2009
Conference Summary for the 179th Annual General Conference
May 2009

“Conference Summary for the 179th Annual General Conference,” Ensign, May 2009, 2–3

Conference Summary for the 179th Annual General Conference

Saturday Morning, April 4, 2009, General Session

Presiding: President Thomas S. Monson. Conducting: President Thomas S. Monson. Invocation: Elder Charles Didier. Benediction: Elder William W. Parmley. Music by the Tabernacle Choir; Mack Wilberg and Edgar Thompson, directors; Andrew Unsworth and Clay Christiansen, organists: “The Morning Breaks,” Hymns, no. 1; “Press Forward, Saints,” Hymns, no. 81; “Israel, Israel, God Is Calling,” Hymns, no. 7, arr. Wilberg, unpublished; “Now Let Us Rejoice,” Hymns, no. 3; “Consider the Lilies,” Roger Hoffman, arr. Lyon, pub. Jackman; “My Redeemer Lives,” Hymns, no. 135, arr. Wilberg, unpublished.

Saturday Afternoon, April 4, 2009, General Session

Presiding: President Thomas S. Monson. Conducting: President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Invocation: Elder Spencer J. Condie. Benediction: Elder Douglas L. Callister. Music by a combined choir from the Salt Lake area institutes of religion; Stephen P. Schank and Richard T. Decker, directors; Bonnie Goodliffe and Linda Margetts, organists: “Come, Thou Glorious Day of Promise,” Hymns, no. 50; “Come, O Thou King of Kings,” Hymns, no. 59, arr. Kasen, pub. Jackman; “Let Us All Press On,” Hymns, no. 243; “Sing We Now at Parting,” Hymns, no. 156, arr. Wilberg, pub. Deseret Book.

Saturday Evening, April 4, 2009, Priesthood Session

Presiding: President Thomas S. Monson. Conducting: President Thomas S. Monson. Invocation: Elder Bruce D. Porter. Benediction: Elder Shirley D. Christensen. Music by a priesthood choir from Brigham Young University–Idaho; Kevin Brower and Randall Kempton, directors; Richard Elliott, organist: “Sing Praise to Him,” Hymns, no. 70, arr. Kempton, unpublished; “Father in Heaven,” Hymns, no. 133; “High on the Mountain Top,” Hymns, no. 5; “I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go,” Hymns, no. 270, arr. Kempton, unpublished.

Sunday Morning, April 5, 2009, General Session

Presiding: President Thomas S. Monson. Conducting: President Thomas S. Monson. Invocation: Elder Daryl H. Garn. Benediction: Elder Donald L. Hallstrom. Music by the Tabernacle Choir; Mack Wilberg, director; Clay Christiansen and Richard Elliott, organists: “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,” Hymns, no. 72; “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” Hymns, no. 142; “You Can Make the Pathway Bright,” Hymns, no. 228, arr. Wilberg, unpublished; “Redeemer of Israel,” Hymns, no. 6; “This Is My Beloved Son,” Children’s Songbook, 76, arr. Cardon, unpublished; “We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet,” Hymns, no. 19, arr. Wilberg, unpublished.

Sunday Afternoon, April 5, 2009, General Session

Presiding: President Thomas S. Monson. Conducting: President Henry B. Eyring. Invocation: Elder Spencer V. Jones. Benediction: Elder Robert C. Oaks. Music by the Tabernacle Choir; Mack Wilberg and Edgar Thompson, directors; Linda Margetts and Bonnie Goodliffe, organists: “Now We’ll Sing with One Accord,” Hymns, no. 25, arr. Elliott, unpublished; “O My Father,” Hymns, no. 292, arr. Gates, pub. Jackman; “Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah,” Hymns, no. 83; “God Be with You Till We Meet Again,” Hymns, no. 152, arr. Wilberg, unpublished.

Saturday Evening, March 28, 2009, General Young Women Meeting

Presiding: President Thomas S. Monson. Conducting: Elaine S. Dalton. Invocation: Elizabeth Bevan. Benediction: Muzna Bukhari. Music by a Young Women choir from stakes in East Millcreek, Cottonwood, and Olympus; Merrilee Webb, director; Linda Margetts, organist: “As Zion’s Youth in Latter Days,” Hymns, no. 256, arr. Kasen, pub. Jackman; “He Sent His Son,” Children’s Songbook, 34–35, arr. DeFord, pub. DeFord Music (flute: Rachel Miles; oboe: Elizabeth Quigley); “More Holiness Give Me,” Hymns, no. 131, arr. Goates, unpublished (cello: Julia Marshall); “True to the Faith,” Hymns, no. 254, descant arr. Webb.

Conference Recordings Available

Recordings of conference sessions are available at www.lds.org. Generally within two months following conference, recordings are also available at distribution centers. Recordings for individuals who are deaf are available at www.lds.org/asl and generally within two months following conference from distribution centers (three DVDs with a signing inset). For more information, call 1-800-537-5971 or log on to www.ldscatalog.com.

Conference Talks on Internet

To access general conference talks on the Internet in many languages, visit www.generalconference.lds.org.

Home and Visiting Teaching Messages

For home and visiting teaching messages, please select an address that best meets the needs of those you visit.

On the Cover

Front: Photograph by Craig Dimond.

Back: Photograph by Christina Smith.

Conference Photography

Scenes of general conference in Salt Lake City were taken by Craig Dimond, Welden C. Andersen, John Luke, Matthew Reier, Christina Smith, Les Nilsson, Scott Davis, Lindsay Briggs, Rod Boam, Alpha Smoot, Cody Bell, Mark Weinberg, Deanna Van Kampen, and Michael Sandberg; in Argentina by Javier Coronati; in Brazil by Laureni Ademar Fochetto; in Fiji by Talat Mehmood; in Mexico by Shelem Castañeda and Carlos Israel Gutiérrez; in Poland by Bev Robison; in Romania by Cody Holmes; and in Russia by Vasiliy Grachev.

Speakers in Alphabetical Order

  • Andersen, Neil L., 78

  • Ballard, M. Russell, 31

  • Bednar, David A., 97

  • Christofferson, D. Todd, 19

  • Cook, Mary N., 117

  • Cook, Quentin L., 34

  • Costa, Claudio R. M., 56

  • Dalton, Elaine S., 120

  • Dibb, Ann M., 114

  • Edgley, Richard C., 53

  • Eyring, Henry B., 23, 63

  • Hales, Robert D., 7

  • Holland, Jeffrey R., 86

  • Lifferth, Margaret S., 11

  • Monson, Thomas S., 4, 67, 89, 112, 123

  • Neider, Michael A., 14

  • Nelson, Russell M., 46

  • Oaks, Dallin H., 93

  • Packer, Allan F., 17

  • Packer, Boyd K., 49

  • Pearson, Kevin W., 38

  • Perry, L. Tom, 109

  • Pino, Rafael E., 41

  • Scott, Richard G., 43

  • Snow, Steven E., 81

  • Stevenson, Gary E., 101

  • Teixeira, José A., 104

  • Thompson, Barbara, 83

  • Uchtdorf, Dieter F., 27, 59, 75

  • Watson, F. Michael, 106

Topic Index

  • Aaronic Priesthood, 14, 49

  • Activation, 14, 63

  • Addiction, 7

  • Adversity, 19, 23, 41, 89

  • Agency, 104

  • Atonement, 34, 86, 117

  • Brotherhood, 53, 63

  • Change, 81

  • Comfort, 41

  • Commitment, 59

  • Courage, 123

  • Covenants, 19, 97

  • Debt, 7

  • Discipleship, 75

  • Distractions, 59

  • Doctrine, 34

  • Doubt, 38

  • Employment, 53

  • Eternal families, 43

  • Example, 11, 114, 117

  • Experience, 31

  • Faith, 19, 38, 41, 49, 81, 83

  • Family, 83, 101

  • Family home evening, 56

  • Fasting, 46

  • General conference, 112

  • History, 31

  • Holy Ghost, 17, 19, 104

  • Home, 101

  • Hope, 75, 81, 89

  • Humility, 23, 46

  • Jesus Christ, 46, 75, 78, 86

  • Joy, 89

  • Judging, 34, 123

  • Learning, 31

  • Loneliness, 86

  • Member missionary work, 109

  • Missionary work, 4, 109

  • Obedience, 19, 38, 106

  • Patience, 75

  • Perpetual education fund, 4

  • Perseverance, 89

  • Personal Progress, 114

  • Perspective, 81

  • Pioneers, 78

  • Pornography, 112

  • Prayer, 46, 67, 112

  • Preparation, 43, 120

  • Priesthood, 56, 63

  • Priesthood blessings, 67

  • Priesthood quorums, 14, 53

  • Priorities, 59

  • Prophets, 81, 104, 106

  • Protection, 97

  • Provident living, 7

  • Purity, 120

  • Respect, 11, 34

  • Responsibility, 49, 56, 109

  • Revelation, 17

  • Reverence, 11

  • Sacrifice, 93

  • Scripture study, 67

  • Selfishness, 93

  • Service, 23, 53, 63, 83, 93

  • Teaching, 11

  • Temples, 4, 43, 97, 101, 112

  • Testimony, 17, 31, 78

  • Virtue, 117, 120, 123

  • Word of Wisdom, 49

  • Young Women, 114