Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
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SALT LAKE CITY — During The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ October general conference, President Russell M. Nelson promised members the upcoming April conference would be unforgettable.
The year 2020 marks 200 years since the church’s founder, Joseph Smith, said he saw God and Jesus Christ — a foundational event for the church that would become known as the "First Vision." April’s conference will celebrate that anniversary, and President Nelson urged members to spiritually prepare for the event.
General conference this weekend will, in fact, be different than any other — though, perhaps, in more ways than anticipated.
Unlike past conferences, April’s will be focused on a central theme, namely, the "Restoration" — or what Latter-day Saints believe is the period of time when Jesus Christ’s church was restored on the earth.
But because of the spread of COVID-19, the upcoming general conference will also be held "via technology only." Only those invited to speak and pray will gather in a small room on Temple Square, and the choir’s performances will be pre-recorded. While most members normally watch conference "via technology only," no crowds will gather at the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake.
If you usually watch general conference via broadcast, not much has changed. Three Saturday sessions will be held at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., while two Sunday sessions will be held at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Everyone is invited to watch all sessions.
"Because of the digital-only nature of this conference, the church is doing all it can to make the live sessions accessible to as many people as possible. 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," a news release from the church reads.
To read conference
- KSL.com will be frequently updating a live blog during the conference with talk summaries and announcements.
- Additional coverage can be found on Deseret.com, KSLTV.com and KSLNewsradio.com.
To watch conference:
- Tune in to KSL.com Live, KSL 5 TV on air or online, Deseret News or via the KSL.com, Deseret News or KSL TV apps.
- Go to broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org to stream the conference live in 41 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 livestreams of the conference in 12 languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and ASL. Closed captioning will also be available.
- Download the Latter-day Saints Channel app for iOS and Android devices. The app will have streams available in English, French, German, Italian, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Samoan, Spanish, Tagalog and Tongan. Closed captioning will be available in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
To listen to conference:
- Tune in to KSL NewsRadio at 102.7 FM or via the KSL NewsRadio app.
- Use a live audio stream from Bonneville distribution in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Malagasy and Swahili.
