Friday, October 17, 2008

Stand Close Together and Lift Where You Stand

“Stand Close Together and Lift Where You Stand” - Dieter F. Uchtdorf at the priesthood session of the General Conference on October 4th, 2008.

“Some years ago in our meetinghouse in Darmstadt, Germany, a group of brethren was asked to move a grand piano from the chapel to the adjoining cultural hall, where it was needed for a musical event. None were professional movers, and the task of getting that gravity-friendly instrument through the chapel and into the cultural hall seemed nearly impossible. Everybody knew that this task required not only physical strength but also careful coordination. There were plenty of ideas, but not one could keep the piano balanced correctly. They repositioned the brethren by strength, height, and age over and over again—nothing worked.

As they stood around the piano, uncertain of what to do next, a good friend of mine, Brother Hanno Luschin, spoke up. He said, ‘Brethren, stand close together and lift where you stand.’”

Besides this being one of my favorite talks of this October conference, it brought back some memories that I would like to share. Darmstadt was the first city that I served in on my mission. It was the only place on my entire mission that I served in, where we had a real meetinghouse that resembles what we have here in Utah. It was actually built by our church with all of the classrooms, chapel and cultural hall. We had a German ward and an American ward that both used the meetinghouse. There was an American Army Base in Darmstadt.

Any way, I remember Brother Hanno Luschin in Darmstadt. He was one of the prominent leaders of the church in that area. He even translated and made a couple of tapes that we could use as missionaries to use as we taught our German investigators. I don’t remember meeting Brother Uchtdorf, but I do I remember the large black grand piano. There was an Elder Call in our district, that could play any song you could hum. He played the best rendition of, “Born Free” that I have ever heard. I’m trying to think if we helped moved the piano with Brother Uchtdorf, but I don’t think so.

We once had a mission conference in that meetinghouse. There were two general authorities that came to our mission conference. One was a new seventy, named Hartman Rector Jr., who was a convert to the church. He was very fun to listen to. The other general authority, brought his wife with him. He was a relatively new Apostle by the name of Thomas S. Monson. Not only were we privileged to have them speak to us, but we were also able to have a one on one interview with them.

Ah, the memories of years long ago. What was your favorite conference talk?

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