It has been about 25 years since I have attended a stake conference other than in our home stake of Syracuse South Stake. (In our Headquarters Mission, we didn't have stake conferences.) Let it be said, that it was as amazing as any stake conference I have ever attended. The musical numbers were great, the speakers were humble and spiritual, and the congregational hymns were sung with vigor. We had two General Authorities--Elder Paul Johnson (one of the Seven Presidents of the Seventy) and Elder John Amos, newly called to the 8th Quorum of the Seventies. We had two temple presidents and their wives--President and Sister Bowman of the Oklahoma City Temple and President and Sister Clark for the Bentonville Arkansas Temple. President and Sister Collins were there--our mission leaders. And of course, the stake presidency of the stake--President Reed, President Christensen, and President Wall. It was a jam-packed two sessions--the Saturday evening and the Sunday morning.
One thing they did was show a video which had been put together by the branch president of the Spanish branch in the stake about the temple open house. I posted a copy of that on Facebook today so you can see the beautiful and hear the testimonies of people from Ft. Smith...and one of our sweet missionaries--Sister Davis.
At the beginning of the meeting today, President Reed said--where are your scriptures--as he raised his scriptures in the air. The congregation followed suit with phones and paper scriptures being held high from the "smallest to the tallest." This is a tradition started by Elder Bednar when he served as a stake president of the Ft. Smith Stake and has continued ever since--a reminder to be a scripture carrying--scripture loving people!
It is good to serve among these sweet Saints in the River Valley of Arkansas.
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