When looking at the changes made to Church programs, organizations and functions in the last several decades, the phrase "simplify and reduce" can be used to summarize many of the changes in recent years.
A pattern to ease the strain
In 1980 the Church first instituted the three-hour Sunday meeting blockin an effort to ease the strain of individuals and families traveling back and forth several times a week to their meetinghouses for various Church programs and classes. During the months and years following, the Church saw unprecedented growth and, as a result, Church leaders continued to emphasize the importance of focusing on "individual spiritual growth" and "simplicity in order to accommodate the diversity of a vast Church membership."
Additionally, in a 1980 letter, President Ezra Taft Benson — then-president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles — described in the need to "simplify and reduce the administrative burden on local leaders" of the Church.