General Conference is only a few short weeks away, and already I am impatient to hear the news of the coming year. I just started going through the online archives of the previous general conferences beginning at 1997, where the farthest back I can go on the list. After reading the opening remarks by President Hinckley I was amazed at the changes that have gone on in just the few short years that I've been alive. In his introduction in 1997, President Hinckley announced the groundbreaking of the Conference Center at Temple Square. I almost laughed when I read his description: "It will be used for general conference and for other purposes that are in harmony with the reasons for which it is being built. The stage will be such that it can accommodate a large pageant. We may not fill it initially, but we are building for the long term."
I thought it interesting that he was concerned that initially it would not be filled to capacity. Today, at least as I understand it since I've never actually been there, the church has to restrict the number of people permitted to attend. People from all over the world gather there. Also, I was impressed that in that same meeting President Hinckley announced the formation of the Area Authority Seventies, a really revolutionary organizational change that would allow the church to grow indefinitely. To think that all this happened when I was 7, and I didn't even realize it! It makes me wonder what kind of new revelation and changes are going to take place this year. I'll definitely be sitting there with my pen and pad ready to jump on anything President Monson and all the others have to say. I failed this time to get up to Salt Lake and watch the conference in person, but maybe next time.
Hope you'll all be listening.
Beloved J
No comments:
Post a Comment