I watched Conference so you don’t have to. Short and relatively unbiased summaries of each speaker. My comments, if any, are in italics and sometimes [in brackets].
Sunday Morning Session
President Eyring conducting, from the seated position. Music by the MoTab, opening with Christ the Lord Is Risen Today (it is Easter Sunday, remember).
President Uchtdorf — An Easter talk. Make your way to the empty tomb. Why seek ye the living among the dead? Feel the love and healing of the risen Lord. [He’s a President again!]
Emily Belle Freeman, YW Pres. — Highs and lows, best days and worst days: Her daughter is getting married, but her husband’s cancer has returned. The cross and the empty tomb.
Pedro X. Larreal of the Seventy — On the sacrament. [He’s from Venezuela. I wonder how he feels about the President of Venezuela sitting in an American jail after having been abducted at gunpoint by the United States military?]
Edward B. Rowe of the Seventy — Hiking through a war zone as a lawyer mediator. Watch out for the mines! Let Jesus be your guide through the minefield of life.
Elder Rasband — Another Easter talk. Atonement and resurrection. He came, was crucified, and was raised again.
Elder Renlund — Pet stories. Really? Put Jesus at the top of your priority list. Repentance and forgiveness are real. “Open up your broken heart and let the Savior in.” [His dog is smarter than some people I know.]
Thierry K. Motumbo of the Seventy — Greeting: “Christ is risen.” Reply: “Truly, he is risen.” [Greeting: Live long and prosper. Reply: Peace and long life.]
Alan R. Walker of the Seventy — You are the Lord’s treasure. He has high hopes for us, His covenant people. Exercise covenant faithfulness. [I think I need to do a future post on the use and abuse of the term “covenant.”]
President Oaks — The resurrection: A pillar of our faith. Our Christian faith should empower us against the ugly emotions and rhetoric of these toxic times. Love your enemies (that is, your adversaries) and pray for those who persecute you. He speaks boldly against bigotry in all its forms. We should love all God’s children.
Best of Session Award goes to President Oaks for his powerful talk decrying all forms of bigotry and harsh rhetoric. This echoes a similar talk by President Hinckley many years ago … which had almost no effect.
Permit me some additional commentary. I wonder if *this* talk today will make any difference? Even more, I wonder if President Oaks really means it? Do you think the average MAGA Mormon is willing to even consider bringing gays, trans people, and those darned liberals into the circle of love President Oaks is proclaiming? Are LDS leaders themselves willing to do this? Or is it wink, wink, you know we weren’t talking about *those* people when we talked about love your neighbor.
President Oaks’ strong words about being a peacemaker are welcome. But he didn’t come right out and apply that principle to the spread of wars and the attendant violence and suffering these entail. Russia’s war against Ukraine and Trump’s war against Iran are both in violation of international law. Just today Trump issued a short and profane post promising to bomb Iranian bridges and power plants. Destroying civilian infrastructure is a war crime, as is the intentional killing of civilians (killing survivors clinging to floating debris after the US Navy bombed their boats). The USA has become a lawless regime, and the US Constitution that LDS leaders proclaim as inspired is, in some areas, a dead letter. I am waiting for just one LDS GA to call this out and object to it. Until they do, MAGA Mormons are going to go along with Pete Hegseth thinking bombing the hell out of Iran is a laudable Christian act. LDS leaders should go read the Old Testament (it is, after all, the course of study this year) and see the blunt criticism that Hebrew prophets declared to their kings. Is there a prophet in the land today?
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Wheat & Tares 
I agree with David here that President Oaks’ talk was especially meaningful. In many ways, it reminded me of those immortal words of Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln famously stated “Whenever the vicious portion of the population shall be permitted to gather in bands of hundreds and thousands, and burn churches, ravage and rob provision stores, throw printing presses into rivers, shoot editors, and hang and burn obnoxious persons at pleasure, and with impunity; depend on it, this government cannot last.”
President Oaks was reflecting this precise idea. A society at severe and seemingly permanent opposition to itself cannot endure.
Sounds like someone didn’t actually get the message.
I love Lincoln quotes but they are words that Lincoln only practiced after he defeated his enemy. For no matter what Lincoln said about grace and dignity he supported the scorched earth military campaigns of Sherman and Sheridan. Yes, Lincoln was conciliatory once the war drew to an end but he not only wanted to crush the Confederacy, he was happy to call on Grant to do it, despite knowing Grant’s tactics elevated the count of casualties for both the North and South. What did Lincoln famously say about Grant? “I can’t spare this man; he fights”.
I’ve always wanted to ask and now I can. Is there any point to Elder Rasband? It seems he rarely speaks with substance and is usually brown nosing to current authorities.
Jen, he’s had some great ties this conference 👔.
I did like Oaks’ talk, though I note his quote listing categories of diversity didn’t mention anything LGBTQ+ related. Also recommend Uchtdorf and Freeman. Others were spoiled somewhat for me by emphasis or repetition on covenants, though the word path wasn’t mentioned so much.
I’m not clear on how the international choir participants joined in. Did they fly in? It sounded more like internet participation when mentioned, but we didn’t get to see them. Did it really add anything to the broadcast?