Intriguing General Conference Tidbits from 1923, 1929 and 1944 …

 

  THANKS to my late Mother’s collection of old General Conference talks, here are more highlights from almost a century ago to 80-plus years ago …

 Highlights from April 6-8, 1923 General Conference:

 -Long before LDS Primary Children’s Hospital, the Church had “The Primary Convalescent Home.” In 1923, it was taking care of 25-30 children in Salt Lake City. Local donors supported the home, besides the Church and the Rotary Club of Salt Lake gave $1,000 to the Home.

 -When President Heber J. Grant told people to shut up: “I would like to ask the people who are outside of this building to quit whispering and talking to one another, for the benefit of those who would like to hear what is going on in this building (the Salt Lake Tabernacle.”

  -The Church was reported to be completely out of debt in 1923 and that included no mortgages on any buildings.

  - Elder Richard M. Lyman said South America was settled in modern times before North America. He also said a key difference between the two continents is that South America was settled by the Spanish, who were in search of gold, while North America was settled by the Pilgrim Fathers, who were in search of God (and religious freedom).

  

A Highlight from April 5-7, 1929 General Conference:

 -Elder Stephen L. Richards delivered an address on paying tithing. He strongly suggested that Church members pay monthly donations and not yearly ones.

“I have found it to be a very difficult problem in mathematics to pay one-tenth out of one-twelfth,” he said, suggesting that it is not only easier to pay tithing as you receive funds, “because greater blessings will come to you.”

  Highlights from October 4-6, 1929 General Conference:

   -In an unusual situation for a century ago, three sisters gave brief addresses during General Conference. The Presidents of the Relief Society, the Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association and the Primary Association all spoke.

  -President Anthony W. Ivins spoke on some of the breakoff groups from the Church, just after Joseph Smith’s time. He said James J. Strang, who started the “Strangites: (their modern copyrighted name is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints – no dash and no lower case D). He said Strang was killed by a member of his own congregation on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan, as he made things intolerable for his followers. Strang also professed that Jospeh Smith anointed him to be his successor.

   -President Rudger Clawson made a rare doctrinal comment during his Conference talk by saying that we don’t just have a Heavenly Father, we also have a Heavenly Mother.

 

  Highlights from April 6, 7 and 9, 1944 General Conference:

  -This Conference was held on Thursday, April 6 and Friday, April 7 and then it skipped Saturday and concluded on Sunday, April 9. (There was a Bishop’s meeting held on April 8, but no mention was given otherwise for the Saturday Conference lapse.)

  -The Church was reported to have 147 stakes; 1,264 wards and branches and 937,050 members world-wide, in 1943. The annual church budged that year was just over $5 million.

  -Elder John A, Israelson, former President of the Norwegion Mission, reported that two German soldiers obtained leave during WW2 and traveled 200 miles to attend a Church meeting in Oslo, Norway, where they bore their testimonies. (So, there were some church members in the German military.)

  -In a rare move for a Century ago, three Sisters gave brief remarks during General Conference. This included the Relief Society President, the Primary President and the Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association President.

  -President Spencer W. Kimball delivered a long address on keeping the Sabbath Day holy. Among other things, he stressed that church members should not hunt on Sunday; go on outings to the canyons on Sunday. He also said, “This is a day when every lapse is blamed on the war.”

Elder Kimball also said he knew a man who said he could learn more from reading a church book on Sunday, than attending his meetings, as they were hardly up to his standards. “But I say we do not go to Sabbath meetings to be entertained or amused; we go there to worship the Lord … If Sacrament meeting is a failure to you, you are the one that has failed. No one can worship for you, you must do your own serving of the Lord.”

  NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.