Conference is next week. What do you predict will and will not happen? I’ll go first
- Pres Nelson will not attend. This is an easy one. He is 100 years old, and did not attend the last one.
- Pres Oaks will attend, but will only speak from his chair with that mini pulpit they perfected with Elder Packard.
- Conference will be conducted by members of the Q12
- There will be no mention of the upcoming US election. We are a worldwide church, with more members living outside the US that in the US. Plus, anything said would surely be taken wrong by some section of the membership.
- Only one person will mention anything about the Ukraine war or the war in Lebanon and with Hamas
- Several of the senior Q12 members will talk of meeting with Pres Nelson recently, and say he is in good spirits and has a sharp mind
- For my last one, I’ll go out on a limb and predict that there will be no new temples announced.
What do you think will happen?
Wheat & Tares 
There will be temples announced, and it will be by Nelson in a pre-recorded message. (Not announcing temples will produce too many questions about why there are no new temples. Maybe at some point they’ll start re-announcing temples just to see if anyone notices.)
We will set a new record for number of Nelson references and quotes. His birthday comes up at least ten times.
Not a prediction but a heartfelt hope:
with so many of the long-form speakers unable to attend, surely they can make space for more women to speak?
I predict that RMN will be quoted more times than Jesus.
I predict that there will be a talk on the importance of paying a full tithing, but no talks about the urgent need to care for the homeless, the elderly, and abused.
I predict that the covenant path will be referenced more times than the road to Jericho and the Samaritan.
I predict that no more than two women will speak, and no more than one women will give a prayer.
I predict that the talk that most directly deals with the actual lived lives of members will not come from one of the Q15.
I think there will be a talk, like times of old with numbers, that states the church continues to grow and go forth (but no more Daniel/rock analogies) . They will try to let the remaining members, they are still part of a winning team. Despite what the critics state, the church is growing. We have created 35 new stakes this year. 36 new missions with 72 K Missionaries, along with the 350 temples. Also, church Auditing is of the opinion that, contributions received, expenditures made, and assets of the Church for the year 2023 have been recorded and administered in accordance with Church-approved budgets, accounting practices, and policies. A comment also on members returning to activity and going “all in”.
When we look deeper to some facts with numbers.
Creating new stakes now requires less members and less of most previous metrics. Now only 5 wards.
Of the new stakes created they are mostly in the Jello belt or Sub-Saharan Africa, except for a few.
The LDS growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is very low compared to its’ competitors.
0.37 % of Latter-day Saints are serving missions, significantly below the 0.55% in the 1980-2000 era.
Estimate show that now 35% of female missionaries and 29% of male missionaries return home early.
LDS church moved $1B in tithing money from Canada to BYU in past 15 years.
LDS charities Australia paid out $4M (85% of all LDS charities) to avoid taxes.
The total church wealth is estimated at $265 B
The LDS church is buying farmland, warehouses, and hotels like they have a few “extra widow’s mites’ $”
80% of members who have left the church have no intent of ever returning.
I have no push back on temple data. That is the one metric the church can completely control and is telling the truth (outside of costs) of the numbers. (Well there is that slight problem of steeple height) Where can they cram another 50 temples onto an already crowded map?
No one has yet mentioned the most critical focus these days: wear your garments! Not sure why they’re so obsessed with everyone’s underwear, but it definitely should be on your bingo card.
”Brothers and sisters, today I stand before you to announce an important change regarding our sacred temple garments.
“As we seek to honor the principles established in the early days of the Church, we are reintroducing the design that extends to the wrists and ankles.
“This adjustment reflects our commitment to modesty, reverence, and the eternal covenants we have made. In embracing this change, we not only align ourselves with the traditions of our pioneers but also deepen our understanding of the spiritual significance of our garments as a reminder of our commitments.
“May we wear these sacred symbols with pride and dedication, reinforcing our connection to our Heavenly Father and our covenants. Let us move forward together in faith and unity.”
—ChatGPT
Dave W, this line of yours made me lol: “Maybe at some point they’ll start re-announcing temples just to see if anyone notices.”
All worthy YW and YM aged 14 and older will be encouraged to attend the temple to receive their own endowments (keeps temples busy and sells underwear).
As part of a lucrative partnership with Starbucks and Budweiser, the WoW will be altered to allow consumption of coffee, tea and mild barley drinks ($ talks).
BYU campuses will be repurposed as refugee camps.
Women will be allowed to receive the Aaronic Priesthood.
Eyring and Holland will shed ‘genuine’ tears.
I wish we had LOL button on this thread!
Stay on the covenant path. To be mentioned by at least 6 speakers. No one will mention the election or works conflicts.
world conflicts
I predict that nothing notable or memorable will be said this conference.
There are a number of inevitable changes that I think are coming at some point. But as Stephen Marsh said in his post on Legacies “Now the virtue is retrenchment, where if you disagree with a current leader about something (like the “I’m a Mormon” campaign for example), you just retrench and wait for them to pass on and become a “past leader.”
Once we get a new set of leaders in the future some of the inevitable changes I see coming are:
-An update to the word of wisdom
-Changes to instructions on wearing the garment to state that they only need to be worn in the temple, and maybe at church (but they can be worn all the time if you choose)
-And changes to what counts as tithing (Any charitable donation to any organization will count as tithing. Please continue donating 10%, please continue donating to the church, but if you choose to donate to the poor, we’ll allow that and you can still have a temple recommend).
And then much further down the line, possible after my lifetime:
-changes to allow women to be ordained to the priesthood
-changes to allow same sex marriages within the church
I’m just biding my time, waiting for those changes.
Not predictions, but what I would like to see (though I am not holding my breath):
(1) A reaffirmation of the 1970 First Presidency letter on tithing, making it clear that each member is free to determine the basis of his or her own tithing, and that no one is authorized to define what someone else’s tithing should be.
(2) An acknowledgement that our youth programs are failing, with concrete steps about how to right this badly listing ship.
(3) Sleeveless garments for those men and women who want them, but with no discussion on when they should be worn.
(4) Announcement that ward EQPs, RSPs, and YWPs have their budgets on whatever the basis is (currently 100% bishop discretion), and that those officers are accountable to stewardship of those funds, and they don’t need bishop approval before spending those budget funds.
(5) Banning of assigning general conference talks as a basis for a sacrament meeting talk. In my ward, this results too often in the speaker reading large segments of a talk that we all heard at the last conference.
(6) Making the RSP responsible for sister ministering visits to all households headed by a member woman, and EQP responsible for bother ministering visits to all households headed by a member man. At present women are assigned to sisters and men are assigned to families. Let’s treat women ministers and men ministers equally, women ministering to women-led families and men ministering to men-led families.
(7) Return to D&C pattern on moving records. When a member moves out of the ward, the member gets a certificate from his bishop and presents it to his new bishop, who then reads his record into the ward for a sustaining vote. If the member does not present himself to the new ward bishop, then his records are not transferred to the new ward. (D&C 20:84). In other words, men and women ask to be admitted to a new ward, instead of being forced into it. Just because we can track people doesn’t mean that we must track people. If someone wants to be lost for a while, we should respect that.
(8) Return to the D&C pattern on confirmations after baptisms. Not same day, not next day, not next week, but only after the elder and teachers in the ward have had “sufficient time to expound all things concerning the church of Christ to their understanding, previous to their partaking of the sacrament and being confirmed by the laying on of the hands of the elders, so that all things may be done in order.” (D&C 20:68). If the recently baptized people don’t stick around long enough for this teaching to happen, then their names do not enter the ward’s membership rolls.
(9) Withholding setting apart until after sustaining, returning sustaining to what it originally meant, which was the people accept this person in this position, instead of what it means today, which is the people accept the leader’s selection of this person where failing to vote yes to sustain is viewed as apostasy.
(10) When members have a concern about a leader’s actions, a confidential email address at church HQ where members can voice concerns with strict anonymity, with those concerns getting looked at seriously and not just sent to the stake president to counsel with the member. In other words, give to all members the opportunity to be heard by someone, as at present this is given only to people who have relations or friends who are general authorities.
(11) On fifth Sundays, how about bishops listening to ward members about how to improve things in the ward, what isn’t working, what might work, instead of bishops telling members what they need to do.
I think that adopting some of these ideas might strengthen the faith and activity of church members. For example, some good members do not pay tithing because they have been taught that it is on the gross. Teaching that tithing is 10%, but letting each member decide for himself or herself might decrease revenues, but it might also increase the number of people eligible for temple recommends, and that would strengthen the members. None of these ideas would require any change in our doctrine.
Assuming realistic predictions:
With regard to changes in the interpretation of the Word of Wisdom, as much as it should change to reflect the language of D&C 89 (i.e., “not by commandment or constraint”), it never will. The abstinence from alcohol, coffee, and tea are among the most significant markers of being Mormon to outsiders in terms of differentiating us from “the world.” That would be a bridge too far for any leader in the Q15 or Q70 at this point. Any such change is at least 50 years away, if ever.
What I would love to see would be a change to the BYU Honor Code, specifically the dress & grooming standards (e.g. telling adults how to wear their hair, beards, earrings, etc. and how to dress). Unfortunately, that is also not ever going to be a reality until the person who codified those standards (Oaks) and those who supported them in Provo and in Idaho (Holland and Bednar) are gone.
I’m wondering if Elder Stevenson will attend. His last scheduled temple dedication and BYU devotional were done by other last-minute replacement apostles, and he hasn’t been at a public event since early August as far as I can determine. Curious to know what’s going on with him, and hope he’s ok!
Georgis, on your number six, with the RSP being in charge of seeing that female led households have female Ministers and the Elders QP be in charge of seeing that male led households have male ministers. So, female led households are one with single women, right? and that means that male led households are ones with single men. So, what do you propose we do with couple led households, you know, married couples who share equally? Rather than have the man being boss of the world, that is presiding. My husband and I have a very equal relationship and he is not head of the household. We are joint heads. Of course, when a sales man shows up at the door and wants to talk to the head of the household, we turn him over to the cat. There are LOTS of women who find the church’s sexist assumption that the man is head of a married couple household offensive and belittling to women. I am not a child who needs an adult to be in charge of me.
Perhaps a better system would be to put sister ministers in charge of the whole family and just cancel the men.
I have experience as RSP. Over and over, it was through visiting teachers that the ward found out a family was without food, because the man let his pride get in the way and was willing to let his children go hungry rather than lower himself to ask for help. It was the sisters who kept the ward up on who was having a baby, who was hospitalized, who was bedridden. We need that sister to sister connection without the men getting in the way of sisters doing charitable work. Cutting out sister visits to married women would cut out the communication system because ward communication actually functions in spite of priesthood, not because of it.
As far as my predictions for conference—same old same old. I predict it will be just like dozens of conferences before it.
“We’ve decided to give the Kirtland Temple and Nauvoo properties back to Community of Christ because we’re really not into all that history stuff anymore. Oh, and they can keep the money we paid because we’ve got way more than we need anyway.”
Anna, thanks for catching Georgis comments on the ministering. I was thinking the same thing, but couldn’t find the energy to respond.
I have no positive expectations for conference. Praying in faith and expectation last year only hurt me when the prophet did the exact opposite of what I prayed for. I will not attend conference live again. I will wait to hear what all of you say about the talks before I read or listen… and then only if I feel like it. I think it might be better for me spiritually to avoid it altogether. I value my church community and I have contact with them through church attendance. I won’t risk being injured by conference again. I could end up unable to attend church.
Probably it will just be repetitiously boring anyway. More old old men saying the same things. If Oaks is feeling well I think we can expect more retrenchment. If we are lucky we may get a couple women loyally repeating the words of current leadership.
What would I like? What I would like is honor and decision-making power given to women on every level. There’s a lot of improvements that could be made without any changes in priesthood. Yes, women leaders should sit on the stand. No hierarchical leader should ever receive the sacrament first again. No woman or child should ever sit in a worthiness interview with a man again. You could have a female member of the bishopric, or the RSP or YWP do those interviews. After all, women are responsible for the nurture of children. We ought to be responsible for other women as well, and take women out from under the controlling hands of men, in this instance.
There’s a lot more I would like, but that would be a good starting point, in my opinion. No hope for that of course.
Enough shout outs to President Nelson turning 100 to play a drinking game. Though to be fair, turning 100 is a big deal.
Enough mentions to the term covenant path to play a drinking game.
More temples. At least 2 in Utah, 2 more in the Mormon corridor outside Utah, and probably 10 others in places like Brazil, the Philippines, and a few random countries we’ve never heard of. What’s the current status of that Shanghai China temple they mentioned four years ago? Asking for a friend.
Several talks with an undertone to please just do as your told because the comment system is currently down for maintenance. Otherwise the excommunications will continue with gusto a la President Oaks until morale improves.
“Otherwise the excommunications will continue with gusto a la President Oaks until morale improves.”
LOL!
Here are my predictions:
8 new temples announced.
1 new gospel catchphrase introduced.
4 vague references to current events, therefore “the last days,” therefore more “covenant path” adherence needed.
1 vague reference to the U.S. election, with an admonition to be nice to people you disagree with. No firm statements about supporting only ethical leaders, not felonious ones.
4 female speakers
0 anecdotes involving the tragic death of a child, this time
1 talk that could be considered progress adjacent, if you squint really hard
3 “your spiritual journey is just like sports” talks.
17 instances that illustrate that most wealthy older men from Utah apparently go by their middle name.
3 weird arrangements of beloved hymns (but that’s ok, the Motab is still great).
I am looking forward to inspiring talks that ask me to stretch and grow (spiritually) in uncomfortable ways. I know I need to be better, and I look forward to spiritual promptings on people I can love more and serve more. That’s about it.
My conference predictions are:
– 15 new temples announced. Pres Nelson has 14 left to double the total announced prior to his ascendancy, and adding one more to get the total to 365, or one for each day of the year. I also predict Utah temple announcements in Spanish Fork and Price.
– 4 women will give talks (I know, that’s overly optimistic), and 2 will give prayers.
– Oaks will either canonize the Proclamation on the Family (TM), or starts the process. There will be a heavy focus on male and female gender roles and no mention of the updated policies for transgender members.
– Oaks will retire President Nelson (just kidding!). Pres Nelson will speak once by pre-recorded video, and will attend one session.
– Young women will get the ability to pass the sacrament, ~2% chance of success
– Variable-duration missions will be announced with durations ranging from 3 to 24 months with 3-month increments. Missionaries will also be allowed to vary the duration while on the mission with 1.5-month advance notice.
– Pageants will be brought back with missionaries playing the parts.
– Stiffer penalties are to be enforced for those who take the sacrament with the left (wrong) hand.
– Penalties for apostacy are detailed including a new form of punishment called… gasp… excommunication.
– Temple steeples, particularly their height, are outlined as essential aspects of temple worship. A mention of everything inside and outside the temple (even the carpet) is essential to the religious experience and points upward to Jesus. Also, the quality of religious experience is directly proportional to temple height, square footage, and cost. And finally, any pushback (including zoning laws) against temple design, size, and location is evidence of religious persecution and grounds for litigation.