LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA — It was a historic evening on Sunday night, April 6, in Slovenia when for the first time since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized in this Central Europe country in 1990, members were able to watch general conference live on national television.
“I believe my heart is not strong enough to hold the joy inside of me,” said Ivan Majc, national communications director for Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro in the Church’s Adriatic North District. “For someone called to help ‘bring the Church out of obscurity’ in countries where the Church is still relatively unknown, this was like a dream come true.”
While many Slovenian Latter-day Saints watched the April 2025 general conference’s Sunday morning session on live television in their homes, dozens gathered at the Ljubljana Branch meetinghouse and in other parts of Slovenia to watch it together.
Albin Lotrič, the first Church member in Slovenia, remembered traveling to Klagenfurt, Austria, 30 years ago to videotape general conference because the chapel there was equipped with a satellite broadcasting system. He videotaped the proceedings and returned to Ljubljana to show it to other branch members.
“When the Church broadcasted conference for the first time on the internet, we set up the technology to watch it live,” Lotrič said. “I still remember how grateful we were to see our leaders in real time. I never imagined I would see general conference on a Slovenian TV channel. I am grateful to the people who are behind this achievement because they dared to do the seemingly impossible — and they did it.”
Lela Aleksić and her family watched from Maribor, Slovenia. “When we hear conference speakers tell stories about their pioneer ancestors who settled the Salt Lake Valley, it brings tears to our eyes. In 100 years, our descendants will say that for the first time, in 2025, our ancestors had the opportunity to watch general conference on their own Slovenian television.”
Terry Hritz, managing director of Bonneville Distribution’s “Music & the Spoken Word” program, visited the Adriatic North District in January. He and Majc visited the television station Planet2 TV and found programmers open to broadcasting not only in Slovenia this month, but also in Croatia and Serbia in October.
There are 440 Church members and two congregations in Slovenia, and many more members coming into the Church as part of the prophesied “hastening” spoken of by Church leaders.
“The expression that the Lord is hastening His work can sound almost cliché, but there is no other way to describe the miracles happening in the world,” said President Brian Cordray, president of the Adriatic North Mission. “We have never seen so many people flocking to the Church to learn more about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. This broadcast in Slovenia is further evidence that the Savior is preparing for His triumphant return. We are eager to see the ripple effects of this historic event.”
Elder Arthur Jaymond Barrett, an Adriatic North missionary from Mesa, Arizona, said: “The Church here is barely recognizable from when I arrived here in August 2023. What used to be a meager handful of souls coming unto Christ has increased each year. While the numbers are exciting, it’s the lives that have been changed that is the most exciting.”
Vita Sambunjak, Ljubljana Branch Young Women president, said: “Planet2 TV is a big television station with a lot of viewers, so this is a big step forward for us. While many people are familiar with our building, they are not aware of our beliefs. This broadcast will help people know who we are and what we believe.”
Majc proclaimed, “God is watching over us” and explained how timely the Sunday morning session’s opening message from Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was for Slovenian Latter-day Saints.
“To us, it is not a coincidence that the first speaker was Elder David A. Bednar, who spoke about the Restoration of the gospel, the truthfulness of the Bible and the Book of Mormon as another testament of Jesus Christ. He explained who we are, what we believe and testified of the truthfulness of the gospel. This confirmed to us that the Lord is aware of us and His children in our beautiful country.”
When Elder Bednar said the line of, “A small congregation of believers and friends gathered for this momentous and joyous occasion,” during his conference message, the Saints gathered to watch the historic conference broadcast in the Ljubljana Branch meetinghouse felt he was talking both to them and of them.
With tears in his eyes, Majc added, “Our members are seeing the prophesied hastening happening right before their eyes.”
PlanetTV is the newest Slovenian commercial television channel, founded in 2012. Since then, it has made a strong impact and continues to attract a broader Slovenian audience.
— Sister Laurie Snow Turner is a senior missionary in the Adriatic North Mission and an assistant communications director.
