The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will convene its semi-annual, worldwide General Conference from Saturday, March 31 - Sunday, April 1.
Sessions will be held on Saturday and Sunday at noon and 4 p.m. in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. All are welcome to attend or watch.
In the greater Chattanooga area, the 188th semi-annual General Conference may be viewed on local EPB channel 450, Dish, Direct TV, BYU TV, or at local LDS chapels. Proceedings are also streamed live at LDS.org and on the Mormon Channel.
The general priesthood session will be held this Saturday from 8-10 p.m., with a corresponding women’s session to be held in October. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir will perform at select sessions, including on Easter Sunday.
"This General Conference will be unique in that two new apostles will be called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to fill the vacancies upon the passing of President Thomas S.
Monson and Elder Robert D. Hales. Also, the general women’s session is now only in October and the general priesthood session for men is only in April – an historic change that was announced last October.
"How is a new apostle chosen? During Jesus’ mortal ministry, He went into a mountain to pray. After a night of continual prayer, He called twelve disciples who would ensure the continuation of the Church He had established by giving it a ‘foundation of … apostles and prophets’ (see Ephesians 2:19-20). This foundation of living apostles and prophets – chosen and called through prophecy and revelation by priesthood authority, serving in love and unity under the direction of the resurrected Christ – continues today,” officials said.
As President Russell M. Nelson teaches, “No prophet or any other leader in [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints], for that matter, has ever called himself or herself. No prophet has ever been elected. The Lord made that clear when He said, ‘Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you’ (John 15:16). You and I do not ‘vote’ on Church leaders at any level. We do, though, have the privilege of sustaining them” (Sustaining the Prophets, Oct. 2014).
"During the 188th Semi-Annual General Conference, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as “Mormons,” will have the privilege of sustaining President Russell M. Nelson as prophet, seer and revelator – and will also have the privilege of sustaining two new apostles."
Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “When the President of The Church has the inspiration he needs [in the selection and calling of new apostles], he brings back the name (or names) to the council that we have of the the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to sustain. That goes forward to general conference” (Deseret News, Sept. 24, 2015).