A Surprise Visit from President Uchtdorf

A couple of years ago in my home Ward (church congregation) in Calgary, my husband and I sat on the back bench just as Sacrament Meeting was starting. The Bishop had just gotten up and, as he made his announcements, we thought we heard wrong when he said, "Elder Todd D. Cristopherson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presides at this meeting." I turned to Hermes and whispered, "was he talking about a video conference from a Salt Lake?" and he answered "Yes, I think so." I didn't have a clear view of everyone sitting at the front where the pulpit is so I leaned over to my right to get a better look and sure enough, Elder Cristoherson was sitting up there. I thought that was the only time in my life I would have such an experience but I was wrong.           
        
This past Sunday, I had just finished up in Primary (children's meeting) and was heading for a drink of water when Hermes pulled me over and whispered, "Don't tell anybody! President Uchtdorf will be in Sacrament!" My eyes widened but I went about my business feeling quite excited. For those not of my faith, President Uchtdorf  is in the First Presidency of our Church and one of our top leaders. If our church were a nation, he would be the equivalent of a Vice President. We consider him to be a prophet.            

I'm sure all the American tourists who came to our Sacrament Meeting was wondering what was going on because all of our local leaders were standing at the front in expectation looking at the door. Hermes got the advanced heads up that he was coming because he was ushering at the door and would open the door when President Uchtdorf and his family arrived. Sure enough the moment came and Hermes opened the door, signalled the congregation to stand up, and in walked President and Sister  Uchtdorf. I couldn't stop smiling.  

Let me summarize a little of what he said when he spoke to us later in the meeting.

First of all, he announced that earlier that morning, he had made on behalf of the Church ("on behalf of all of you" as he put it) a significant donation to an agency seeing to the needs of refugees who are coming by the thousands to Italy. He reemphasized again the Church's position that we provide service and do all we can to help the refugees worldwide and reminded us that in our early church history, Mormons were refugees in their own country. He said that in 1838, 10,000 Latter-day Saints were driven from their homes in the dead of winter after the Missouri government issued the Mormon extermination order, and they had to cross the river on ice with barely any winter clothing, no money, no food etc. They arrived in Quincy Illinois, a town of only 1500 people, none of whom were Mormons, but they did all they could to provide for the 10,000 Mormon refugees. There's quite a powerful short video about it here:   

So President Uchtdorf again encouraged church members to strive to be of service to refugees from Syria, Africa and elsewhere.

He also emphasized a scripture, Doctrine & Covenants 12:8 which says:
And no one can assist in this work except he be humble and full of love, having faith, hope and charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care.
  
He also talked about his visit to the Rome Temple construction site and encouraged members to wait patiently and to strive to be worthy of the temple. 

I was wondering if he would be ushered quickly from the meeting before we would leave but we were thrilled when he lingered to meet as many people as he could. Here's one I took with Hermes: 

And a few others with other members and missionaries:

 Sorella Clark (below) is introducing him to some people who are investigating the Church.

This tiny cute little old sister has been in the Church for many years. This must be the thrill of her life to meet him.

To close, here is a video telling his story of being a refugee. I think it provides a good summary of what we should be striving for. See you next time!