Here are my top 10 highlights from April 2022 General Conference (in no particular order):
10. Seeing the excitement, nervousness, and humility of those in the choir who's first conference this was. I was introduced to several of them, talked to a few of them (nice to meet you Matt, Patrick, and Alberto), and noticed many of them. It's fun to remember back to my first conference--to re-live those emotions and try and recapture that energy.
9. Sitting next to my good friends Ben and Siope. Ever since our new seating manager re-took our height measurements, I've been moving to higher rows and sitting next to people I used to sit next to many years ago. Anyway, it was a privilege singing next to them and I had several good friends right in front of me as well. Surrounded by love!
8. Hearing first-hand how it feels to go through someone's last conference. My dear friend Ryan is retiring from the choir in a few weeks and he related to me how he was feeling about this being his last conference to sing in. (I'll highlight Ryan in a future post)
7. Having donut holes to consume during the break before the morning session. I was really hungry and those hit the spot. Thanks to whoever provided them!
6. Being a part of Choir history as this was the first General Conference where the Choir sang everything memorized. A couple of weeks ago, we were told we'd be able to hold music for "I Love to See the Temple" and "Iron Rod" because they were brand new arrangements. However, after all of the rehearsing, we felt we had the notes down well enough to sing them both by memory. So we did. Granted, we did have a teleprompter for all of conference music. But as I mentioned before, the teleprompter does not give us notes, pitch, rhythm, etc.
5. Talking with Siope a few minutes here and a few minutes there during our "waiting to rehearse or perform" breaks about what we were thinking and how we were feeling. We took a minute to acknowledge choir members who have not yet been invited back because of their vax status. Love you guys!
4. Hearing very positive feedback from both Mack and Ryan on our performances. Always feels good to know our hard work is paying off.
3. Being thankful for all of the volunteers who help make conference a reality. Everything from the flower arrangements (thanks Andrew!), to the parking attendants, to the teleprompter people, to those providing us lunch, to the security people, and the many who usher and kindly assist. And of course, a very special thanks to our awesome organists. They are amazing.
2. Having good conversations with several of my buddies.
1. Getting to sing inspiring music and hear inspiring messages. I'm not sure which of the songs we sang was my favorite. I really liked the two newly-arranged songs. But "It Is Well With My Soul" is always a favorite. I was hoping that singing that one today would help in the process of making my heart soft again. But while that didn't happen, I was able to see it emotionally affect many people around me. Regardless, I hope the music helped at least one person today. If it did, all the work we put in was worth it.
Special thanks as always to my family and their support. They are the best.
Until next time, God be with you.
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