Saturday afternoon session: See photos, read summaries from April 2024 general conference

The Saturday afternoon session of the 194th Annual General Conference marked a rare time a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has conducted a session of general conference.

Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stood before roughly 15,000 attendees in the Conference Center to conduct Saturday’s afternoon session, which included the presence of President Russell M. Nelson — who watched the morning session remotely — and his counselors, President Dallin H. Oaks and President Henry B. Eyring.

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In the first address of the session, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles noted the often hectic pace of modern life and “the busyness, noise, diversions, distractions and detours that so often seem to demand our attention.”

However, “as the foundation of our lives is built upon the Savior, we are blessed to ‘be still’ — to have a spiritual assurance that God is our Heavenly Father, we are His children, and Jesus Christ is our Savior,” Elder Bednar said.

• Elder David A. Bednar: ‘Be Still, and Know That I Am God’

Elder Bednar was one of three Apostles who spoke during the afternoon session on April 6: Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum also spoke with Elder Quentin L. Cook offering the concluding address.

“Oneness with Christ and our Heavenly Father can be obtained through the Savior’s Atonement,” Elder Cook testified.

There are no economic, race, gender or ethnicity requirements for baptism — all qualifications are spiritual, and all people are invited to partake of the Lord’s goodness, he said.

• Elder Gerrit W. Gong: ‘All Things for Your Good’
• Elder Quentin L. Cook: ‘Be One With Christ’

Elder Massimo De Feo, a General Authority Seventy; Elder Brent H. Nielson, a member of the Presidency of the Seventy who will be given emeritus status on Aug. 1; and Elder Jose L. Alonso, a General Authority Seventy, also offered remarks.

• Elder Massimo De Feo: ‘Rise! He Calleth Thee’
• Elder Brent H. Nielson: ‘A Record of What I Have Both Seen and Heard’
• Elder Jose L. Alonso: ‘Jesus Christ at the Center of Our Lives’
• Brother Michael T. Nelson: ‘Relationships Influence Choices’

A combined choir from BYU–Idaho performed “All Glory, Laud and Honor,” “God Loved Us, So He Sent His Son,” “How Great the Wisdom and the Love,” and “We Will Sing of Zion” under the direction of Paul Busselberg, Randall Kempton, Eda Ashby and Atina Coates with organists Joseph Peeples and Linda Margetts.

The invocation was offered by Elder Ryan K. Olsen, a General Authority Seventy, with Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman offering the benediction.