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  "path": "/faith/2026/04/09/shorter-general-conference-talk-times-latter-day-saints/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-10T03:00:01.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.deseret.com",
  "tags": [
    "ChurchBeat newsletter",
    "general conference",
    "Conference ‘by the numbers’ shows Latter-day Saints believe Jesus Christ is ‘our all’",
    "on Sunday alone",
    "Dallin H. Oaks",
    "Russell M. Nelson",
    "talk summaries and photo galleries",
    "covering all of general conference",
    "the prophet who wants to save democracy",
    "Latter-day Saint leaders said on Easter",
    "the dignity of children",
    "on May 3",
    "donate food in Atlanta",
    "was on “Fox and Friends First",
    "shattered another NCAA record"
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  "textContent": "_This article was first published in the_ ChurchBeat newsletter_. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Wednesday night._\n\nThe first four-session general conference looked and sounded like the five previous decades of conferences with five sessions, centered on Jesus Christ and counsel for listeners.\n\nIt was fair to be curious how church leaders would accomplish that with fewer speakers. The solution was to increase the number of speakers.\n\nSomehow, there were more talks — 34 — in a four-session conference than the 33 there were in October for the final five-session conference.\n\nChurch leaders managed the feat in two ways.\n\nConference ‘by the numbers’ shows Latter-day Saints believe Jesus Christ is ‘our all’\n\nFirst, they used more of the two hours allotted for each session. In recent years, some sessions had been ending as many as 10 or 20 minutes or even 30 minutes early.\n\nSecond, the talks were shorter.\n\nThat allowed the schedule to increase from six or seven speakers per session to eight or nine speakers per session. (Eight spoke in each session on Saturday, with nine in each of Sunday’s sessions.)\n\nThe talks remained packed with Christ’s teachings — ICYMI, he was mentioned 1,242 times on Sunday alone — and with doctrine, scripture, testimony, stories of faith, and emotion.\n\nHere’s a look at the length of the October 2025 talks and the April 2026 talks (Note: The list includes only the longest talks by President Dallin H. Oaks at each conference):\n\nSpeaker| Oct ’25| April ’26\n---|---|---\nPresident Oaks| 17:23| 13:38\nPresident Eyring| 13:11| 13:13\nPres. Christofferson| 14:13| 12:10\nPresident Uchtdorf| 15:22| 12:28\nElder Bednar| 14:25| 12:59\nElder Cook| 14:55| 11:32\nElder Andersen| 14:33| 11:42\nElder Rasband| 13:57| 10:21\nElder Stevenson| 13:16| 11:16\nElder Renlund| 13:22| 10:59\nElder Gong| 14:02| 11:08\nElder Soares| 15:07| 11:40\nElder Kearon| 14:19| 11:21\nPresident Holland| 17:23| —\nElder Caussé| —| 11:27\nElder Gilbert| —| 13:08\n\nOn a separate note about church growth, there were 1,935,487 convert baptisms from Jan. 1, 2018, through Dec. 31, 2025.\n\nThose dates closely reflect missionary efforts during the church presidency of President Russell M. Nelson. He led the church from Jan. 2, 2018, briefly as president of the Quorum of the Twelve upon the death of President Thomas S. Monson and then as church president, until his own death on Sept. 27, 2025.\n\n### **My recent stories**\n\nSee our landing page for conference talk summaries and photo galleries.\n\nScroll through and read from our live blog covering all of general conference.\n\n### **About the church**\n\nPresident Dallin H. Oaks is the prophet who wants to save democracy, our Mariya Manzhos writes.\n\nJesus Christ offers peace in the face of death, Latter-day Saint leaders said on Easter, our Jacob Hess writes.\n\nThe outgoing Primary general president spoke at an international conference and emphasized the dignity of children.\n\nElder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Sister Lesa Stevenson will speak at the upcoming devotional for young adults on May 3.\n\nMembers of the Black 14 and the College Football Hall of Fame collaborated with the church to donate food in Atlanta.\n\n### **What I’m reading**\n\nHer faith in Jesus Christ was the reason this BYU basketball star was on “Fox and Friends First.\"\n\nLatter-day Saint runner Jane Hedengren is literally running away with college titles. Last week, she shattered another NCAA record.",
  "title": "Talk times: The adjustment that packed a 4-session conference with the same impact as 5 sessions"
}