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First General Conference talk of the last 11 LDS prophets
The following is a list of the first General Conference talks given by last 11 prophets. It was each their first time addressing the church in the role of their new calling. If anyone knows where to find the rest, please feel free to share.
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- President Gordon B. Hinckley
(This is The Work of the Prophet), April 1995 - President Howard W. Hunter
(Exceeding Great and Precious Promises), October 1994 - President Ezra Taft Benson
(Cleansing the Inner Vessel), April 1986 - Spencer W. Kimball,
(Guidelines to Carry Forth the Work of God in Cleanliness), April 1974 - Harold B. Lee
(“May the Kingdom of God Go Forth”) October 1972 - President Joseph Fielding Smith, (
April 1970 General Conference Talk) - David O. McKay – This one is a little tricky because President George Albert Smith died on April 4, 1951, and there was no official president called when General Conference began on April 6. Conference was a four day event at the time, so on April 9, 1951 David O. McKay was sustained as prophet. He then stood and said he felt prompted to say a few words about the policy of the Church in choosing counselors, so his actual first address was the following.
(President David O. McKay first address as prophet) - President George Albert Smith,
(October 1945 General Conference) - President Heber J. Grant,
(June 1919 General Conference) - President Joseph F. Smith, (The course the Saints should pursue-Necessity of complete organization-The order and authority and functions of the Priesthood, November 1901). This one is also interesting because Lorenzo Snow died right after the October 1901 General Conference, so the Church leadership called a special conference in November where Joseph F. Smith addressed the church for the first time as prophet.
- President Lorenzo Snow,
(October 1898 General Conference)
First General Conference talk of the last 11 LDS Prophets via RussPage.net
- President Gordon B. Hinckley
(This is The Work of the Prophet), April 1995 - President Howard W. Hunter
(Exceeding Great and Precious Promises), October 1994 - President Ezra Taft Benson
(Cleansing the Inner Vessel), April 1986 - Spencer W. Kimball,
(Guidelines to Carry Forth the Work of God in Cleanliness), April 1974 - Harold B. Lee
(“May the Kingdom of God Go Forth”) October 1972 - President Joseph Fielding Smith, (
April 1970 General Conference Talk) - David O. McKay – This one is a little tricky because President George Albert Smith died on April 4, 1951, and there was no official president called when General Conference began on April 6. Conference was a four day event at the time, so on April 9, 1951 David O. McKay was sustained as prophet. He then stood and said he felt prompted to say a few words about the policy of the Church in choosing counselors, so his actual first address was the following.
(President David O. McKay first address as prophet) - President George Albert Smith,
(October 1945 General Conference) - President Heber J. Grant,
(June 1919 General Conference) - President Joseph F. Smith, (The course the Saints should pursue-Necessity of complete organization-The order and authority and functions of the Priesthood, November 1901). This one is also interesting because Lorenzo Snow died right after the October 1901 General Conference, so the Church leadership called a special conference in November where Joseph F. Smith addressed the church for the first time as prophet.
- President Lorenzo Snow,
(October 1898 General Conference)
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about 3 years ago
Russ,
I’ve found a couple others. Sadly, they are hosted on Gospelink which requires a $5 a month subscription to access, but here are the URLs to the first of one of the first as prophets for John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff:
John Taylor: http://gospelink.com/next/doc?doc_id=214692
Wilford Woodruff: http://gospelink.com/next/doc?book_doc_id=215079
Brigham Young is hard to pin down as he was sustained nearly 3 years after Joseph’s martyrdom and you’d need to find something about Joseph’s remarks on April 6, 1830.
Great post though!
about 3 years ago
As a follow-up, the discourse from President Woodruff is, in fact, his first as prophet. As for John Taylor, it’s the closest I could find to his sustaining just two weeks earlier as prophet.