General Conference (Part 1 of 4)

Every six months the Mormon Church holds its World General
Conference, the first weekend of April and the first weekend of
October. The April conference is considered the annual one and the
October, the semi-annual.
When I was eight, my dad and I attended one session in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. We were jammed into our seats in the balcony of the building with thousands of other people who wanted to see and hear the conference in person. It was exciting to see our general church leaders, and especially the President of the Church. I had seen so many pictures of him, and had seen him on TV, but now, even though it was at a distance, I was seeing him in person. But most of the time we watched General Conference on TV.
Members outside of Utah didn’t always have that privilege. If they were lucky, they would be able to catch one or two sessions. That was if a TV or radio station in the area decided to broadcast the conference as a public service. Living in Salt Lake had its advantages, especially since one of the local TV stations was affiliated with the Church and we could watch every session of the conference from the comfort of our own home.
My dad, being an engineer for KSL radio and TV, the station that originated the conference for all other stations. He often told stories of how the conference was broadcast to outlying areas of the world. Right after each session of the conference, the station used to put a man on a plane for Hawaii with a video tape under his arm. He would make sure it got to the TV station there. I was proud of Dad and the work he did to make General Conference possible.