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Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arrive for the afternoon session of the 189th Annual General Conference held April 7, 2019, at the Church's Conference Center in Salt Lake City.

SAMANTHA MADAR, Standard-Examiner file photo

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The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints take a historic photo during the dedication of the Rome Italy Temple on March 11, 2019. 

Photo supplied, Intellectual Reserve Inc.

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A view before the afternoon session of the 189th Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held Saturday, April 6, 2019, at the church's Conference Center in Salt Lake City. This year’s conference, Saturday and Sunday, will not be open for public attendance due to concerns with COVID-19.

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

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For months now, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been hearing how unique and remarkable the 190th Annual General Conference of the church will be this weekend.

According to the church, there are two specific reasons.

“First, 2020 marks two centuries since Joseph Smith’s inaugural vision of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ – a foundational event for the beginnings of what the church calls the Restoration of Christ’s gospel,” a church statement said.

The other reason is because this conference will be digital only. Each of the five sessions will be broadcast from a small auditorium on Temple Square.

“The First Presidency will preside at and conduct those sessions, and only those who have been invited to speak or pray will attend. The music for the conference has been prerecorded,” according to the church statement.

The celebration of the First Vision and the Restoration is something members have been anticipating. The digital-only platform was not.

COVID-19

As soon as the church saw what was happening in Wuhan, China, in January, humanitarian and medical equipment aid was sent to China. It appears that at-home preparations were also started for the possibility of a worldwide pandemic and that life in the church would need to have several ongoing adjustments in its wake.

From all temples being closed, to missionaries coming home to quarantine and church offices to meetinghouses being closed, members are being asked to adapt. Members are getting a crash course in the home-based and church-supported programs, while all seems on hold for the church as millions self-quarantine.

That does not mean the work of the church is on hold. Temples continue to be built, mission calls have been extended and the humanitarian arm of the organization has never been busier.

Like a wave rushing over the globe, COVID-19 continues to move from country to country, as it takes a deadly course affecting members, leaders and missionaries on its way.

The changes and adjustments to church processes have taken nearly daily changes, particularly when it comes to missionaries.

The lists of the changes are too long to put here, but can be found on https://churchofjesuschrist.org, under “Updates on how COVID-19 is Impacting Saints Worldwide.”

Changes since October

Here are a few reminders of things that have happened since the October Semi-annual General Conference:

• A new policy was announced in October about witnessing of ordinances. All worthy members of the church 11 years of age and older can be official witnesses at live baptisms. Individuals that are temple worthy with recommends, including women and youth, can witness temple proxy baptisms. And, those who have regular temple recommends may be an official witness to temple sealings as well.
• President Russell M. Nelson introduced modified temple recommend interview questions.
• It was announced there would be adjustments to temple ceremonial clothes. They would be made more simple, comfortable and cost effective.
• ”The General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” went online and is now available to anyone to read the policies and procedures of the church. The online platform will allow the handbook to be updated from time to time. The entire handbook will be updated by 2021.
• The iconic Salt Lake Temple closed Dec. 31 for a four-year renovation. According to Daniel Woodruff, church spokesman on Thursday, “Workers at the Salt Lake Temple project site are installing a crane on the temple’s south side to begin removal of some of the stones on the temple spires that were displaced during the recent earthquake in Salt Lake City. Workers will then remove additional stones from the east and west sides of the temple for preservation during the project. They will also temporarily remove the angel Moroni statue. Scaffolding will be constructed around the temple spires for better access for workers. This work is expected to last several weeks.”
• In November the church laid out its complete plan for the new Children and Youth initiative including changes to the Aaronic Priesthood quorums and Young Women classes that began in January.
• The church officially broke ties with the Boy Scouts of America.
• Several changes were made to honor the correct name of the church. The church updated 300 web-based apps, and changed 95% of the outward facing references.
• The Light the World Christmas humanitarian initiative, including the Giving Machines, garnered $6.3 million in donations.

These are just a few of the changes since October. It did not include the number of locations general authorities traveled to, number of temples being worked on or completed, or the numerous humanitarian projects the church carried out worldwide.

The list did not include the extensive coverage and Q&A the church went through to discuss how it uses tithes and offerings from church members, to help clarify why the church would have up to $100 billion dollars in savings.

It did not cover continuing issues with the LGBTQ communities and new entries in the handbook on transgender issues.

Yes, conference will be unique this year, and the church is providing as much opportunity for worldwide viewing as possible.

Watching conference

Latter-day Saints around the world will watch or listen live to general conference in 41 languages. Streams in 55 additional languages will be published as soon as possible afterward.

Three sessions will take place Saturday, at 10 a.m., 2 and 6 p.m., and two more will be held Sunday, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. All start times are Mountain Daylight Time.

Conference may be found on the following:

Video

• Use broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org to stream the general conference live in 41 languages. Closed captions are available in English, Spanish and Portuguese by selecting the CC button on the media player.
• Visit the church’s YouTube channel to watch live in 12 languages: English (including closed-captioned), Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and ASL.
• Download the Latter-day Saints Channel app on your iOS or Android device. Audio is available in Cantonese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), Russian, Samoan, Spanish, Tagalog and Tongan. Closed captions are available in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
• Watch or listen live in English on BYUtv.org.

Audio

• Low-bandwidth live audio streams will be available in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Malagasy and Swahili.

Those interested can also check out the church’s Facebook page, news group, Instagram channel and Twitter feed. Use #GeneralConference to participate via social media.