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Editor’s note: This story is a part of a series highlighting Latter-day Saints for General Conference week.
SALT LAKE CITY — In a simpler time, Temple Square would be a bustling place this weekend as tens of thousands would gather in the Conference Center for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' October General Conference.
But as it is, the grounds in downtown Salt Lake City will be mostly quiet.
For the second straight time this year, the conference will take place in a small auditorium on Temple Square without a live audience. Only those invited to speak and pray will gather together, and the music used will all be pre-recorded.
While the church has slowly opened things back up following mass shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic — Utah area leaders have approved a return to weekly church service and 92% of temples not going through renovations have been reopened in some capacity — leaders have opted for everyone to remain at home.
"Despite not having a live audience at the Conference Center, the church is using technology to offer more viewing and listening options than ever before, ensuring the largest global general conference audience to date," a church news release stated.
In what has been a trying year for many — with a pandemic, a recession, social unrest and devastating natural disasters — messages at the conference will focus on love, understanding, acceptance, hope, connection and inclusion.
General sessions for all audiences will be Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. A session for all female members ages 11 and older will be held Saturday evening at 6 p.m.
Here’s how you can view, listen and read about this weekend's conference:
To read about conference:
- KSL.com will be frequently updating a live blog during the conference with talk summaries and announcements.
- Additional coverage can be found on the Deseret News, KSL-TV and KSL NewsRadio.
To watch conference:
- Tune in to KSL.com Live, KSL 5 TV on air, Deseret News or via the KSL.com, Deseret News or KSL TV apps.
- Go to broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org to stream the conference live in over 70 languages. Closed captions are available in English, Spanish and Portuguese by hitting the CC button on the media player.
- Visit the church's YouTube channel, which will have live streams of the conference in over 30 languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and ASL. Closed captioning will also be available.
- The church will stream each session through its Gospel Library app, where streams in over 30 languages will be available. The Latter-day Saints Channel app will have streams in over 10 different languages.
