by David E Bay, High Councilor

This weekend is General Conference. I have a particular soft spot in my heart for General Conference.

In the summer when I turned 15, my family moved from Lake Zürich, Illinois, to Bountiful, Utah. In Illinois we were able to listen to all of the conference sessions on the radio. We considered it fortunate to be able to receive one session by TV. So, I was thrilled with the idea that living in Bountiful, I might be able to actually attend General Conference in person.

Back then, there were three days of General Conference beginning on Friday. I willingly missed school on Friday and got my dad to drop me off at Temple Square at 8 o’clock in the morning. I got in the line for the morning session of conference which coincidentally was the Solemn Assembly where Harold B Lee was sustained as President of the Church.

It was exciting to meet with other members of the church who were waiting in line to attend conference. General Conference, in those times, was held in the Tabernacle. There were doors that opened up all around the Tabernacle that led to the main floor, but a ticket was required for the main floor seating. I didn’t have a ticket, so I chose one of the four lines that led to the stairs and the balcony seating that was open to everyone. The line I chose was on the east side of the Tabernacle, farthest from the speaker, but directly facing the podium. Two of the doors were at the east end and I was in the line that led to the door on our right-hand side, the one on the north.

As we got closer to the start time and closer to the door I began to wonder if I would even be able to get into the Tabernacle. Finally, about 10 minutes before 10 o’clock I was within 10 feet of the door. The Usher came out and closed the door.

I felt very dejected. I wouldn’t be able to attend this session in person after all. I would have to just listen to it over the loudspeakers scattered throughout Temple Square. I began to wonder if this was what it was like to be one of those 10 virgins that Jesus told the parable about. Not the ones that got to go into the wedding, but those who were met with the closed door.

I just gave up. There was nothing else to do so I just stayed there on the steps by the door and did my best to listen to the solemn assembly and participate in sustaining of the General Authorities where I was. The other people who were with me in line filtered away and found other places to go.

At the end of the Solemn Assembly part of the session, the same Usher that closed the door on us, opened the door and saw me there. He told me, “Come with me I’m pretty sure I can find you a place to sit.”

Seating in the Tabernacle is different than most of the types of seating I’ve dealt with anywhere else. There were nothing but plain hard wooden benches with open ends on each side. The number of people who could sit on a bench depended on the size of each person and how tightly the other people on the bench were willing to sit next to each other. The Usher took me to a row, and he quietly asked the people on that bench to slide over just a little bit; they complied making enough room for almost all of my seat to fit on the bench.

After this initial experience in the Tabernacle and being able to find room on a bench to hear the words of the Prophet, I found that I was more willing to put up with a little discomfort to allow another person to share this wonderful opportunity.

Attending General Conference became a favorite spiritual feast for me. Not only did I get to hear the words of the leaders of the church, but I could see them, and I was right in the same room with them. Additionally, I met some wonderful people from throughout the world as we waited in line together.

We now live in a day and age when almost everyone who has access to basic technology can receive the messages of the General Authorities and General Officers of the Church in many, many languages.

I hope each of you will be able to prepare prayerfully and be able to receive the guidance and direction and the answers that our Heavenly Father will provide for you through those things that are said (and more importantly those things that are communicated without words to your heart) during this April 2023 General Conference.