General Conference in 3D

[cinepro]

After 40 years in the Church (and about 80 General Conferences), I finally actually went to a session of General Conference this weekend.  Also, because of my years of online work for the Church, I was able to get really good tickets (see attached pic).  We were about 15 rows back, front and center.

Honestly, it was a surreal experience.  It goes by much faster when you're actually there.  It took a while to get used to the acoustics (the sound is much better at home), but obviously the choir sounded incredible.  And the congregational hymn reminded me of the feeling in the MTC when we would sing the hymns in the big meetings.  It's a very powerful experience.

I didn't notice it until they announced Elder Hales' death, but there were only 11 apostle seats at the front, so they may have quickly removed one after he died between sessions.

It was great to be there for Ballard's talk (I had been told beforehand by someone who knew that his talk was going to be good, and he didn't disappoint).  And obviously I cringed a lot curing Callister's talk and wished I could have responded to a few of his points (and was surprised at the amount of laughter some of his points got).  But Anderson's talk to finish the session was really good.

All in all, it was a great "once in a lifetime" experience.   My wife didn't know about the anti-mormons outside, so she was surprised to see the theatrics as we walked to the Conference Center.  My favorite was a guy who had set up a card table outside on the sidewalk with a sign that said "Your Friendly Anti-Mormon" and he sat there quietly handing out bottles of water and literature to anyone that was interested.  I joked that they were in the wrong place for their efforts; they should be picking off the low-hanging fruit by going to the Ikea parking lot on General Conference weekend and talking to the Mormons there.  

 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2017 by cinepro

[bluebell]

Awesome seats!

The only time i've been able to watch conference in the conference center was when Pres. Hinckley was still alive.  I remember that at some point before the meeting started, some people on the far left side started to stand up, like they do when the prophet enters, so pretty soon the entire conference center was standing (though clearly nobody was walking in).  Eventually someone came over the loud speaker and told everyone to sit down.  I remember leaning over to the guy next to me (not in my party) and saying something about how now we know what a lemming feels like.

It was a good experience though.

[Button Gwinnett]

54 minutes ago, cinepro said:

After 40 years in the Church (and about 80 General Conferences), I finally actually went to a session of General Conference this weekend.  Also, because of my years of online work for the Church, I was able to get really good tickets (see attached pic).  We were about 15 rows back, front and center.

Honestly, it was a surreal experience.  It goes by much faster when you're actually there.  It took a while to get used to the acoustics (the sound is much better at home), but obviously the choir sounded incredible.  And the congregational hymn reminded me of the feeling in the MTC when we would sing the hymns in the big meetings.  It's a very powerful experience.

I didn't notice it until they announced Elder Hales' death, but there were only 11 apostle seats at the front, so they may have quickly removed one after he died between sessions.

It was great to be there for Ballard's talk (I had been told beforehand by someone who knew that his talk was going to be good, and he didn't disappoint).  And obviously I cringed a lot curing Callister's talk and wished I could have responded to a few of his points (and was surprised at the amount of laughter some of his points got).  But Anderson's talk to finish the session was really good.

All in all, it was a great "once in a lifetime" experience.   My wife didn't know about the anti-mormons outside, so she was surprised to see the theatrics as we walked to the Conference Center.  My favorite was a guy who had set up a card table outside on the sidewalk with a sign that said "Your Friendly Anti-Mormon" and he sat there quietly handing out bottles of water and literature to anyone that was interested.  I joked that they were in the wrong place for their efforts; they should be picking off the low-hanging fruit by going to the Ikea parking lot on General Conference weekend and talking to the Mormons there.  

 

 

 

You are much fuzzier than I would have pictured you Cinepro.

[mfbukowski]

3 hours ago, Button Gwinnett said:

You are much fuzzier than I would have pictured you Cinepro.

Nah that's about right as I recall.

[RevTestament]

6 hours ago, cinepro said:

After 40 years in the Church (and about 80 General Conferences), I finally actually went to a session of General Conference this weekend.  Also, because of my years of online work for the Church, I was able to get really good tickets (see attached pic).  We were about 15 rows back, front and center.

Honestly, it was a surreal experience.  It goes by much faster when you're actually there.  It took a while to get used to the acoustics (the sound is much better at home), but obviously the choir sounded incredible.  And the congregational hymn reminded me of the feeling in the MTC when we would sing the hymns in the big meetings.  It's a very powerful experience.

I didn't notice it until they announced Elder Hales' death, but there were only 11 apostle seats at the front, so they may have quickly removed one after he died between sessions.

It was great to be there for Ballard's talk (I had been told beforehand by someone who knew that his talk was going to be good, and he didn't disappoint).  And obviously I cringed a lot curing Callister's talk and wished I could have responded to a few of his points (and was surprised at the amount of laughter some of his points got).  But Anderson's talk to finish the session was really good.

All in all, it was a great "once in a lifetime" experience.   My wife didn't know about the anti-mormons outside, so she was surprised to see the theatrics as we walked to the Conference Center.  My favorite was a guy who had set up a card table outside on the sidewalk with a sign that said "Your Friendly Anti-Mormon" and he sat there quietly handing out bottles of water and literature to anyone that was interested.  I joked that they were in the wrong place for their efforts; they should be picking off the low-hanging fruit by going to the Ikea parking lot on General Conference weekend and talking to the Mormons there.  

 

You mean you went all the way to the conference and fergot yure 3D glasses? What a tweed!

Those would have put those people right up front there in perspective  

I think at one time Anderson was my stake President - so of course he does give the best talks...

[Duncan]

I'm thinking he's one of the 3 Nephites and just won't admit it or take a picture of it

[Darren10]

3 hours ago, Duncan said:

I'm thinking he's one of the 3 Nephites and just won't admit it or take a picture of it

They probably have the power with their minds to fuzz up pictures. Can’t leave any evidence about them now can we?