General Conference Talk Analysis

General Conference is truly a wonderful event because the testimonies and truths that are born when listening to the words of prophets. The October 2016 conference was no exception to the formation of testimonies. President Russell M. Nelson, president of the quorum of twelve apostles, spoke in General Conference about finding joy in life and its many trials. President Nelson’s purpose is to help us as latter day saints better understand where joy comes from and how we can utilize it in our everyday lives especially in our trials. He adopts a loving tone in order to convey to his listeners how we can find the joy we seek if we seek it in righteous ways. President Nelson’s conference talk is successful because he asks a series of questions …show more content…
The story he shares to illustrate the answer to the questions is about Eliza R. Snow in the winter of 1838 when the saints were exiled from Missouri. Nelson describes the harsh conditions of what the saints had to endure one night with their food being frozen, and being crammed into a cabin with holes in the wall that a cat could fit though due to others picking at the chinking to burn for warmth. He proves that although they were in conditions so awful it would break any man, these saints were able to have joy with a direct quote from Eliza saying, “Not a complaint was heard—all were cheerful, and judging from appearances, strangers would have taken us to be pleasure excursionists rather than a band of gubernatorial exiles.” President Nelson uses this account in order to convince his audience of the joy that can be had even in times of trial. The story of Eliza R. Snow shows President Nelson’s knowledge of the subject of joy causing his audience to understand how important having joy in any situation, especially trials, actually is. He appeals to the emotional sense of his audience by using a story about a harsh time in church