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Summarized by Kent Larsen
Thousands Hear President Faust At New York Regional Conference
NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- Thousands of LDS Church members packed 15 local stake
centers and chapels to hear President James E. Faust of the Church's First
Presidency speak via satellite from the Plainview New York Stake Center. The
New York Regional Conference included 9 stakes and districts covering New
York City, Long Island and lower New York state, as well as the New York New
York North and the New York New York South missions. In his remarks,
President Faust said several recent regional conferences had been broadcast
in this manner, with video feeds of speakers at one LDS facility being
broadcast to others.
Speaking at the conference in addition to Elder Faust, were Elder W. Craig
Zwick, President of the North America Northeast Area, and his wife; Elder
Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve and his wife and Sister Ruth
Faust. Elder Zwick, who was conducting, spoke first.
One topic mentioned in several addresses was the historic nature of the LDS
Church in New York City during this past century. Elder Zwick mentioned
coming to New York City as a youth to see the LDS Church's pavilion at the
1964-1965 New York World's Fair. The pavilion attracted 6 million visitors,
three times the population of the Church at that time.
Elder Eyring told about growing up in Princeton, New Jersey, where his
father, noted scientist Henry Eyring, was on the faculty. He said that his
family was the only one in the Princeton branch at the time. The family
looked to New York City, the closest LDS stake, for services from the
established church. Elder Faust added a little to the story of the
remarkable life of Dr. Eyring, who, he said, was nominated for the Nobel
Prize in Chemistry on 3 occasions.
Elder Eyring's remarks were directed at new church members and
investigators, helping them understand how they could know the truth of the
gospel for themselves. Elder Faust spoke of a need for more missionaries
from the New York stakes and districts, encouraging parents to help their
children want to serve missions. He also suggested that church members need
to be "comfortable in their own skin," knowing and accepting who we are and
building our lives from that base. He said his brother Rex, who died this
past week, was an example of someone who was "comfortable in his own skin."
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