Can we corroborate Bednar’s Conference anecdote?

[I Have Questions]

During a recent open house and media day for a new house of the Lord, I led a group of journalists on a tour through the sacred structure. I described the purposes of temples in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and responded to their many excellent questions.

Before entering the celestial room, I explained that this particular room in the house of the Lord symbolically represents the peace and beauty of the heavenly home to which we can return after this life. I indicated to our guests that we would not speak while in the celestial room, but I would be happy to answer any questions after we moved to the next stop on the tour.

After exiting the celestial room and as we gathered at the next location, I asked our guests if they had any observations they wanted to share. One of the journalists said with great emotion, “I have never experienced anything like that in my entire life. I did not know quiet like that existed in the world; I simply did not believe such stillness was possible.”

I was struck by both the sincerity and the starkness of this person’s statement.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... r?lang=eng

I’d be very interested in understanding if the event can be corroborated by one of the other journalists who were claimed to be present when that happened. I’d also be interested in knowing who the journalist was as not all journalists would be equal in terms of the enormity of the comment - Tad Walch of the Deseret News saying it would be much less of a moment than if it was, say, an investigative journalist from the New York Times.

[Equality]

I wonder if the journalist was a big burly man with tears in his eyes who called Bednar "Sir."

Are you saying there are people who believe this actually happened?

[drumdude]

Another recent similar story:

Chills were rising on our skin and tears were forming in our eyes, and when we finished we all knew that we had just been a part of and witnessed something very special and very meaningful that really took our breath away,” said Alex Shapiro, executive director of the United Jewish Federation of Utah.

When Elder Corbitt recited the Psalm in Hebrew, he startled the tour group.

“Yes,” one of the Jewish women on the tour said, “but can you sing it?”

He began to sing it.

The 18 Jewish leaders immediately joined in, and the chills rose and the tears flowed.

“It was an emotional, a spiritual and a unifying moment,” Elder Corbitt said. “Two covenant peoples singing together in the temple, the House of the Lord, as brothers and sisters. It was a tender moment.”

I wonder if Alex believes this was an accurate characterization. He said elsewhere:

While Shapiro looks back on his childhood in Utah with a smile, especially while mentioning his days playing ward basketball, he notes that the feeling can vary. One of his twin sons mentioned to him on Wednesday that he sometimes feels like the “token Jew” among his peers.

Being used as a prop for a 70 to climb the ladder towards apostleship with a faith promoting story would make me feel a bit tokenized as well.

[Morley]

I wonder if the journalist was a big burly man with tears in his eyes who called Bednar "Sir."

Beautiful.

MMGA (where the second M is Mormonism).

[BeNotDeceived]

A good friend of mine once overheard Bednar to say to another GA... 'it's incredible to me how the members of this religion will do anything we say or ask them to without thinking or questioning'.