Conference by the Numbers: April 2025 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Welcome to Conference by the Numbers 2025 for the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!
At every general conference, I like to take a look at what words or phrases are used by the speakers. This exercise stemmed from hearing many conversations over the years about what people thought the prophet, apostles, and general authorities were emphasizing to the church.
As a disclaimer, I absolutely understand that words and phrases don’t fully represent the messages conveyed. A singular word does not convey a message. Messages are conveyed through a variety of words, phrases, idioms, sentences, and paragraphs.
In addition, I truly believe that the messages that are understood by each listener can be very personal. I have found those personal messages to be the most important part of conference. They are the messages taught to each listener as they tune their hearts to the Spirit of God.
That being said, I’m still very curious about what words are used frequently. I’ve occasionally heard remarks such as:
- “the general authorities are distancing themselves from Joseph Smith and aren’t talking about him much anymore” [the term Joseph Smith has had variable, but fairly consistent use over the last 50 years, see this previous post]
- “our leaders don’t talk about food storage like they used to” [the terms preparedness and food storage were used much more frequently in the late 1970s and early 1980s and have been referenced only occasionally since then, see October 2020]
- “there’s a lot of talk about avoiding pornography” [there was a spike in 2000–2010]
- “there’s recently been a big emphasis on… [add a particular word or topic].”
What words were emphasized at the April 2025 general conference. Take a look at the infographic below. After you take a look at the infographic, I have some additional commentary.
Listening to conference and looking at the infographic, it would be difficult to not recognize the increased reference to second coming during this conference. The parable of the ten virgins was also referenced by multiple speakers.
Even President Nelson directly stated:
We do not know the day or the hour of His coming. But I do know that the Lord is prompting me to urge us to get ready for that ‘great and dreadful day.’
Our prophet is feeling increased urgency to talk about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. However, it is important to note that there is not an increase in ‘doom and gloom’ talk.
Looking at the words that are emphasized this conference, which are consistent with previous conferences, the topics that are emphasized are spiritual preparedness and drawing closer to Jesus Christ. Words like covenant, joy, charity, confidence, invitation, disciples, trust, worship are used more frequently.
In contrast, we don’t find words like war, calamity, or disease increasing. In fact, over time, these references are on a slight decline (see below).
In addition, there is a notable increased emphasis on Savior and Jesus Christ. This past conference, Jesus Christ was referenced nearly 400 times, which is twice the average of past conferences. The word Savior shows a similar trend.
What do our leaders want us to do in preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ? They want us to know Jesus Christ, speak of Jesus Christ, covenant with Jesus Christ, and follow Jesus Christ so we can become more like Jesus Christ.
As Elder Renlund plainly put it:
The best advice…is to follow the Savior’s teachings. His instructions are neither mysterious nor complex. When we follow them, we do not need to fear or be anxious.
Now let us take the initiative to study the messages of conference over the next 6 months and see what the Lord would have us do to become more like Him.
You can find some past Conference by the Numbers here:
October 2025
April 2024
October 2023
April 2023
October 2022
April 2022
October 2021
April 2021
October 2020
Previous Conference by the Numbers are on my old Visual Scriptures blog.
