Gathering – Part 3

General Conference weekend seemed to arrive and disappear in the blink of an eye.

Monic and I were blessed to attend three of the four sessions in person at the Conference Centre in downtown Salt Lake City.

There is just something quite unique and special about being there “live”.

The Conference Centre itself is enormous, with 21,000 seats, covering an entire city block. I discovered a fun fact about the centre: the auditorium is actually large enough to fit a Boeing 747 inside!

And with temperatures outside reaching around 31°C, we were also very grateful for the air conditioning!

For two of the sessions, we had an extra ticket, which gave us the opportunity to take one of our former missionaries along with us. That made the experience even more special being able to catch up with Sadie and Amilya.

There was plenty more gathering too.

Some of our reunions were arranged in advance and others simply happened!

Walking around Temple Square and the Conference Centre itself we literally bumped into friends we hadn’t seen for years, including the Scheltingas and several others. There were hugs, surprised faces, photographs and plenty of, “It was such fun to see you again!”

Then, on Saturday evening, many of the senior couples who had served alongside us in Belgium and the Netherlands gathered together.

We enjoyed more stories, more laughter and even more reminiscing. Plus more of those moments when you realise how precious shared experiences become with the passing of time.

There is a lovely scripture that seems particularly appropriate which has been on our minds all week long: “Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord.” – Alma 17:2

I love that phrase: “rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren.”

That pretty much sums up this whole weekend.

People who once shared an important chapter of life together, crossing paths again years later.

General Conference was wonderful.

But once again, some of the sweetest moments happened in the gathering around it.

Who have you “rejoiced exceedingly” to see again after a long time apart?