Stake President Apostle

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

 The weekend of October  14-15th, we had our Stake Conference, and had a very special guest, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Elder Christofferson holds a very special place in our hearts, because he was the president of the Franklin Stake in 1988 when we moved to Franklin, for about the first year we lived here. I specifically remember the Christmas of 1989 when the tornado hit our stake center. We were temporarily meeting in Brentwood High School while the building was being repaired, and one Sunday he came, and as he closed his remarks he blessed the congregation. He gave us some very specific, special blessings,  that came to fruition for our family in very meaningful ways that summer. I've always been very grateful, and have felt a special connection to him since that time.

We didn't know him and his wife, Kathy real well personally, but our friends, Tom & Alycia McClurg were very close with them and use to do social stuff, and hang out, and I think Alycia & Kathy used to serve in the ward Primary Presidency together. So Tom & Alycia drove down from Cincinatti to be here for the conference, since Kathy came with him.

We enjoyed the opportunity to get together with Tom & Alycia (and Tom's mom, Diane) that Saturday and go to lunch, and then sat together at the adult session of conference Saturday night. Both Elder Christofferson and Kathy spoke, and their talks were wonderful. They were reminiscing about how they used to meet in the "old warehouse" before the stake center was built, and how much the stake has changed over the years, and marveling at the growth! (When we moved here, the stake center was just a few years old, so we missed the "old warehouse" days, but have heard much about them over the years.) They mentioned many people and families in their remarks that we know and remember well. Our dear friend, and Tom Mcclurg's dad, Buryl McClurg was President Christofferson's counselor in the stake presidency. It was sort of a reunion for the Christoffersons, I'm sure, to see so many familiar faces in the crowd.

Prior to his comments on Sunday, Elder Christofferson asked that a few people come up and bear their testimonies to the congregation. One of those people was Tom McClurg, who of course, was eloquent and sincere in his humble remarks and bore a beautiful testimony. Elder Christofferson later remarked that he loved and admired Tom's dad, and he was certain that he is so proud of Tom today (Buryl Mcclurg died in September, 2009. I sang at his funeral.).

Another person he asked to bear her testimony was Georgia Harris. Georgia and Fred Harris were in our ward when we first moved here, and we used to get each other's church voice messages in error from time to time. Randi had a special feeling for Georgia from the time she was a little girl, and would always go up and hug her, and Georgia was always so sweet to our family. Georgia has been a blessing in Randi's life in recent years, too. Such great, giving, salt-of-the-earth people, who have been stalwart members of the church through much difficulty. I remember Fred bringing me through the veil many times as a temple worker. Georgia is a VERY quiet, very shy person, softspoken and unassuming -- and would never anticipate (or appreciate) being called up to speak in Stake Conference! When she got up to the pulpit, she softly said "I know we have twelve apostles on the earth today, and right now I wonder if it would be okay if I choked one of them." The congregation cracked up! Then Elder Christofferson stood up and put his arm around her shoulders, and said, "I don't know if ELEVEN could get the job done." HAHA It took a several seconds of laughter before everyone quieted down!  And then she bore a beautiful testimony.  See more on Fred & Georgia Harris HERE. 

Elder Christofferson said many impactful things, I really wish I had written down every word. But some things I remember, he said in his many travels as an apostle over the past three years, he said he marvelled at the way they are able to travel the world in service of the Lord. He said that if the apostle Peter in the Old Testament had been able to travel like we can today, he probably would have had the entire world converted in about ten months!

There were a couple of concepts he spoke about that spoke to me. One, when he was 17 years old, visiting the Sacred Grove with a group, he thought it was the perfect opportunity and place to gain a stronger  testimony of the prophet and the gospel. So he went alone to the Grove at night and he prayed for confirmation of what he thought to be true. He prayed and prayed, and no confirmation ever came. He left, disappointed and discouraged, his prayers felt unanswered. About 6 weeks later, reading scriptures on his own, the confirmation came strongly and clearly, and his prayers were answered "Spirit to spirit." He learned that we should continue our petitions to Heavenly Father, but warned that we should not put ourselves in the position of telling God what to do, or when. "Our duty is to be open to receive His answers in His time."

Another thing he stressed, which we hear regularly from the pulpit at General Conference, is the concept of "Good, Better, Best" (HERE).  He counseled us again not to fill our lives so full of GOOD things that we leave no room for the ESSENTIAL things...something to ponder, and something that is always on my mind, as I feel our life is so busy that at times it feels out of control. So we've done some more thinking and talking about this counsel since conference.

It was such a wonderful thing to have them here! I had Alycia take a copy of our Stake Relief Society's booklet, "Sisters of Faith," and give it to Kathy. I thought she would recognize many of the names in the stories in the book, and maybe even some of the stories themselves! Learn more about those booklets HERE .

At the adult session, the only seats left when we got there were on the VERY front row, in the very middle. We literally had to tilt our heads back a bit, and look straight ahead to see the speakers. How wonderful to have sat literally at the feet of an Apostle of God!