Frequently Asked Questions about Gospel Voice

You can find help on the Gospel Voice Quick-Start Guide and on our full Alexa/Google user guides.

There are a few reasons why response time may be slow. If you are the first person to call a certain piece of content, it may take a while for Alexa or Google to find the content. Also, if your Wi-Fi connection speed is low, it may take longer for the skill to respond. If you experience consistent problems, send us feedback at gospelvoice@ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Gospel Voice is still learning all the different ways people might ask for content. Over time she will get better. For some suggested ways to call content see the Gospel Voice Quick-Start Guide and our Alexa/Google full user guide.

Right now Gospel Voice will remember the last item you were listening to by the main account you are using.

Gospel Voice is available on Alexa and Google Assistant devices. If a device has access to Alexa or Google Assistant, you’ll be able to access Gospel Voice. Some examples of devices include:

• Amazon Echo smart speakers and screen devices.
• Google Home smart speakers and screen devices.
• Amazon tablets with Alexa enabled.
• Smartphone devices with the Alexa mobile app.
• Smartphone devices with the Google Assistant mobile app.
• Android Auto.
• Amazon Echo Auto.

While Gospel Library and Gospel Voice have some of the same content (scriptures, general conference, and so forth), Gospel Voice has a different set of content and is meant to be the single place for accessing Church content on voice-command devices.

Yes! We love feedback. Please send it to gospelvoice@ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

This functionality requires you to set up rooms or groups on your Alexa or Google Assistant accounts.

• For setting up Google Home groups follow the instructions in this link.
• For setting up Alexa speaker groups follow the instructions in this link.

Gospel Voice is still learning how people ask for content. So it’s possible it didn’t understand you yet. In the meantime, check out the Gospel Voice Alexa/Google user guide for suggestions on how to access the content you are looking for.

Gospel Voice is only available on Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant devices. We are currently considering the possibility of expanding Gospel Voice to work with Siri and other platforms. However, you can access Gospel Voice on iOS devices if you install the Alexa app or Google Assistant app on your device.

Gospel Voice is currently only available in English, but we are considering the possibility of expanding to additional languages. Gospel Voice is available in the English Google Play Store and the following English stores on Amazon. Your Amazon account needs to be registered with one of these sites in order to access Gospel Voice on Alexa:

• United States
• Canada
• United Kingdom
• Australia
• India

Accessing Scriptures by verse is currently in Beta. Right now, only the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price verses can be accessed. To call up scripture verses, ask Alexa or Google to read the book and verses you want to hear. For example:

“Alexa, ask Gospel Voice to read Jacob, chapter 3, verses 6.”

“Hey Google, ask Gospel Voice to read Ether, chapter 12, verses 6.”

Since this feature is in Beta, we’d love your feedback to help us improve. Email us at gospelvoice@churchofjesuschrist.org.

Yes. While you are in Gospel Voice, you can request a specific chapter be read to you in either a male or female voice. For example: “Alexa/Hey, Google, ask Gospel Voice to read Genesis chapter 1 in a female voice.” Alternatively, if you would always prefer that recordings be played to you in a specific male or female voice, you can say, “Alexa/Hey, Google, change my voice preferences to male/female.” By changing your preferences, Gospel Voice will always play your preferred voice when an audio recording exists for the specified gender.

Yes. While listening to a chapter, you can say, “Alexa/Hey, Google, next.”

Not yet. This is a feature we are hoping to add soon.

Yes. While conference is streaming live, say, “Alexa/Hey, Google, ask Gospel Voice to play general conference.”

Yes, you can listen to almost any past conference by saying, “Alexa/Hey, Google, play general conference on Gospel Voice.” Gospel Voice will then help you find the talk you are looking for. For additional options see our Quick-Start Guide.

Playing live general conference (or any content) is supported natively through both Alexa and Google smart speaker devices. However, these settings need to be configured in your speaker settings, not within Gospel Voice. To enable content to be played across a group of speakers, follow the link to the instructions below.

• For setting up Google Home groups follow the instructions at this link.
• For setting up Alexa speaker groups follow the instructions at this link.

Yes. Try using a phrase like this: “Alexa/Hey, Google, ask Gospel Voice to play the Saturday morning session from the October 2019 general conference.”

Yes. Try using a phrase like this: “Alexa/Hey, Google, ask Gospel Voice to play ‘Opening the Heavens for Help,’ by Russell M. Nelson.”

You can access all talks by speaker. Try saying, “Alexa/Hey, Google, ask Gospel Voice to play a talk by Jeffrey R. Holland.”

Gospel Voice will default to read the Individuals and Families manual. Try saying, “Alexa, ask Gospel Voice to read this week’s Come, Follow Me lesson.”

Yes. Try saying, “Alexa, ask Gospel Voice to read last week’s Come, Follow Me lesson.”

You can listen to the lessons from the Individuals and Families, Primary, and Sunday School manuals.

Right now you can listen to the recordings of the lessons in the Come, Follow Me manuals. We are hoping to make this experience more interactive in the future.

Currently you can listen to hymns, songs from the Children’s Songbook, and a selection of youth music. Hymns and the Children’s Songbook can be accessed with words and music or with just instrumentals.

Yes. You will need to specify in your request that you would like the instrumental version.

No. When listening to a song, you will need to make a new request to Gospel Voice to play the same song using the instrumental or music-and-words version of the song in order to fulfill your request.

Yes. When you ask to listen to music, Gospel Voice will ask if you would like to listen to a song or an entire album. When you say entire album, you can then say one of the following albums:

• Hymns
• Children’s Songbook
• Especially for Youth music
• 2013 Strength of Youth album
• 2014 Mutual theme
• 2015 Mutual theme
• 2016 Mutual theme
• 2017 Mutual theme
• 2018 Mutual theme
• 2019 Mutual theme
• 2020 Mutual theme

No, this is not a feature at this time.

Yes! Gospel Voice can now choose a song for you to sing along to. You can request and opening, closing, and sacrament song, and Gospel Voice will select a song from a curated list of the Hymns and Children’s Songbook for you to sing along to. This is a fun addition to your Family Home Evening, Come, Follow Me Lesson, or at Home Church experience. Here are some things to try:

Alexa:

“Alexa, ask Gospel Voice to choose an opening song.”

“Alexa, ask Gospel Voice to pick a closing song.”

“Alexa, ask Gospel Voice to pick a sacrament hymn.”

Google:

“Hey Google, ask Gospel Voice to choose an opening song.”

“Hey Google, ask Gospel Voice to pick a closing song.”

“Hey Google, ask Gospel Voice to pick a sacrament hymn.”

Gospel Voice has all three of the Church’s magazines: Liahona, For the Strength of Youth, and the Friend. When you request issues from before January 2021 of the Liahona and For the Strength of Youth, you’ll get content from the Ensign and New Era.

Starting January 2021, the Ensign and New Era changed names to Liahona and For the Strength of Youth. Gospel Voice is programmed to respond to both the old and new names.

Yes, you can currently access issues back to January 2020. To access a past issue, you can go through the Gospel Voice main menu. Or you can ask for the magazine to cut out a few steps, for example:

User: “Alexa/Hey google, ask Gospel Voice to read the Liahona”

Alexa/Google Assistant: “Ok, Would you like to open the latest or a past issue of the Liahona Magazine?”

User: “A Past Issue”

Alexa/Google Assistant: “Ok, what month and year would you like? “

User: “March 2020”

Alexa/Google Assistant: “Ok, opening the March 2020 issue of the Liahona Magazine. Playing, Salt Lake City, Utah “

Yes, Gospel Voice provides audio for all the articles in each of the three Church magazines. Some audio is filtered out that requires a visual component like descriptions for activities. When you access a magazine, you will be prompted to start from the beginning or explore sections.

Yes, if you know the title of an article, you can request that article specifically. For example,

“Alexa/Hey Google, ask Gospel Voice to play ‘The Divine Pattern of Eternal Marriage’ from the Liahona.”

Some content found in the magazines is not suitable for an audio only experience. So we have left those items out of Gospel Voice. If there is an article missing that you feel should be on Gospel Voice, please let us know at gospelvoice@churchofjesuschrist.org.

Gospel Voice will play the latest issue whenever it is available. So if February is available January 25^th, February becomes the latest issue available starting January 25th.

Here are a few examples of ways your children can quickly access Friend magazine content:

Alexa:

“Alexa, ask Gospel Voice to play a story from the Friend Magazine.”

“Alexa, ask Gospel Voice to read the Friend.”

“Alexa, ask Gospel Voice to open the Friend.”

Google:

“Hey Google, ask Gospel Voice to play a story from the Friend Magazine.”

“Hey Google, ask Gospel Voice to read the Friend.”

“Hey Google, ask Gospel Voice to open the Friend.”

Here are a few short cuts to get straight to the Magazines:

Alexa:

“Alexa, ask Gospel Voice to open the Friend.”

“Alexa, ask Gospel Voice to open For the Strength of Youth.”

“Alexa, ask Gospel Voice to open the Liahona.”

Google:

“Hey Google, ask Gospel Voice to open the Friend.”

“Hey Google, ask Gospel Voice to open For the Strength of Youth.”

“Hey Google, ask Gospel Voice to open the Liahona.”

You can currently access Latter-day Saints Channel Talk, Music, and Tabernacle Choir radio streams.

Canal Mormón is not currently available on Gospel Voice.

Gospel Voice currently offers volumes 1 and 2 of Saints.