The international reach of the Church of Jesus Christ and its general conference

Marco Ajack, Deng Ajack and Scott Jenkins were looking for someone to take a picture of them outside the Conference Center. Marco Ajack and Deng Ajack are brothers, originally from South Sudan — the Dinka tribe. And Jenkins used to be a missionary with the Sudanese branch in Taylorsville, Utah.
The three had just finished watching the morning session of general conference together.
“I kind of fell off the path and picked myself up again,” said Deng Ajack. “I built my relationship with Jesus Christ again, and my faith made me stronger.” Attending general conference with his brother and his friend was a blessing and an answer to prayer.
Conference attendees come from all over — as did conference speakers.
Côte d’Ivoire, United Kingdom, Brazil, Chile and Portugal. Those are just some of the countries where Latter-day Saint church leaders who spoke at the 194th Semiannual General Conference were born.
The church’s worldwide broadcast of general conference is translated live into 80 languages: 76 languages are live interpretation and four languages are live subtitling. Latter-day Saints from across the globe travel to the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City to watch the proceedings. Still, those who do not travel often participate in general conference with family, friends and fellow church members via television, radio or internet streaming.
Walking into the Conference Center, viewers likely encountered missionaries who serve on Temple Square helping attendees get to their seats. These missionaries’ name tags have a flag below them showing the countries they are from — Japan, Taiwan, Brazil and France were just a few of the countries represented.
Leaders in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave messages over the weekend to the worldwide church — of a universal nature and eternal significance.
Sister Tracy Y. Browning, second counselor in the Primary General Presidency, was born in New York and spent her childhood in Jamaica as well as New Jersey and New York. Her remarks concentrated on asking questions with faith anchored in God, Jesus Christ and living prophets.
Putting trust in God and living prophets will help people to “spiritually elevate and push you forward towards God’s expanded horizon,” she said.
“Your vantage will change because you will change,” said Sister Browning. “God knows that the higher you are, the farther you can see. Our Savior invites you to make that climb.”
Bishop L. Todd Budge, second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, was born in California, but his career took him to Japan. He also represented the church in Japan — as a missionary in the Japan Fukuoka Mission and later as president of the Japan Tokyo Mission.
Part of Bishop Budge’s talk included finding inspiration in Japanese words.
“It is interesting to note that the Japanese word for ‘busy,’ ‘isogashii,’ is made up of a character with two symbols (忙); the one on the left means ‘heart’ or ‘spirit,’ and the one on the right means ‘death’ — suggesting perhaps, as President Nelson taught, that being too busy to nourish our spirits can lead us to die spiritually,” said Bishop Budge.
Another church leader, Elder D. Martin Goury, a General Authority Seventy, grew up in a village near Gagnoa, Côte d’Ivoire. He met Latter-day Saint missionaries in London, England, when he was furthering his education. Elder Goury’s work took him and his family to Lagos, Nigeria. He served as president of the Benin Cotonou Mission before being called to general church leadership.
Elder Goury told a story from when he grew up. He recalled that when he was around 5 years old, he heard a pastor call for the congregation to cleanse their clothes to prepare for the Savior to come again. At the time, he did not understand the message, took it literally and was disappointed when he asked his mother to clean his clothes and Jesus did not come.
Then, when Elder Goury was receiving lessons from the missionaries, he read a scripture from the Book of Mormon — 3 Nephi 27:19. Clarity came to him.
“The preacher’s message was centered on the importance of spiritual purity,” said Elder Goury. “He urged the congregation to seek repentance, make changes in their lives, and turn to the Savior for redemption.”
Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was born in England and spent time living in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and the United States. He referenced the global nature of the church in his talk on joy found in Jesus Christ and his church.
“Whether your baptism was yesterday or years ago, whether you meet in a large multi-ward church building or under a thatched canopy, whether you receive the sacrament in remembrance of the Savior in Thai or Swahili, I would like to say to you, welcome to the church of joy!” Elder Kearon said. “Welcome to the church of joy!”
A recent refurbish of Temple Square that will include international flags where the Church of Jesus Christ is recognized was mentioned by Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“The plaza entrance is marked by a granite monument with these prophetic words: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it,’” said Elder Stevenson.
In addition to the speakers who came from different parts of the world, international musicians performed during the conference.
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square included musicians from several different countries, including Argentina, Chile, South Korea, France, Ecuador, Paraguay, Congo and Bolivia.
The faith’s general conference broadcast all over the world reflected the global church which has spread across the world.
It was nearly two centuries ago when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized in Fayette, New York, on April 6, 1830. The faith’s first president, Joseph Smith, soon organized missionary efforts.
From its modest beginnings, the Church of Jesus Christ now has millions of members in countries all over the world, as it continues to grow in numbers.
The majority of the Latter-day Saints live outside the United States. There are 9,637,503 church members living in North America — 6,868,793 in the United States, according to the faith’s own statistics. Some 4,320,129 Latter-day Saints reside in South America, 1,298,181 in Asia, 849,568 in Africa, 599,065 in Oceania and 507,748 in Europe.
The Church of Jesus Christ has had humanitarian projects in 157 countries since 1985. The program was created in response to the Ethiopian famine, according to Church Newsroom. Efforts have expanded as the Church of Jesus Christ has engaged in emergency responses to disasters. There are also endeavors across the world to combat child malnutrition and food insecurity, provide resources to mitigate diseases, and give access to clean drinking water, among other projects.