“I call upon you to rededicate your lives to Jesus Christ. I call upon you to help gather scattered Israel and to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord” was the message given to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by 100-year old president of the Church, Russell M. Nelson in the October 2024 General Conference of the Church in Salt Lake City, Utah.
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| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
President Nelson also announced the building of 17 new temples globally, including two in Europe, in Dublin, Ireland and Milan, Italy. The temple in Dublin, Ireland will be the first temple in Ireland, which is home to around 4,000 Latter-day Saints who currently travel to England to worship in the temple. The Milan, Italy Temple will be the second house of the Lord in the country. The first was the historic Rome Italy Temple, which was dedicated in 2019 by President Nelson. Italy is home to more than 28,000 Latter-day Saints in nearly 100 congregations.
In addition to Europe’s 14 operating temples, there have been eight new temples announced in recent conferences, which results in a total of 10 new temples on this continent, as follows:
After announcing the new temples, President Nelson invited listeners world-wide to devote time each week to increase their understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. “Come unto Christ and ‘offer your whole soul’ to Him,” he invited. “This is the secret to a life of joy!”
General conferences of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints take place in April and October of every year. Global leaders of the Church address members and friends around the globe. The five sessions of the conference held 5-6 October 2024 were broadcast live in 70 languages. An additional 30 languages are included in the recordings available a few days later.
President Emily Belle Freeman, Young Women general president spoke about the importance of covenants, or sacred agreements between God and people. “[W]e don’t just make covenant promises — we must keep them.” President Freeman reminded us that covenants allow us to feel God’s power working in us. “Partaking of the bread and water is a weekly reminder of His power working in you to help you overcome. Wearing the garment of the holy priesthood is a daily reminder of the gift of His power working in you to help you become.”
“When I see people showing Christlike love for one another, it feels to me as if that love contains more than just their love, it’s a love that also has Divinity in it.” taught Elder Karl D. Hirst, a recently called General Authority Seventy from Lancashire, England. He acknowledged that for many reasons we may have difficulty feeling God’s love, inviting us to “experiment patiently with different ways of expressing and receiving Divine love.” And for those that do feel God’s love, “please try and hold onto it as effectively as a sieve holds water. Splash it everywhere you go.”
Elder Patrick Kearon, member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from Carlisle, England, said, “We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ. We are members of the church of joy.” He spoke of how intentional worship can create a joyful experience at church. “If you have yet to discover this joy, embark on its quest. This is an invitation to receive the Savior’s gift of peace, light and joy — to revel in it, to wonder at it and to rejoice in it, every Sabbath.”
Second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency Sister Kristin M. Yee spoke of a time when she felt impressed to paint a portrait of the Savior. After smearing the paint of her completed painting, she felt she had “destroyed what God had helped me to do.” She prayed and pled for help and painted through the night to repair things. The next morning it looked better than it had before. Just as the Savior helped her repair her seemingly unrepairable painting, he can help all to overcome mistakes and repent. “Like my painting, the Lord is not done with us when we make a mistake, nor does He flee when we falter. Our need for healing and help is not a burden to Him, but the very reason He came.”
Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke of the coming 10 years, highlighting many temple open houses to come, the bicentennial of the Church’s organization in 2030 and the 2034 Winter Olympics to be held in Salt Lake City, Utah. “These upcoming moments will provide members of the Church everywhere with increased opportunities to share the glad tidings of the gospel of Jesus Christ through word and deed.” He encouraged youth and young adults to participate in four divinely appointed responsibilities: live the gospel of Jesus Christ, care for those in need, invite all to receive the gospel, and unite families for eternity. “As we enter this coming decade of unprecedented moments, may we share glad tidings through the simple activities of living, caring, inviting and uniting.”
“Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice are the root of our testimony. All other things are branches,” said Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from Germany. He emphasized the importance of focusing on the Savior when seeking a testimony of the Book of Mormon, the temple, or any aspect of the Gospel. “If you want the branches of your testimony to grow and bear fruit, nourish the roots.” He encouraged, “Our testimony will be tested and tried. Faith is not faith if never tested. Faith is not strong if never opposed. So do not despair if you have trials of faith or unanswered questions.”
Elder Rubén V. Alliaud, General Authority Seventy and president of the Europe Central Area of the Church, spoke of our nature as children of God. “Many people believe we are children of God. ... For Latter-day Saints, this teaching is not metaphorical. We truly believe that we are literally the children of God.” He also remarked that ‘every time we talk about the nature of God, in some way, somehow, we are also talking about our own nature.”
The Conference Center in Salt Lake City was at near capacity with no seating restrictions enforced for the October 2024 General Conference, the first time since the digital-only April 2020 conference was broadcast from a small auditorium on Temple Square due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Music for the conference was provided by several choirs, including the world renown Tabernacle Choir, with five new participants from countries around Europe, including Austria, Germany, France and Spain.
During the closing session of the conference, President Russell M. Nelson reported that the renovations on the historic Salt Lake Temple and Temple Square started five years ago are projected to be completed by the end of 2026.