All Things General Conference!
I'm only a full week late on this post. I haven't decided if I will do two posts or just one to cover two weeks. I'm leaning toward two separate posts. 😊
The week before General Conference was very busy. We had lots of General Conference pre-recordings where some of the General Authorities recorded their talks in different languages. For example, Elder Christofferson recorded his talk in Spanish and Portuguese. Elder Uchtdorf recorded his talk in both German and Spanish. We supplied language coaches to assist them. During General Conference, their recorded talks were then played in the various languages instead of our interpreter's channel. That way the people heard their talks in their own voice. I think that is a very cool thing to do.
I gave up going to the Wellness Center for a couple of weeks. They simply wasn't time. On Monday I tried to do some work on the PLUNET order so I could enter all our interpreters into the order, but I never got the time. I gave two tours to our Missionary helpers for General Conference. I spent a great deal of time working with the Sapps on the things they need to learn. I also responded to countless other requests that came in all day long. In the evening we had a very nice Family Home Evening.
I woke up at 4:30 on Tuesday morning so I could work without any interruptions or distractions for a few hours. I managed to get a little over half the interpreters entered into PLUNET before people started arriving and life happened.
At 10:00 we headed to Costco for our semi-annual trip for snacks before General Conference. I was hoping to avoid going, as I had so much to do, but that didn't work. We were done by noon so it wasn't too bad. I lost another hour when we had our team meeting, not to mention all the normal distractions that I get throughout the day. Later, Baptiste asked me to create a Speaker/Interpreter list to put in each of the booths for Conference. He didn't want me to work on it until Friday, so we would have the latest list of Interpreters.
I woke up at 4:00 on Wednesday without an alarm. I started working on the PLUNET order again and managed to finish by 9:00. I worked from home so I could finish it, because I knew as soon as I went into the office I wouldn't get anything else done. It was a good thing I did that, because I didn't get anything else done that I had planned to do the rest of the day. I gave another tour for my missionaries at noon. I created a list of all our SLC interpreters so I could send that to Elder Wilcox so he could send it to the parking and security group. He also sent emails to all the Interpreters with instructions for the weekend.
On Thursday I finished up the BYU Law and Religious Symposium PLUNET order as that event happens on Sunday through Thursday next week. It has about 20 different sessions so it is fairly complicated. We had three different events during the day. Thankfully Elder and Sister Sapp covered them. I went down briefly just to meet with some of the Interpreters and listen to some of the talks. I gave another tour at noon. That is the last one I will ever give for General Conference. I will probably give a few more for friends, and then that will end too. 😥Friday was long and fun. I spent all day very busy with all things General Conference. I finalized the setup of the 5 laptops we were using for General Conference check-in. We printed 55 copies of all the agendas for each session of conference. Later in the afternoon I printed the Speaker/Interpreter for each session for each language. Those were all pinned up in each booth. Elder Wilcox and Elder Sapp put up various signs around the Church Office Building. They put them in the underground parking garage directing the interpreters to go to the main floor for check-in. They put them up in the building directing them. They had to wait until after the Chaplain banquet to put up signs on the 26th floor. They decided to go earlier on Saturday to do that.
Season, Karstin, and Garren arrived around 6:00 PM. I met them at our apartment complex so they could park and take their bags up to our apartment. We then walked to the COB. Elder Wilcox and Elder Sapp along with Eunlan were at the hotel passing out the per-diem to our traveling interpreters. When they finished, they headed to Grown Burger to pick up dinner for everyone. Season and the boys were joining us for dinner. I also gave them a quick tour of where we work. Later, Elder Wilcox had them help hang up signs. After we were done, Elder Wilcox drove home and I took Season and the boys home via our "secret" tunnel that they wanted to see. It was a beautiful evening so the walk was nice. We visited for a while before we all headed to bed. It was so very nice to see them.
Saturday, we were up at 5 and at the COB by 6. Elder Wilcox and Elder Sapp put up the rest of the signs. I setup the computers and got the check-in desk prepared for our Interpreters. Gratefully, there were no problems. We had 4 very early interpreters show up and we were ready for them.
I headed to the 26th floor to help "train" Sister Sapp with our food prep assignment. Normally that was what Sister Linford always took care of, but they finished their mission a couple weeks ago. We create food boxes for the helpers who cannot leave their stations, such as those at the check-in desk and engineers. Sometimes we can help the kitchen staff keep the food stocked on the tables for the interpreters. After that, I headed to the Check-in table. That is where I am most comfortable. I love meeting all the interpreters when they come.
We were able to get good seats for Season and the boys for both the Saturday morning and afternoon sessions. After the afternoon session, they toured around Temple Square and went to the Church History Museum. Conference was a bit hectic for some reason. Nothing I can put my finger on, but it just felt more hectic than usual. Perhaps it was because I didn't just stay at the check-in desk the whole time. Hahaha Although, I heard from some of the other supervisors that it was busier than usual.
Since the Saturday evening session was only one hour, we were able to go home earlier than normal. It was nice so we could spend time with Season and the boys. It was such a good visit. The boys said they enjoyed Conference. We talked a bit about the talks they enjoyed the most. We didn't get a chance to hear other than small snippets for any of the talks. I look forward to the coming weeks when I can study each one in depth.
Sunday morning we were up early again. Season and the boys got up early too so they could hit the road and head home. It was sad to say goodbye, but we will see them again in just a few weeks. We all left at the same time. Sunday, was less hectic. My favorite part was being able to help one of our interpreters get his contract renewed. There were lots of complications. I texted a message to our contract person, not expecting any response since it was the weekend. But, she responded and helped us immediately. We were able to get his contract straightened out, signed and returned. She then, processed his contract and activated him in PLUNET. We were so grateful to have that done. We finished up with conference and cleanup a little after 5:00 PM. We collapsed when we got home.
I hope you all enjoyed General Conference. I look forward to finally getting to listen.
Mom and Dad
Grandma and Grandpa
Great Grandma and Great Grandpa
Steve and Leslee
Elder and Sister Wilcox
I’m so glad your final conference was a good one and that you got to do so much. That’s great that Season and the boys came to visit! Can’t wait to see you both next month!💕
ReplyDelete