By the Numbers › Speakers › Mary Ellen W. Smoot

General Conference speaker · April 2000 to April 2002

Sister Mary Ellen W. Smoot

Recently Released Relief Society General President

Sister Mary Ellen W. Smoot gave 4 General Conference talks from April 2000 to April 2002. The main topics of these talks are Women and Relief Society, Discipleship and Becoming and Ministering and Service. The verse cited most often is Alma 17:2. Footnotes in 1 later talk by other speakers cite these talks. Weak Things has 4 sketch notes of these talks.

All speakers 4 sketch notes ↓

4talks since 2000

6kwords · about 54 minutes

5.2footnotes per talk (all speakers: 12.3)

22different verses cited

1later talks by others cite these talks

01 · The timeline

Every conference, April 2000 to April 2026

Each dot is a conference where Sister Smoot spoke. Hover for the talk; click to open its sketch note.

Callings listed with these talks: Relief Society General PresidentRecently Released Relief Society General President

02 · Topic fingerprint

What these talks are about

The main topic of each talk, shown as petals. Longer petals mean more talks. Gold petals are topics this speaker chooses at least 1.5 times as often as the average speaker.

Women and Relief Society2 talks19.1× average
Discipleship and Becoming1 talk3.1× average
Ministering and Service1 talk5.6× average

Key phrases from these talks

We are creatorsabout our Father’s businessinstruments in the hands of Godworldwide family of sisterssteadfast and immovablefootprints upon our heartsmake weak things become strongdeep within her soul

03 · The measuring stick

How these talks compare with every talk since 2000

The bar is this speaker. The line marks the average across all 1,909 talks.

04 · The scripture shelf

Which scriptures these talks use

Share of all verse citations by volume of scripture, compared with every speaker. Counted once per talk from footnotes and links in the text.

Verses cited most

The number is how many of these talks cite the verse. Verses with their own page link to every conference talk that cites them.

Books cited most

Alma

Doctrine and Covenants

Mosiah

Genesis

Isaiah

Moses

05 · Signature phrases

Words that sound like Sister Smoot

Phrases that appear in these talks far more often than in other speakers' talks. Bigger type means a bigger difference. The number is how many of these talks use the phrase.

vision and charity²virtue vision²strength by following²seek spiritual strength²love our families²increase our testimonies²declaration reminds²christ through prayer²society declaration³personal enrichment meeting³

06 · Who these talks quote

The voices in the footnotes

Leaders named in the footnotes, outside authors named in the text or footnotes, and the conference speakers whose talks are cited. Each counts talks, not mentions.

Church leaders quoted

Joseph Smith

David O. McKay

Joseph F. Smith

Joseph Fielding Smith

Conference speakers cited

These talks do not link to earlier conference talks in their footnotes.

Outside authors

No outside authors on the Bookshelf list are named in these talks.

07 · Who quotes them

How later talks build on these talks

Sketch note of We Are Instruments in the Hands of God

Most-cited talkWe Are Instruments in the Hands of GodOctober 2000 · cited by 1 later talk

Speakers who cite these talks most

Larry S. Kacher

08 · Kindred voices

Speakers whose talks cover similar ground

Matched by the mix of main and secondary topics. 100 would be an identical mix.

Sister Barbara Thompson83 topic match Sister Julie B. Beck83 topic match Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson82 topic match Sister Sheri L. Dew79 topic match

The sketch notes

4 talks, one page each

Hand-drawn sketch notes from Weak Things. Each page links to the full talk on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Sketch note of Developing Inner Strength by Mary Ellen W. Smoot

Developing Inner StrengthApril 2002

Sketch note of Steadfast and Immovable by Mary Ellen W. Smoot

Steadfast and ImmovableOctober 2001

Sketch note of We Are Instruments in the Hands of God by Mary Ellen W. Smoot

We Are Instruments in the Hands of GodOctober 2000

Sketch note of We Are Creators by Mary Ellen W. Smoot

We Are CreatorsApril 2000

For teachers and families: each sketch note has a printable PDF. Browse all Conference Sketch Notes →

Every talk

All 4 talks, newest first

Titles open the Weak Things sketch note. "Read" opens the official talk on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, the source for every number on this page.

Talk	Conference	Main topic	Words	Footnotes	Cited by	Source
Developing Inner Strength	Apr 2002	Women and Relief Society	1303	8	0	Read ↗
Steadfast and Immovable	Oct 2001	Women and Relief Society	1871	8	0	Read ↗
We Are Instruments in the Hands of God	Oct 2000	Ministering and Service	2303	0	1	Read ↗
We Are Creators	Apr 2000	Discipleship and Becoming	1218	5	0	Read ↗

Sources and method

Where these numbers come from

Talk text, footnotes and callings come from the official General Conference pages on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Every talk above links to its source.
Coverage is April 2000 through April 2026: 1,909 talks by 370 speakers. Sustainings, audit and statistical reports, and videos are left out. October 2026 joins once its text is posted.
Verse counts use scripture links in footnotes and talk text, counted once per talk. "Cited by" counts later talks whose footnotes link to one of these talks.
Main topics are estimates assigned by a language model from each talk's opening and closing. Signature phrases compare how many of these talks use a phrase with how many other talks do.
Leaders quoted are found by name in footnotes. Outside authors are found by name in the text and footnotes. Sketch notes are Weak Things study aids, not official Church materials.