ST. GEORGE — As the semiannual general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints approaches this weekend, the church announced that President Russell M. Nelson, the faith’s top leader, will not participate in person due to a back injury.
Nelson, who recently turned 99, experienced a lower back injury after a fall and is recovering at home, according to a Thursday press release.
“I will be watching general conference through technology just as most of you will,” Nelson said in a statement. “Three weeks ago, I fell and injured the muscles in my lower back. This episode has reminded me of the reality that things sometimes change quickly in our lives.”
Nelson said general conference weekends are his favorite out of the year, and while he will not attend in person, he still hopes to deliver a message to conference participants.
“I am hoping to record my general conference message and look forward to participating in this marvelous October 2023 general conference through technology,” he said.
Nelson goes on to say his healing is progressing, yet his doctors have told him to rest and take a slow approach to recovery as they do not “have much data on how 99-year-olds recover from an injury like this one.”
Nelson won’t be the only high-ranking church official absent from the fall session of the general conference. Elder Jeffery R. Holland, a member of the church’s Quorum of Twelve Apostles, continues to recuperate at home after a recent and prolonged hospital stay due to health complications.
The LDS church’s general conference is held twice a year in spring and fall and is broadcast worldwide to members of the church from Salt Lake City. It consists of five two-house sessions – three on Saturday and two on Sunday – in which the general authorities and leadership of the church deliver sermons on various topics to the faithful.
It also tends to be a time when the president of the church announces the next round of temples the church plans to build.
Nelson’s message can be read in full below:
Dear brothers, sisters and friends, we have the cherished opportunity this coming weekend to attend or watch our semiannual general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! General conference weekends are two of my favorite weekends of the year. How I love meeting in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City with all who gather there.
This weekend, however, I will be watching general conference through technology just as most of you will. Three weeks ago, I fell and injured the muscles in my lower back. This episode has reminded me of the reality that things sometimes change quickly in our lives. This photo of my counselors and me was taken at the celebration of my 99th birthday. Two days later, I fell.
Thankfully, my healing is progressing. But as my physician says, “We don’t have much data on how 99-year-olds recover from an injury like this one, so I am prescribing a slow, careful approach to healing so that you achieve a full recovery.” Having prescribed just such a course of action for many of my own patients years ago, I feel duty-bound to follow doctor’s orders.
I am still not able to sit in a chair for long periods of time. However, I am hoping to record my general conference message and look forward to participating in this marvelous October 2023 general conference through technology.
I pray that each of us, wherever we may be, will approach this sacred weekend with our hearts full of gratitude for the privilege of hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed by His servants. May this general conference be a time of joy and spiritual rejuvenation for you. I know that it will be for me!
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.