by Scott Hansen
The “Asking Big Questions” series is made in cooperation with the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project.
The closest scriptural parallel we have to modern-day general conference is found in the Book of Mosiah. People who gathered to hear the words of King Benjamin “pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his tent with the door thereof towards the temple, that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which King Benjamin should speak unto them” (Mosiah 2:6). Each April and October, we do our best impersonation by remaining in our pajamas with our attention fixed on the television screen. All kidding aside, this multi-day sermon recorded in the Book of Mormon was a pivotal moment in the lives of everyone in attendance. What can we do to make general conference a pivotal moment in our lives? Here are three ideas:
Gerrit Dirkmaat is an associate professor of Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University. He received his PhD from the University of Colorado in 2010, where he studied nineteenth-century American expansionism and foreign relations. He worked as a historian and writer for the Church History Department from 2010 to 2014 with the Joseph Smith Papers Project. He is the coauthor, along with Michael Hubbard MacKay, of the award-winning book From Darkness unto Light: Joseph Smith’s Translation and Publication of the Book of Mormon, published by the BYU Religious Studies Center and Deseret Book in 2015. In 2023, they published another book on the topic: Let’s Talk About the Translation of the Book of Mormon. In addition to books, Gerrit is also the author of dozens of academic articles. He currently serves as the editor of the academic journal Latter-day Saint Historical Studies published by the Ensign Peak Foundation. Since 2021 he has hosted and produced a weekly Church history podcast: Standard of Truth. It examines Church history questions and sources. He and his wife, Angela, have four children.
