Using the Scriptural Index to the Latter-day Prophets

Today is General Conference and I am typing this on my rickety laptop while I watch the talks on television. Thinking of General Conference, a useful tool I have been using is the Scriptural Index to the Latter-day Prophets. From the website we learn what it is about:

This index links from scriptures to the general conference talks and Journal of Discourses speeches that cite those scriptures. So, for example, suppose you want to know who has cited 1 Ne. 3:7 in general conference; click on the Book of Mormon link at the left and scroll down to 1 Ne. 3; there you’ll find the answer. Who has quoted Matt. 5:48? Use the New Testament index to find out.

We have indexed the scriptures cited by speakers in LDS General Conference between 1942 and the present, and those cited by speakers recorded in the Journal of Discourses between 1839 and 1886. You can sort the citation index by scripture (the default), by speaker, or by date of citation.

This resource is useful when you have a talk to give and have been assigned a topic that revolves around a scripture. You can now very quickly find talks from General Conference that reference your scripture and gain additional quotes to give variety to your talk. It works well for Family Home Evening lessons also. I looked up 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (see image above) and found ten references. There were also additional links for verses 19 and 20 listed separately. I clicked on the second link, “00−O,73,BKP” that gave me the text of the October (O) conference address in the year 2000 (00) by Elder Boyd K. Packer (BKP) found on page 73 (73) of the Ensign.

In the left panel are a number of useful options. There are lists of topics and speakers. You can filter your searches and a nice touch is the ability to give feedback. You don’t need an instruction manual, just play with it and enjoy the words of the prophets.

Update

There are now iPhone and Android Apps, see here for details.