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What did you like about conference?
The spring General Conference is a wrap. What were your favorite moments?
Maybe it was the solemn assembly, seeing various groups rise to formally endorse 93-year-old Dallin Oaks as the church’s 18th president, or his first conference sermon in that role.
Maybe it was Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman assuring you that Jesus, too, knows about best days and worst days.
Perhaps you got a kick out of apostle Dale Renlund’s befuddled family dog endlessly chasing yellow and blue balls.
Or maybe you were drawn to apostle Ulisses Soares’ metaphor of Christ as the “true vine” or the first two conference speeches as apostles by Gérald Caussé and Clark Gilbert.
You may have found comfort in apostle Patrick Kearon’s affirmation that it can be OK to say no to a church calling, or inspiration in the selection of an African woman to lead the global Primary, or delight in seeing that the church baptized more converts than ever last year.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) President Henry B. Eyring, the first counselor in the First Presidency, greets congregants at conference.
Perhaps you even noticed that Oaks’ top counselor, 92-year-old Henry Eyring, exited with the assistance of a cane and body man this time rather than a wheelchair.
Here at The Tribune, our team loved most the session that wasn’t held. We selfishly but wholeheartedly endorse the dropping of the Saturday evening session. Are you glad that meeting is gone, too?
We can help
So, were some of the above points news to you? Do you need to catch up on what went down at conference? Let us help. Just check out these stories, and you’ll be the smartest one in your Sunday school class:
• The church reported a record number of converts in 2025, shattering the 35-year-old mark and pushing overall membership on the rolls well past 17.8 million. (If that pace continued this year, membership may have topped 18 million by now.)
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
• Come August, the faith will have its first African ever to lead one of its worldwide organizations. The honor goes to Rosemary Chibota, a Malawian raised in Zimbabwe, who will head the new Primary General Presidency.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) New Primary General Presidency: First counselor Nina M. Garfield, lef,, President Rosemary K. Chibota, and second counselor Theresa A. Collins.
• Learn the key points of what every speaker talked about in these full summaries of Saturday’s and Sunday’s sessions, and get the highlights here.
The latest ‘Mormon Land’ podcast: A conference refresh?
While this conference had its share of standout songs, speeches and moments, does the overall gathering itself really stand out? Does the format need a refresh, a tuneup or an overhaul?
Listen to the podcast.
Choir sings for Africa
The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square’s April 19 broadcast of “Music & the Spoken Word” will be televised in more than dozen African countries.
“The music of the choir is joyful,” Ghanaian general authority Seventy Isaac Morrison said in a news release, “and we are so excited to be able to share this sacred music with our friends and neighbors across … Africa.”
Former church money manager dies
Richard Edgley, who went from General Mills to general authority, died March 27 at age 90.
Edgley left as an executive at the cereal giant in 1981 and became the church’s finance director, his family’s obituary states, a post in which “he made key hires and implemented strategies that strengthened the organization’s financial position and accelerated its growth.”
He eventually served in the Presiding Bishopric from 1992 to 2012. That’s the ecclesiastical body that shepherds the church’s real estate, financial, investment and humanitarian operations.
From The Tribune
(Anthony Sweat) “The Carpenter from Nazareth,” 2022.
• A new book explores what paintings get wrong about the real Jesus.
• Though still solidly Republican, Latter-day Saints have shifted to the left faster than any other group. The big question is why?
• The church’s new Sunday schedule solves unexpected challenges in the two-hour block, says guest commentator Jasmin Gimenez Rappleye.
• But Tribune columnist Gordon Monson says he has a better idea for reshaping the Sabbath services.
• And with the recent Sunday school president change, Monson adds, the church needs to take the next step and empower women and men together.
• Want more Monson? Here he picks his “Great Eight” from conference.
• Religion News Service columnist Jana Riess has her own take on the latest membership stats.
• The rising popularity of “energy healing” worries church leaders, religion scholar Matthew Bowman writes.
• Tribune guest columnist Natalie Brown describes how members can discern truth for themselves in an age of false information.
• Learn how a group of southern Utahns “went to war with the real estate arm of the church and won,” saving a historic Relief Society building from the wrecking ball.
(Mark Eddington | The Salt Lake Tribune) The historic Relief Society House at Heritage Square in Santa Clara.

David Noyce
David is a managing editor at The Tribune, where he has worked since 1984. He oversees coverage ranging from local government and west-side issues to growth, development and housing. In addition, he directs religion reporting, co-hosts the award-winning “Mormon Land” podcast and writes the Mormon Land newsletter.