Adramatic increase in the number of cable systems carrying general conference means Church leaders can reach an ever-widening congregation. The 161st Semi-annual General Conference, convening Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 5-6, in the Tabernacle on Temple Square, will be carried by more than 850 cable systems. (Please see graph on page 10.)

Under the direction of the First Presidency, the conference includes general sessions Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. MDT, and the general priesthood session Saturday at 6 p.m.President Ezra Taft Benson's counselors, President Gordon B. Hinckley and President Thomas S. Monson, will take turns conducting conference sessions.

John Kinnear, manager of general conference and satellite services in the Church's Audiovisual Department, described the increased broadcasting of conference proceedings. He said that in April 1986, only four cable systems carried conference sessions. He explained one reason for the sudden growth is that cable systems are willing to carry conference sessions as a public service to areas with a sufficient LDS population.

"Most [cable systemsT are carrying the general sessions live," he said. "It's a convenience particularly for people in outlying areas where stake centers are not accessible. If members have cable, they can watch in the comfort of their homes."

All sessions of conference will be telecast to more than 3,000 LDS meetinghouses equipped with satellite receivers throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the West Indies and the Dominican Republic. Satellite transmissions to stake centers will be via Westar IV, and cable systems will be via Satcom.

In North America and Hawaii, Church units or homes equipped with satellite reception capabilities may receive conference telecasts in the following 16 languages: English, Spanish, French, Cambodian, Cantonese, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Mandarin, Navajo, Portuguese, Samoan, Tongan and Vietnamese.

On a public service basis, portions of the conference will be provided to commercial television and radio stations and cable networks in the United States.

Non-English-speaking Church leaders and members seated in the Tabernacle and North Visitors Center on Temple Square, and in the Church Office Building and selected ward meetinghouses in the Salt Lake area can hear conference proceedings in various languages via special headsets.

From three to five translator-interpreters will be on hand for one or more conference sessions for each of the following languages: Cambodian, Cantonese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Haitian, Hmong, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Mandarin, Navajo, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Samoan, Serbo-croatian, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, Tahitian, Thai, Tongan and Vietnamese.

In addition, a gathering of the hearing-impaired in the Church Office Building auditorium can receive conference proceedings in sign language.

For Church units throughout the world that cannot receive satellite transmissions, videotapes of general conference will be available at distribution centers for stakes, missions and districts. European languages are translated and will be available through the Friedrichsdorf, Germany; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Torcy, France, distribution centers. Oriental languages will be available in distribution centers in Toyko, Japan; Hong Kong; Taipei, Taiwan; Bangkok, Thailand; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Seoul, Korea. Spanish and Portuguese language tapes will be distributed throughout Latin America.

Music will be provided by the Tabernacle Choir, Mormon Youth Chorus, Missionary Training Center Mixed Choir, and a combined men's choir from the Tabernacle Choir and Mormon Youth Chorus.