Weekly study · October 2026 General Conference
Conference Talk of the Week
One conference talk each week, pre-selected on a rolling cycle. Start with the overview here, then open the official talk when you are ready to read it in full.
Saturday Morning Session
Prophets, Seers, and Revelators
Elder Vaiangina Sikahema
Of the Seventy
What a blessing it is to live in a time when apostles and prophets are on the earth.
Overview
Elder Vaiangina Sikahema opens the October 2026 conference with his grandparents' story. In 1947 Sione and Salote Wolfgramm were serving a mission on a remote Tongan island. They sailed through a storm to hear Apostle Matthew Cowley, and their baby son died on the way. They buried him in Vava‘u and kept sailing. They made the trip because an Apostle held the priesthood keys that could seal their family and could teach them how to serve. Elder Sikahema sets their sacrifice beside Amos's prophecy of a "famine … of hearing the words of the Lord" (Amos 8:11). He shows how that famine ended when the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith. He then warns us, who can watch prophets on our phones, not to hold "the oracles of God … as a light thing" (Doctrine and Covenants 90:5).
Three Key Takeaways
- 1The Wolfgramms buried their infant son and still finished the voyage to hear an Apostle. They knew he held priesthood keys that could bind their family forever and that his teaching would help them bless others on their island.
- 2For centuries after the ancient apostles died, there was no revelation to prophets, as Amos foretold (Amos 8:11–12). The First Vision ended that famine, and through Joseph Smith the Lord restored priesthood authority, ordinances, scripture, and knowledge of the plan of salvation.
- 3The Lord warned that people who receive His oracles could treat them "as a light thing" (Doctrine and Covenants 90:5). Elder Sikahema applies this to us: easy access to prophets through our devices can make it easy to take them for granted.
Reflection Questions
- The Wolfgramms crossed an ocean while grieving to hear an Apostle. What does hearing living prophets cost you, and how does that affect how much you value it?
- In what ways might you be holding the words of prophets "as a light thing" right now, and what would taking them seriously look like in your week?
- Doctrine and Covenants 1:38 says the Lord's word through His servants is the same as His own voice. How does that change the way you listen to counsel from living apostles?
Application Prompt
This week, pick one talk from general conference by a member of the First Presidency or the Quorum of the Twelve, give it your full attention without a screen or other distraction, and write down one thing the Lord is asking you to do.