Through the years, great efforts have been made to disseminate conference as widely as possible and to keep up with the changing technology of communication systems.

The 169th Annual General Conference, which will be held Saturday, April 3 and Sunday, April 4, is no exception.

All sessions of conference will be televised via satellite to many areas of the world, including to more than 3,500 stake centers in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. Also, the Saturday and Sunday morning sessions will be transmitted live to more than 180 stake and ward meetinghouses in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland.

In addition, conference will be carried via satellite to more than 1,200 cable television systems, plus radio and television stations in the United States and Canada on a public service basis.

Wards and branches in areas of the world where satellite and other transmissions are not possible will receive video tapes of conference through distribution centers in 12 areas of the world.

General conference will be transmitted in 36 languages. From three to five translator-interpreters will be on hand to simultaneously interpret for one or more conference sessions in Bulgarian, Cambodian, Cantonese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Fijian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Mandarin, Mongolian, Navajo, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Samoan, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, Tahitian, Thai, Tongan and Vietnamese.

Conference will also be conveyed using sign language to a gathering of hearing impaired in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square, and all conference sessions transmitted to North America will be close-captioned for the hearing impaired.

Nearly all the translators and interpreters are volunteers who donate many hours to help others receive the messages of conference. Also volunteering their time are the more than 220 ushers who serve on Temple Square during conference.

The 325-voice Mormon Tabernacle Choir, under the direction of Jerold Ottley and Craig Jessop, with John Longhurst and Richard Elliott at the organ, will sing during the Sunday sessions of conference. The Mormon Youth Chorus will sing Saturday morning, with Robert C. Bowden conducting and Linda Margetts at the organ. Saturday afternoon session will include music from the Combined Choir from Ricks College, directed by Kevin Brower and Clyde Luke, with Bonnie Goodliffe at the organ.

The men of the BYU combined choir will perform for the priesthood session, with Ronald Staheli and Mack Wilberg directing and Clay Christiansen at the organ.