Stake Conference

Today was Geneva's Stake Conference. It was great to go to church at 10am again instead of 2pm. The Geneva chapel isn't large enough for the meeting so we met in the Ramada Hotel..which means everyone got a cushioned seat and the hotel staff looked after setting up the chairs. (Also, the pulpit had a lovely “Ramada Hotel” sign on it that was slightly obscured by a bouquet.)

I wasn't sure how long it would take for me to walk to the hotel so I left myself plenty of time to get there. I loved walking the neighbourhood and seeing all the facinating houses and foilage. I'll have to take some pictures next time. I found myself wishing that I could stay here for the spring. I'm sure it's stunningly gorgeous then. I arrived at the Ramada early enough to ensure that I got a translation headset and to enjoy people watching before the meeting began.

I was really impressed with the mission president and his wife. They come from Salt Lake but both of them gave their talks in French. It was slow enough and american enough that I found them much easier to understand although I still listened to the translation through my headset. When the visiting General Authority got up to speak, a young man stood beside him to translate. He began his talk in French and the young man translated into English. The GA mentioned that he would prefer to give his talk in his native language of German and so I expected him to switch to German but instead he switched into perfect Utah English. I think what I loved most about his talk was hearing a phrase in English and then having him pause while the translation into French was given. I find that much more helpful for me to become familiar with the language.