An Unforgettable Conference

I have wondered ever since President Nelson said,

…the year 2020 will be designated as a bicentennial year. General conference next April will be different from any previous conference. …general conference next April will be not only memorable; it will be unforgettable.

2019, October, Russell M. Nelsonᵈ, ‘Closing Remarks,’ Liahona, November 2019, ¶¶ 38, 40

One naturally tends to speculate. In today’s “Elder’s Quorum Meeting,” one brother wondered if Satan’s mucking with Joseph’s intended plan to get an answer to a prayer might be repeated 200 years later with Satan concocting a pandemic and the possibility of not just causing international church leaders to remain home, but perhaps many more. Of course you could invert the entire metaphor and wonder about quarantining the large and spacious building.

More to the point, I’ve wondered if rather than “more of the same” (e.g., more videos, live acts, new hymns sung by the TCATS, more self accolades, more hoopla, more inspiration feigning revelation) we might see things that would be truly significant:

1. President Nelson announcing that the condemnation for treating lightly the Book of Mormon is lifted/removed. See:

To doubters of that second witness—the Book of Mormon—the Lord issued a warning: “Because you have treated lightly the things you have received … [you] shall remain under … condemnation until [you] repent and remember … the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given … , [the Bible, and] … do according to that which I have written.”

2007, October, Russell M. Nelson, ‘Scriptural Witnesses,’ Ensign, November 2007, ¶ 20

2. President Nelson announcing that the Church will be publishing a new set of scriptures with corrections, additions, and other changes. Perhaps these will even be voted on (no doubt prior to anyone actually seeing them — consistency is requisite, after all) and accepted as a form of covenant.

3. The introduction of “Church supported,” home institute and other virtual classes and meetings. We might expect expanded rules (Handbook of Instruction) for local Bishops and Branch Presidents to conduct home sacrament meetings (as a precaution/preparation in times of pandemics and the like).

4. Doubling down on how the Church is fulfilling Joseph’s vision(s) about the latter days. Additionally, we may hear how the Church is fulfilling the promises and covenants in the Book of Mormon. These may implicitly repudiate evidence that the Church is migrating away from those visions and prophecies and how it is others that are sliding into apostasy and fulfilling the respective curses.

Have some of your own? Please add in the comment section, below.