General Conference Weekend

I think in my lifetime I've run the gamut of emotions with respect to general conference weekend: when I was young I was thrilled to watch church on TV (I can't say I've outgrown that feeling); later, boredom and a feeling that I'd been swindled: "sure, I get to watch church on TV, but wait a minute: that's a total of 10 hours of church!"; later, when I lived in upstate New York, gratitude for being able to watch the satellite broadcast at the meetinghouse--I tended to treasure conference then, since it helped me to connect to a broader LDS community when in Ithaca we were somewhat isolated. Since coming to Utah my feelings have been somewhat mixed: at the epicenter of LDS culture, it's easy to fall into the trap of playing critic and connoisseur. But I really enjoyed this spring conference.

A few highlights: the announcement that Faustino López, our instructor for the "LDS church in Spain" course in Alcalá, had been called to serve as an Area Authority Seventy: I'll always recall the image of Bishop López and his son Samuel patiently filling containers with warm water in the meetinghouse kitchen in order to empty them, one by one, into the baptismal font, where no hot water was available for Alex's baptism; President Uchtdorf's stately presence (and welcome German accent!) conducting meetings; Elder Holland's eloquent articulation of the LDS position on continuing revelation; Elder Ballard's wise and thoughtful observations and counsel to young mothers; Elder Wirthlin's message on diversity; and, finally, President Monson's touching remarks about his ancestors and his love of his wife. His sense of comic timing is second to none--including President Hinckley--but he showed a touching vulnerability in addressing the church for the first time as president. It was quite a moving and inspiring experience to hear him.