The Bold and Personal Tone of Elder Jörg Klebingat

General Conference is an event beloved by many for so many reasons.  Sometimes it contains new and exciting announcements, like the age change for missionaries.  But it always brings a well-known familiarity and almost déjà vu-like experience.  You can always count on it to have beautiful panoramas of flowers, or the Salt Lake temple, with a strong announcer voice saying, “This is the 184^th Semi-annual General Conference of the Church…”  And there is always surely to be someone who declares the classic, “It is as if he was talking directly to me.”  One such case from the October 2014 conference derives from the powerful talk of the Elder Jörg Klebingat.

In "Approaching the Throne of God with Confidence", his first ever General Conference talk, Elder Klebingat, a German, spoke about how “spiritual confidence is yours to have, if you only want it.”  His topic did allow him to speak very personally.  His tone was bold, and direct, as if he was talking to a specific individual, making many think, ‘could it be to me?’.  He even used examples of counsels he would give to missionaries, which is no surprise seeing that he served as a mission president when he was called to serve in the First Quorum of the Seventy in April. Questions like, "Can you say, within yourself, that Heavenly Father is pleased with you?," and other such phrases convey this intimate relationship and pathos that he tries to establish.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, another German, also uses this personal tone in his conference talk. Phrases like "God cares about you...you need to learn to listen to His voice," convey this one-on-one counseling.  President Uchtdorf, like Elder Klebingat, is direct, and presents a clearly organized, four-step, "fairly straightforward experiment," while Elder Klebingat presents six practical suggestions. 

With similar numbered organization, and a similar bold, and personal tone, both Elder Klebingat’s and President Uchtdorf’s talks were so powerful and easy to understand.  However, due to a stricter time limit, Elder Klebingat could not use as many anecdotes and comparisons as President Uchtdorf did.  This forced him to be clear and concise, creating a powerful logos.  I highly recommend that everyone listen to Elder Klebingat's German-accented talk, "Approaching the Throne of God with Confidence", and also the slightly more German-accented talk by President Uchtdorf, "Receiving a Testimony of Light and Truth". I am sure they will both appeal to YOU.