Historic Conference Changes!

April 2018 General Conference News and Announcements

• 31 MARCH 2018

Ministering replaces home and visiting teaching

During the Sunday afternoon session of April general conference, President Russell M. Nelson announced that the separate programs of home teaching and visiting teaching are now a coordinated effort called “ministering.”

Ministering replaces home teaching and visiting teaching.

Sister Jean B. Bingham, Relief Society General President, said ministering is “becoming part of someone’s life and caring about him or her” and may include Laurels and Mia Maids as companions to Relief Society sisters, and priests and teachers continue as companions to Melchizedek Priesthood holders.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained that ministering brothers and sisters will counsel with leaders in a quarterly ministering interview about the needs and strengths of those they are assigned. The number of interviews leaders had during a quarter is the only formal report that will be made.

The leaders explained that ministering does not include a set monthly message in the Church magazines nor a prescribed way to keep in contact each month—but visits are important when possible.

One Melchizedek Priesthood quorum

During the general priesthood session Saturday evening, President Russell M. Nelson announced that the ward (or branch) high priests group and elders quorum will now be combined into one elders quorum. Stake high priests quorums will be based on current priesthood callings.

High priests and elders are now part of one elders quorum.

Watch the video of President Nelson’s announcement about the restructuring of the Melchizedek Priesthood groups and quorums.

The ward elders quorum will be led by a presidency that may be comprised of elders and high priests, explained Elder Christofferson. The elders quorum president will report to the stake president and meet regularly with the bishop. Priesthood offices will remain the same. The current elders quorum presidency will be released and the stake president will call a new elders quorum presidency, explained Elder Rasband.

The stake high priests quorum will continue to function, with the stake presidency continuing to serve as the presidency of that quorum. However, this quorum will include only those high priests currently serving in the stake presidency, in bishoprics, on the high council, and as functioning patriarchs, Elder Rasband said.

2017 statistical report

CHURCH UNITS
Stakes	3,341
Missions	421
Districts	553
Wards and branches	30,506
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP
Total membership	16,118,169
New children of record	106,771
Converts baptized	233,729
MISSIONARIES
Full-time missionaries	67,049
Church-service missionaries	36,172
TEMPLES
Temples dedicated during 2017 (Paris France, Tucson Arizona, Meridian Idaho, Cedar City Utah)	4
Temples rededicated during 2017 (Idaho Falls Idaho)	1
Temples in operation at the end of 2017	159

New Young Women General Presidency

President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency announced that Bonnie H. Cordon will serve as General President, Michelle Craig has been called as the First Counselor, and Becky Craven will serve as Second Counselor.

Young Women General Presidency

Primary General Presidency

Counselor in Primary General Presidency

Sister Lisa Harkness was called as the new First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency.

New General Authority Seventies

Watch President Oaks’s announcement of new leadership calllings.

President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency announced the calls of two new members of the Presidency of the Seventy, eight General Authority Seventies, and 55 Area Seventies during the Saturday afternoon session of the April 2018 general conference.

Presidency of the Seventy

Called to the Presidency of the Seventy are Elder Carl B. Cook and Elder Robert C. Gay.

General Authority Seventies

Eight new General Authority Seventies were announced in the Saturday afternoon session: Elder Steven R. Bangerter, Elder Matthew L. Carpenter, Elder Jack N. Gerard, Elder Mathias Held, Elder David P. Homer, Elder Kyle S. McKay, Elder Juan Pablo Villar, and Elder Takashi Wada.

Area Seventies

The following newly called Area Seventies were announced: Richard K. Ahadjie, Alberto A. Álvarez, Duane D. Bell, Glenn Burgess, Víctor R. Calderón, Ariel E. Chaparro, Daniel Córdova, John N. Craig, Michael Cziesla, William H. Davis, Richard J. DeVries, Kylar G. Dominguez, Sean Douglas, Michael A. Dunn, Kenneth J. Firmage, Edgar Flores, Silvio Flores, Saulo G. Franco, Carlos A. Genaro, Mark A. Gilmour, Sergio A. Gómez, Roberto Gonzalez, Virgilio Gonzalez, Spencer R. Griffin, Matthew S. Harding, David J. Harris, Kevin J. Hathaway, Richard Holzapfel, Eustache Ilunga, Okechukwu I. Imo, Peter M. Johnson, Michael D. Jones, Pungwe S. Kongolo, George Kenneth G. Lee, Aretemio C. Maligon, Edgar A. Mantilla, Lincoln P. Martins, Clement M. Matswagothata, Carl R. Maurer, Daniel S. Mehr II, Glen D. Mella, Isaac K. Morrison, Yutaka Nagatomo, Allistair B. Odgers, R. Jeffrey Parker, Victor P. Patrick, Denis E. Pineda, Henrique S. Simplicio, Jeffrey H. Singer, Michael L. Staheli, Djarot Subiantoro, Jeffrey K. Wetzel, Michael S. Wilstead, Helmut Wondra, and David L. Wright.

Solemn assembly

During a solemn assembly of Church members worldwide March 31, 2018, President Russell M. Nelson was sustained as prophet, seer, and revelator and president of the Church. President Dallin H. Oaks was sustained as First Counselor and President Henry B. Eyring as Second Counselor in the First Presidency.

Two new Apostles

Two new members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were also announced during the Saturday morning session. Elder Gerrit W. Gong and Elder Ulisses Soares were sustained as Apostles, filling vacancies left by the deaths of President Thomas S. Monson and Elder Robert D. Hales.

Elder Gerrit W. Gong

Elder Ulisses Soares

Seven Temples Announced

As the final session of the Church’s 188th annual general conference came to a close, Russell M. Nelson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, announced plans to build seven new temples. These temples will be in the following locations: Salta, Argentina; Bengaluru, India; Managua Nicaragua; Cagayan de Oro, Philippines; Layton, Utah; Richmond, Virginia; and a major city yet to be determined in Russia.

These seven announced temples bring the total number of operating temples (159) and temples announced or under construction (30) to 189 worldwide. There are three temples scheduled for dedication including the Concepción Chile Temple (October 28), Barranquilla Colombia Temple (December 9) and the Rome Italy Temple (March 10-17, 2019). The Jordan River Utah Temple will be rededicated May 20, and the Houston Texas Temple, which needed interior repairs due to flooding last year, will be rededicated April 22. Nine temples are being renovated, including the Asunción Paraguay Temple, Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple, Frankfurt Germany Temple, Memphis Tennessee Temple, Oakland California Temple, Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple, Raleigh North Carolina Temple, Tokyo Japan Temple and the Washington D.C. Temple. The Mesa Arizona and Hamilton New Zealand Temples are scheduled for closure this year for renovation. Temples under renovation are considered operating temples.