General Conference around the world

Amy recently posted a link to this: October '09 General Conference on her Ask Amy blog. My closet-righteous self secretly clicked on it tonight, when everyone else had long since gone to bed. And the screen popped up: "what language do you want to listen to conference in?" On a whim I clicked Portuguese. Figuring the mental strain would keep me a little more attentive. Then a thought occurred to me. My old mission president does the Portuguese voice-over translation representing Jehovah in the temple. I wondered if just maybe he did conferences as well. And sure enough, as President Monson stood to speak, he was drowned out by the familiar voice of my former mentor. The linguist who'd risen up from the poor streets of Brazil to put himself through college and master 5 languages. The man who patiently tried in vain for several months to teach me Italian; in Portuguese. It was good to hear his voice and reminisce. As the final "amen" was said, I went to turn off my computer, but then wondered, do they use the same translator for all the speakers?

A few moments later, Elder Richard G. Scott began his talk. And what was my surprise to hear another familiar voice? Not of a translator, but of Elder Scott himself. Speaking directly to the Brazilian people in their native tongue, with his gentle monotone voice, and a horrible Spanish accent overshadowing his technically perfect Portuguese. Then another memory came rushing in. Of a time when an Apostle was to visit our small town in Brazil. The stake president's wife came to my companion and me in a panic. "Help! I'm supposed to make the food for Elder Scott, and several visiting General Authorities at Stake conference. What do you white people eat?!!" We told her tales of exotic foods. Entire meals in fact that didn't contain beans and rice. She nearly fainted. Then we assured her they'd be happy to eat whatever she made. This kind sister poured her heart and soul into that meal. And to this day she still tells the story of the thanks she received. When the leaders were through, Elder Scott left the group, walked into the kitchen, and asked if she was the one who'd prepared such a marvelous meal. He then thanked her profusely, telling her it was some of the best food he'd ever eaten. Only later that day at conference did we realize that he'd spoken to her in Portuguese. I've never known anyone past their 20's who successfully mastered a foreign language. But as Elder Scott explained, he visited the Brazilian people often, so he figured he should learn it. And so he did, in his 70's.

I've often been asked what I like so much about Disneyland. And my reply is usually, the quality. The amazing little details that most people will never know about. And I was glad to see that same principle hold true today in the church. There probably aren't more than a handful of people in the world who'd recognize that monotone spanish/portuguese hybrid voice as Elder Scott's, speaking directly to people he cares about. So I figured I'd share.