{"id":36567,"date":"2017-05-19T08:09:14","date_gmt":"2017-05-19T13:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=36567"},"modified":"2017-05-19T08:19:37","modified_gmt":"2017-05-19T13:19:37","slug":"which-are-the-most-influential-general-conference-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2017\/05\/which-are-the-most-influential-general-conference-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"Which are the most influential General Conference talks?"},"content":{"rendered":"

After most General Conferences, there are one or two talks that really stay with me. Some of those talks enter the language of many members, such as Elder Oaks\u2019s framing of choices that are \u201cgood, better, best.\u201d Is there any way to identify the most influential talks?<\/p>\n

We could begin with who influences the influencers. A simple way to measure that would be to count how often a talk is quoted by other leaders of the Church in their own conference talks. (Obviously this is just one indicator of influence. I\u2019ll talk about limitations and alternatives at the end of the post.) I went through every conference talk from the last 5 years (October 2012 – April 2017) and identified those conference talks that were quoted most frequently by other speakers. Below are the 12 talks that were most frequently quoted.<\/p>\n

Are there talks that you would have expected to be there but aren\u2019t? How do you think the list would change if we extended the sample to the last 20 years? How would you measure influence differently?<\/p>\n

The 12 Most Influential General Conference Talks\u00a0<\/strong>(as measured by quotes in the last 5 years)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Who?<\/td>\nWhat?<\/td>\nSample quotes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/p>\n

President Thomas S. Monson<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u201cThe Holy Temple \u2013 A Beacon to the World<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

April 2011<\/p>\n

Quoted 6 times<\/td>\n

\u201cThe world can be a challenging and difficult place in which to live. \u2026 As you and I go to the holy houses of God, as we remember the covenants we make within, we will be more able to bear every trial and to overcome each temptation. In this sacred sanctuary we will find peace.\u201d (Andersen<\/a>, Waddell<\/a>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThose who understand the eternal blessings which come from the temple know that no sacrifice is too great, no price too heavy, no struggle too difficult in order to receive those blessings.\u201d (Richards<\/a>, Walker<\/a>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

President Thomas S. Monson<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u201cBe of Good Cheer<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

April 2009<\/p>\n

Quoted 4 times<\/td>\n

\u201cThe future is as bright as your faith.\u201d (Andersen<\/a>, Nash<\/a>, Wixom<\/a>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cOur promised blessings are beyond measure. Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments. There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us.\u201d (Cordon<\/a>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

President Thomas S. Monson<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u201cFinding Joy in Journey<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

October 2008<\/p>\n

Quoted 4 times<\/td>\n

\u201cFind joy in the journey.\u201d (Wixom<\/a>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cNever let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.\u201d\u00a0 (Robbins<\/a>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

President Russell M. Nelson<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u201cA Plea to My Sisters<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

October 2015<\/p>\n

Quoted 4 times<\/td>\n

\u201cAttacks against the Church, its doctrine, and our way of life are going to increase. Because of this, we need women who have a bedrock understanding of the doctrine of Christ and who will use that understanding to teach and help raise a sin-resistant generation. We need women who can detect deception in all of its forms. We need women who know how to access the power that God makes available to covenant keepers and who express their beliefs with confidence and charity. We need women who have the courage and vision of our Mother Eve.\u201d (Jones<\/a>, Oscarson<\/a>, Stephens<\/a>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/p>\n

Elder Dallin H. Oaks<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u201cThe Challenge to Become<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

October 2000<\/p>\n

Quoted 4 times<\/td>\n

\u201cThe Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts\u2014what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts\u2014what we have become.\u201d (Christofferson<\/a>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.\u201d (Keetch<\/a>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u201cCome What May, and Love It<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

October 2008<\/p>\n

Quoted 4 times<\/td>\n

\u201cI still remember her [my mother\u2019s] advice to me given on that day long ago when my team lost a football game: \u2018Come what may, and love it.\u2019 \u2026 Adversity, if handled correctly, can be a blessing in our lives. \u2026 As we look for humor, seek for the eternal perspective, understand the principle of compensation, and draw near to our Heavenly Father, we can endure hardship and trial. We can say, as did my mother, \u2018Come what may, and love it.\u2019\u201d (Bednar<\/a>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. \u2026 Every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude.\u201d (Duncan<\/a>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Elder D. Todd Christofferson<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u201cThe Power of Covenants<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

April 2009<\/p>\n

Quoted 3 times<\/td>\n

\u00a0\u201cIn The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is found the priesthood authority to administer the ordinances by which we can enter into binding covenants with our Heavenly Father in the name of His Holy Son. \u2026 God will keep His promises to you as you honor your covenants with Him.\u201d (Stephens<\/a>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cLet your covenants be paramount and let your obedience be exact. Then you can ask in faith, nothing wavering, according to your need, and God will answer. He will sustain you as you work and watch. In His own time and way He will stretch forth his hand to you, saying, \u2018Here am I.\u2019\u201d (Brough<\/a>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u201cThe Laborers in the Vineyard<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

April 2012<\/p>\n

Quoted 3 times<\/td>\n

\u201cHowever late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made \u2026 , I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ\u2019s Atonement shines.\u201d (Cornish<\/a>, Reeves<\/a>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cTo those of you \u2026 who may still be hanging back, to each of you, one and all, I testify of the renewing power of God\u2019s love and the miracle of His grace. \u2026 It is never too late so long as the Master of the vineyard says there is time. \u2026 Don\u2019t delay.\u201d (Stevenson<\/a>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

President Thomas S. Monson<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u201cPriesthood Power<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

April 2011<\/p>\n

Quoted 3 times<\/td>\n

\u201cI maintain that a strong testimony of our Savior and of His gospel will\u2026protect you from the sin and evil around you. \u2026 If you do not already have a testimony of these things, do that which is necessary to obtain one. It is essential for you to have your own testimony, for the testimonies of others will carry you only so far.\u201d (Christensen<\/a>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Savior of mankind described Himself as being in the world but not of the world. We also can be in the world but not of the world as we reject false concepts and false teachings and remain true to that which God has commanded.\u201d (Andersen<\/a>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

President Thomas S. Monson<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u201cWhat Have I Done for Someone Today?<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

October 2009<\/p>\n

Quoted 3 times<\/td>\n

\u201cWe are surrounded by those in need of our attention, our encouragement, our support, our comfort, our kindness\u2014be they family members, friends, acquaintances, or strangers. We are the Lord\u2019s hands here upon the earth, with the mandate to serve and to lift His children. He is dependent upon each of us.\u201d (Burton<\/a>, Rasband<\/a>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish\u2014and in effect save their lives.\u201d (Esplin<\/a>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Elder Dallin H. Oaks<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u201cGood, Better, Best<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

October 2007<\/p>\n

Quoted 3 times<\/td>\n

\u201cAs we consider various choices, we should remember that it is not enough that something is good. Other choices are better, and still others are best.\u201d (Godoy<\/a>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"\"<\/p>\n

President\u00a0Boyd K. Packer<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\u201cThe Plan of Happiness<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

April 2015<\/p>\n

Quoted 3 times<\/td>\n

\u201cThe Atonement, which can reclaim each one of us, bears no scars. That means that no matter what we have done or where we have been or how something happened, if we truly repent, He [the Savior] has promised that He would atone. And when He atoned, that settled that. There are so many of us who are thrashing around, as it were, with feelings of guilt, not knowing quite how to escape. You escape by accepting the Atonement of Christ, and all that was heartache can turn to beauty and love and eternity. \u2026 I am so grateful for the Atonement which can wash clean every stain no matter how difficult or how long or how many times repeated. The Atonement can put you free again to move forward, cleanly and worthily.\u201d (Bednar<\/a>, Reeves<\/a>, Renlund<\/a>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

It’s notable that\u00a0the most heavily quoted talks are all recent. Of the 12 talks most quoted in the last 5 years, 11 of them were given within the last 10 years. Only Elder Oaks’s talk on The Challenge to Become<\/a> comes from earlier.<\/p>\n

Limitations and alternatives: The best way to capture influence might be to do a survey of members. Another way would be to collect sacrament meeting talks and see who is reference. This method \u2013 borrowed by academia \u2013 relies on publicly available data, although it\u2019s still not simple. I only count actual quotes. Many General Conference speakers mention or reference talks in their footnotes. I don\u2019t include those here, since speakers vary dramatically in how extensively they reference their influences in the footnotes. This method also undercounts talks that have been incorporated into the Teachings of the Presidents of the Church<\/a> books. It would be possible to include those, by going back to each of those books and seeing the source of the quote, but I haven\u2019t done that here. (My informed intuition from going through the talks is that including those would not have changed this list.) I also tracked quotes from articles in Church magazines, but none of them\u00a0had at least 3 quotes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After most General Conferences, there are one or two talks that really stay with me. Some of those talks enter the language of many members, such as Elder Oaks\u2019s framing of choices that are \u201cgood, better, best.\u201d Is there any way to identify the most influential talks? We could begin with who influences the influencers. A simple way to measure that would be to count how often a talk is quoted by other leaders of the Church in their own conference talks. (Obviously this is just one indicator of influence. I\u2019ll talk about limitations and alternatives at the end of the post.) I went through every conference talk from the last 5 years (October 2012 – April 2017) and identified those conference talks that were quoted most frequently by other speakers. Below are the 12 talks that were most frequently quoted. Are there talks that you would have expected to be there but aren\u2019t? How do you think the list would change if we extended the sample to the last 20 years? How would you measure influence differently? The 12 Most Influential General Conference Talks\u00a0(as measured by quotes in the last 5 years) Who? What? Sample quotes President Thomas S. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10383,"featured_media":36568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1284],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-conference-features"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/monson.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10383"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36567"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36583,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36567\/revisions\/36583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}