April 2018 General Conference Predictions
Preliminary note on these predictions: On October 27,
2017, the First Presidency announced that the Women’s and Priesthood Sessions
of General Conference would both be held annually, with the Priesthood Session every
April, and the Women’s Session every October, with both to be held two hours
following the Saturday Afternoon Session. As I have previously stated, my
predictions in recent years have averaged between 60-80% in their accuracy
because I have been able to notice patterns of the past and have used those to
predict what may happen for the future. The new policy will result in new
patterns, which I hope to have figured out by April 2019. That said, the only
thing that might be different during this conference is that President Eyring
will be giving one less talk than he has in recent April General Conference
sessions. Other than that, I don’t anticipate much deviation from previous
conferences.
Speaking Order (Text in brackets indicated what actually
happened.)
|
Session
|
Conducting
|
Speaker
|
|
Saturday Morning
|
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
|
President Henry B. Eyring
|
|
|
|
Bishop Dean M.
Davies
|
|
|
|
Christina B.
Franco
|
|
|
|
Elder David A.
Bednar
|
|
|
|
Elder Massimo
De Feo
|
|
|
|
Elder Larry Y.
Wilson
|
|
|
|
Elder Ronald A.
Rasband
|
|
Saturday
Afternoon
|
President Henry
B. Eyring
|
President
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
(Sustaining of
Church Officers)_
|
|
|
Church Auditing
Department Report, 2017
|
Kevin R.
Jergensen
|
|
|
Statistical
Report, 2017
|
Brook P. Hales
|
|
|
|
Elder Dale G.
Renlund
|
|
|
|
Elder D. Todd Christofferson
|
|
|
|
Devin G.
Durrant
|
|
|
|
Elder Taniela
B. Wakolo
|
|
|
|
Elder Dallin H.
Oaks
|
|
|
|
Elder M.
Russell Ballard
|
|
Saturday
Priesthood
|
President
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
|
Elder Gary E.
Stevenson
|
|
|
|
Douglas D.
Holmes
|
|
|
|
Elder Gerrit W.
Gong
|
|
|
|
President
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
|
|
|
|
President Henry
B. Eyring
|
|
Sunday Morning
|
President Henry
B. Eyring
|
New apostle
|
|
|
|
Elder Patrick Kearon
|
|
|
|
Neill F.
Marriott
|
|
|
|
Elder Neil L.
Andersen
|
|
|
|
Elder Brian K.
Taylor
|
|
|
|
Elder Paul B.
Pieper
|
|
|
|
President
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
|
|
Sunday Afternoon
|
President
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
|
President
Russell M. Nelson
|
|
|
|
Elder Larry
Echo Hawk
|
|
|
|
Elder Taylor G.
Godoy
|
|
|
|
Elder Jeffrey
R. Holland
|
|
|
|
Elder Walter F.
Gonzalez
|
|
|
|
Elder Anthony
D. Perkins
|
|
|
|
Elder Quentin
L. Cook
|
Predictions for Changes in Church Leadership
|
Quorum of the
Twelve Apostles: New apostle and Quorum member sustained to fill the vacancy
created by the October 1, 2017 death of Elder Robert D. Hales.
Note about this
apostolic vacancy: The newest apostle could be any worthy man in the Church, whether
or not he is known to Church membership (including any currently serving
General Authority, Area Seventy, member of the Sunday School or Young Men
General Presidencies, or the Church at large). That said, the last time a new
apostle did not come from among those currently serving General Authorities
occurred with the 2004 sustaining of Elder David A. Bednar, who was then
serving as both an area seventy and as president of BYU-Idaho at the time of
his call. So it is more likely that someone from the general leadership of
the Church will be called. Of those five apostles called during President
Monson’s Church presidency, three were called from the Presidency of the
Seventy (one of whom was the second most senior member, and the other two who
were the Senior President of the Seventy), one was the Presiding Bishop of
the Church (who had also served as a General Authority Seventy prior to his
call as Presiding Bishop), and one was a General Authority Seventy.
Note about the
timing of the announcement: While I would not be surprised at all if we do
not find out who will be filling the apostolic vacancy until the Sustaining
of Church Officers during the Saturday Afternoon Session, at the same time, I
could also see President Monson authorizing President Eyring to lead the
sustaining of the new apostle during his Saturday Morning address.
Result: Elder
(name of new apostle goes here) was called and sustained to the Quorum of the
Twelve Apostles.
|
|
Presidency of
the Seventy: If the new apostle is any of these men, he will be released and
a new member will be sustained.
Result:
|
|
General
Authority Seventies: If the new apostle comes from among these men, he will
be released. As is typical for the April General Conference, new General
Authorities will be sustained from the Area Seventies or the Church at large
(including any current mission or temple president).
Result:
|
|
Presiding
Bishopric: If the new apostle is any of these three men, there will be
changes to this group.
Result:
|
|
Area Seventies:
Releases and sustainings, especially if the new apostle comes from among
these men.
NOTE: The last
area seventy called as an apostle was Elder David A. Bednar in 2004. It is
possible that the Church could look to one of the current area seventies to
fill this vacancy. It is also common to see the bulk of releases and
sustainings happen in April, when President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, leads out in
the sustaining, rather than in October, when President Eyring does so. Last
October was the exception to this, so anything is possible.
Result:
|
|
Young Women
General Presidency: Sisters Bonnie L. Oscarson, Carol F. McConkie, and Neill
F. Marriott released; new Young Women General Presidency sustained, whether
or not either of the current counselors are retained in the new presidency;
new presidency members may also come from among the outgoing members of the
general board, or the new president could be one of the counselors in the
Primary or Relief Society General Presidency. If that happens, changes in the
affected presidency will also need to be sustained.
Note: The
current presidency has served since 2013, meaning that they have reached the
standard 5 years of service that have been typical for general presidencies
in recent years. It is therefore more than likely that the current presidency
will be released. And the last time any member of an outgoing presidency were
retained in the new one was in 2007, so it could very easily happen again. It
has also been common for one or more members of the outgoing Young Women
General Board to become part of the new presidency. So the Church has options
there.
Result:
|
|
Sunday School
General Presidency: Possible changes made, if new apostle comes from this
presidency.
Result:
|
|
Young Men
General Presidency: Possible changes made, if new apostle comes from this
presidency.
Result:
|
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