BYU NewsNet - Tips Help with Experience of Attending Conference

Although millions of people will be able to watch the five General Conference sessions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this weekend, only a fraction will be able to attend it live at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City.

Tickets to conference have become extremely hard to come by, especially in Utah County. The two most common ways of obtaining them are to receive them from local church leaders or to wait in a standby line before a conference session starts in hopes of receiving the extra tickets.

Tickets to the five conference sessions are distributed to stakes. The stakes then divvy the tickets up to different ward members. But for some for students residing in the Provo area, it is difficult to obtain tickets.

James Green, bishop of the BYU 24th ward, received six tickets for the upcoming conference weekend. He said he distributed the three pairs of tickets to ward members planning to take a non-members or less active member of the church to the session.

"If a non-member has the opportunity to attend conference and see our church in action, they will forever be impacted," Green said.

Elise Elder, a 21-year-old BYU student from Glendora, Calif., studying humanities, found an alternative to trying to be one of the lucky few to receive BYU-intended tickets. Her roommate's father was a stake president from outside of Utah and was able to save extra tickets that he received.

"It's frustrating that people in Provo don't get tickets," Elder said. "We're actually here and can go watch conference." Elder said she refuses to wait in line in hopes of obtaining tickets.

"It's wishy-washy," Elder said. "I don't want to risk missing getting to hear what the church leaders have to share because I could not get tickets."

According to an LDS Church news release, overflow seating will be available in the Tabernacle, the North Visitors' Center at Temple Square and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. These facilities do not require tickets.

There is an alternative for international visitors. An employee at the Conference Center ticket office said people from other countries can go to door four of the Conference Center with their I-94 card or visa and their passport, and can receive tickets for any session of conference. They will be turned away if they bring someone else's identification.

The same employee said translation services are available to foreign language speakers. When international visitors pick up their tickets, they can request more information. They can also contact any of the ushers on any of the floors who will direct them where to get translation help. Additionally, the Assembly Hall will broadcast all of the sessions in Spanish. No tickets are needed to watch in the Assembly Hall.

Parking for conference can be difficult, so attendees are being encouraged to ride UTA TRAX. The news release said additional trains have been added to the schedule for Saturday and Sunday. TRAX begins at the Sandy Civic Center and runs into downtown Salt Lake City. There is also a TRAX line that runs downtown from the Medical Center at the University of Utah.

For those who are unable to obtain tickets, Saturday and Sunday morning and afternoon sessions will air live on BYU Television, KBYU-HD, KSL Channel 5 and KBYU-FM.