Nevermo here.... Do most TBMs watch the general conference at home on their computer/tv? Or do most go to church and watch it there? How long is it (hours?)? Is the young women's meeting handled differently? i.e., more likely to be watched together at church?

Thanks!

General conference includes 6 sessions.

4 are for the general membership - 2 hours each. 2 on Saturday, 2 on Sunday. Eight hours total. It is available on TV and streamed online. It is also available on radio. People watch it at home. The talks are also available at LDS.org almost immediately in video and audio format. They are eventually available in written format as well.

There is a priesthood session on Saturday evening that also lasts 2 hours. This is for males 12 years and up. It is shown on closed satellite and is only available to view at churches. The talks are publicly distributed and available almost immediately online. In Utah 96% (made up stat) of men go for ice cream right after priesthood session. The average wait time for ice cream in Utah is 2.7 hours (also made up). It is also the 2nd largest retail date of the year in Utah because most women do a ladies night out usually shopping (lots of women do shop on this night - 2nd largest retail day is made up)

The 6th session is every other time - in the Spring it is for young women age 12-18. In the fall it is for adult women age 18+. I think these are 1 1/2 hours, but I don't remember for sure. These are also watched at the church but are available online almost immediately. This session is held 1 week before the other session in the evening.

The church has a magazine called the Ensign - or Liahona for non-english that is sent out monthly. The month after conference this magazine is a transcription of all of the talks given in conference.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2012 07:41PM by ronas.

Thanks for all the details. That was great. Would you expect a TBM to ever miss the general conference? Or would that be pretty unexpected?

Liked your "stats"! LOL

It varies widely. I would guess the average member watches a session or two on Sunday. The more faithful will watch it all.

I was unlucky enough to be in one of the faithful families both growing up and being married. It was almost worth it to not have to attend church for 3 hours - at least you got to be comfortable and the quality of talks were much higher than what you get at the 3 hour block on Sunday.

There are two annual conferences: one in October and one in April.

The sessions just described above are the same for both - two back-to-back days of meetings, meetings and more meetings!

I used to somewhat enjoy conference, as a TBM - I looked forward to listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and wanted to hear what the head honcho had to say... That is, until I started researching further and thinking more about what Mormonism actually is--a business, masquerading as a religion.

When I looked more closely and listened more carefully, I soon realized that most of what they say is just recycled year after year, with some new warnings thrown in, based on their current PR problems (e.g. Stay away from Internet, etc.)

It's not to say every piece of advice given in Mormon conferences are bad, but a lot of them are, becuase they are focused on Mormon doctrines which are a warped and sometimes twisted version of Christianity, with the ultimate goal of control over the membership to ge tthem to continue paying 10% of their income, year after year and raise children who will also do so as adults, to keep their numbers up (both membership and profits).

Most LDS meetinghouses received satellite antennae in the 1980s that allowed them to receive church broadcasts, so in those days members who wanted to watch went to the meetinghouses. Now that there is BYU.TV available on many cable systems, plus now that one can watch the proceedings on internet, there is little incentive to go to a meetinghouse, unless one lacks access at home.

The Saturday evening priesthood session can only be viewed at a meetinghouse; it's not on the internet stream.

Thanks for the info!

At least in Utah, I don't believe they still broadcast the general sessions to meeting houses at all - you no longer have the option. I'm sure there are many areas where it is not available on local television and it is still broadcast to meeting houses.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2012 07:54PM by ronas.

If you see a satellite dish at a church building you can almost be sure that it is a Mormon chapel. It's like a cross on most Christian churches, an identifier. I am exaggerating but not by much.

Typically, the satellite transmission connection will break down half way through any televised event (fireside, Confurnz, priesthood training session, etc.) and no one at the ward house knows how to fix it.

My father is a zealot and, to this day, watches every possible session of conference. When my parents realized all their adult children looked at conference as a day off, they initiated GC brunch. So we would all go to mom and dad's and eat blueberry muffins and such. My dad faithfully sat on the couch and listened while the rest of us hung out together.

"How does the general conference work?"

As a sedative, very, very well.