No Sunday School post this week, because there's no Sunday School--it's time for General Conference!
This Sunday also happens to be April Fool's Day. Conference also fell on April Fool's in 2001, while I was a missionary in Scotland. The bishop of the ward I was serving in played a pretty good prank on his first counselor, pretending that the only signal they could pick up on the satellite was the German language feed. The counselor spoke German--or at least had on his mission, 20 years earlier, and was now quite rusty--but he went up to the microphone, ready to attempt to translate the sermons. At the last moment, the bishop switched over to the English feed. Not a bad prank.
Earlier this week, I asked some friends which of the prophets or apostles would be most likely to prank the world during a conference. We all agreed that none of them ever would, but maybe, just maybe, we could see President Monson or President Uchtdorf winding us up. I actually think Elder Perry would be the most likely candidate, personality-wise, but the members of the First Presidency would definitely have the most and the best opportunities.
For example...what if Pres. Uchtdorf was conducting the sustaining of church officers (this will actually happen on Saturday, March 31, but work with me), and at the end he makes the usual "as far as I can tell, the voting has been unanimous" comment, but then gets interrupted by a voice from the audience, someone insisting that their opposing vote was noted.
That would be a crazy prank, right? Well, it actually happened. And not that long ago, either. Check it out here (you'll need to read or at least scroll all the way to the end). Isn't that weird? I saw something similar to this take place at a stake conference once, but never at General Conference. If any of my blog readers are old enough to remember this 1977 conference session, let me know.
If you think of any ideas for hilarious GC pranks that will never happen, share them in the comments. Pranks aside, I'll be watching as much of the conference as I can. I'll likely be tweeting any funny or weird observations I make, but overall I'll actually be taking it quite seriously. If you're unfamiliar with LDS General Conference and want to know why I think it's important, feel free to ask that in the comments too.
I'd love to see someone say that since it's such a nice day that they'll be holding that session outdoors but that everyone needs to move quickly since they're not able to extend the length of the broadcast. It would be most effective if presented by whomever is conducting. "We'll begin with an opening prayer, followed by a hymn during which time we'll proceed outdoors for our first speaker."
ReplyDeleteThat would be awesome.
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