By ASHLEY EYRIN
The struggle to find more information about the scripture references General Authorities use in their talks has become easier thanks to a new development by a BYU professor.
Richard C. Galbraith, professor of family sciences, has developed a guide correlating scripture references with general conference talks published in The Ensign of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“The teachings of the prophets are essentially unusable because we don’t know where to get them,” Galbraith said.
The guide consists of scriptural references from The Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price.
The scriptures are followed by the initials of speakers who have used the reference in general conference talks. Following the initials, the date and the issue of the talk is given.
“He has compiled an organized index, so if you want to know what has been said by general authorities, it’s right in front of your hands,” said Monte S. Nyman, professor of ancient scripture.
The guide is for anyone who is interested in scriptures and what past and present speakers’ messages have been, Galbraith said.
“We can use this guide to integrate the words of the modern prophets and see how the application is used for today,” he said.
“I think it is a great thing. I endorse it. It is a great contribution,” Nyman said.
Professionally a specialist of children’s memory and intelligence, Galbraith considers his work on the guide a hobby.
He has updated the guide through the October 1995 issue of The Ensign and is currently working on a guide for the Improvement Era magazine, a precursor to the Ensign.
“The guides first came out after the May conference and they flew off the shelf,” said Sarah Hoffman, religious book buyer for the BYU bookstore.
“People like them because they are a good reference,” she said.
Finding scriptures that past and present speakers have focused on, helps people get to know great individuals they may not have known before because they did not know how to find them.
