April Conference Had "Certain Special Something"

Conference attendees seemed more excited than usual this year.

By Stephen Carter

SALT LAKE CITY—The vote is unanimous, the April 2012 General Conference experience had a certain special something. Especially for out-of-towners who traveled many miles to be on hand for this event.

“My jaw just dropped open when I saw the beauty of the area,” said Abigail Singer, an independent Noni Juice distributor from Kanab, Utah. “Waterfalls, architecture, music—what wasn’t there to like?”

Though some conference attendees were put off by the protestors handing out DVDs and pumping wooden crosses in the air, once inside Church property “the entire feeling changed. I just about started singing ‘There is Beauty All Around,’” said Theresa D’Arc, stay-at-home mom and second counselor in the Pocatello 14^th Ward’s Relief Society presidency. “Suddenly those three hours in the car with five children were totally worth it.”

“I saw pictures of this place on the net and my friend’s phones,” said McKaylinzee Speckman, an eighth-grade student from Thayne, Wyoming. “But this is just so freaking cool! I’m gonna make my mom bring me again next conference!”

Admittedly, some of the male attendees weren’t as impressed. “It was like a big fashion show. And we were constantly standing in line to get anywhere.” grumbled Nick Cunningham, a mortgage loan office from Wendover, Nevada. “I thought we’d never find a place to sit.”

People were also impressed by the sky way, the dual shopping levels, the food court with retractable roof, and the dancing fountain, calling them truly worthy of the Church’s $1.5 billion investment. Some laudatory adjectives overheard about the area included “great” and “spacious.”

“Brigham Young’s daughters would have loved the City Creek Center,” sniffed an emotional Elena Skagway, a substitute early morning seminary teacher from Panguitch, Utah. “Especially seeing as how it’s just across the street from the Lion House.”

People also reported enjoying the conference sessions they remembered to attend.