SALT LAKE CITY – At Saturday night's priesthood session of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ 186th Annual General Conference, President Thomas S. Monson addressed church members in a talk that was shorter than usual.
The priesthood session of the twice-yearly conferences generally lasts two hours, but Saturday the meeting, which is only open to male members of the faith and investigators, concluded after about 90 minutes.
President Monson spoke for about four minutes, while in previous years the address from the head of the LDS Church has generally run for 10-15 minutes.
Monson’s remarks focused on the honor and duty associated with the priesthood.
“We've been entrusted to bear the priesthood of God and act in his name,” Monson said. “We're the recipients of a sacred trust. Much is expected of us.”
Generally speaking, the leader of the LDS Church will speak at the open and close of the conference, but this time Monson’s first talk came not Saturday morning but Saturday night.
An LDS Church spokeswoman said while the priesthood sessions generally tend to run for two hours, that timeline is not set in stone. She said Saturday’s time-frame was due to shorter talks overall, as well as the shorter message from Monson.
Some members of the LDS Church have expressed concerns about Monson’s health, as at last October’s session of General Conference he appeared to become weak at one point during his remarks.
