple. Perhaps another in Brazil or Peru. “Wow factor” locations are becoming increasingly scarce, and the wow tends to wear off after years of no progress (think Russia and China).
I think Pres. Nelson will attend at least one session in person, probably in a wheelchair (although we may not seem him actually wheeled in or out). I also would not be surprised at him giving at least one talk prerecorded. I think Eyring is iffy. It appears Stevenson has been a bit out of the spotlight recently and may also not be in attendance. I don’t keep tabs on their health in general, it is possible one or two others may not be there. Oaks will more or less run the show.
Minyan Man wrote:
I too look forward to Elder Uchtdorf’s talks. Why is that?For me,
He seems to center on the life & mission of Jesus.
He seems to discuss the basics of the gospel. ie. Faith, repentance, et.
He includes stories that are relatable.
What can I say. I’m a simple man with simple needs.
I agree with all of that. For me, I think I enjoy his talks because they seem to have no agenda beyond giving a Christ-centered message. His talks are welcoming, simple and always point to the Lord. I have no way to articulate how his talks are different from the rest of the speakers, except that they feel like they are given in a different spirit.
And my predictions on catchphrases:
Covenant path: 24
Think celestial: 6
Temples announced: 15
What’s the over/under on “beloved prophet”?
Here in a few days, several small towns all over the USA will be finding out whether or not they’ll be embroiled in legal battles over zoning issues in the near future. :thumbup: :angel: PazamaManX wrote:
…And my predictions on catchphrases:Covenant path: 24
Think celestial: 6
Temples announced: 15
What’s the over/under on “beloved prophet”?
Vegas should have that over/under you’re looking for.
My guess (prediction) is:
Covenant path: 15
Think celestial: 8
Temples announced: Wisconsin (they don’t have one yet) Other places: 12
We’re going to be excommunicated if we aren’t already.
Now the important question: who’s going to do the counting?
Saturday morning: Karl Hirst’s talk is pretty good. My listening with one ear and forgot what he said already synopsis/takeaway is that god’s love is both deeper and more accessible than you may have been led to believe. The other two talks didn’t do much for me. Gotta bow out of the second half of Saturday morning. Life calls.
I agree about Hirst. I thought Elder Anderson was “OK” with the message of hope. The beginning is better than the end, where he strayed a bit into being worthy of hope. I also disliked the insinuation that inactivity in the church leads to lack of hope and vice versa – the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings hope, the church does not always. I haven’t caught much else. I only caught one think celestial so far, and a wordy covenant path (from President Freeman referencing Emma Smith). Freeman’s message was also OK, speaking about the meaning of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper (my words, not hers) instead of focusing on process (preparation, blessing, passing). I caught brief sections of Elder Casillas, basically be nice and minister to others. Oaks is currently on, broaching the subject of political differences but not directly saying so. The message of avoiding contention and communication in relationships is fine though.
If you can set aside all the baggage that comes with Oaks (sorry, not sorry) then his talk is another one that I’d pick for people from this session. David Homer’s talk might be the one to avoid. Not terrible, but it’s mostly church authority focused.
Also, I found it odd, legitimately odd, that in the beginning of Oaks’ talk he started to say, “Following Christ…” and they immediately cut to a picture of Russell Nelson of all people. Even though Oaks wasn’t currently talking about or quoting Nelson. It must have been a gaffe. I can’t imagine why they’d plan for such a thing.
Saturday afternoon: Christofferson’s talk is one to skip. The theme was essentially don’t rebel against god, in the sense that any departure from submitting to religious authority is rebellion. He’s had a few skippers in recent conferences.
nibbler wrote:
Saturday afternoon: Christofferson’s talk is one to skip. The theme was essentially don’t rebel against god, in the sense that any departure from submitting to religious authority is rebellion.He’s had a few skippers in recent conferences.
Agreed. A basic obedience talk at best.
Taxiera was ho-hum, salt of the earth. Elder Villar, used think celestial at least 4 times. After a longish personal story about swimming in the ocean it was somewhat Christ centered, asserting that Christ’s hand is there to help (like his brother’s in the ocean).Kearon is talking about worshipping and being joyful in sacrament meeting (which I find difficult in the monotony.) The message about the importance of focusing on the meaning of the sacrament (of the Lord’s Supper, my words added) is fine.
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