We Laughed, We Cried

As the newly sustained president of the Quorum of the Twelve, President Russell M. Nelson had an interesting task in contrasting the previous talks.  The three previous speakers were the newly sustained members of the Twelve, who while sincere, were understandably overwhelmed.  I appreciated this sequence of speakers because it cast a different light on now-President Nelson.  I admit that in earlier conferences I had seen then-Elder Nelson as a stately, but lackluster speaker.  Judge me if you want, but I was never excited nor bored to hear Elder Nelson.  This time was different.   Whether you call it divine providence or the speaker stepping up to the plate, President Nelson seemed to radiate a new authority.  I clung to every word he said.  To use rhetorical terms, the kairos of the conference seemed to lend ethos to President Nelson, especially in a new leadership position.  Maybe I’ve had a change of heart, but I want to hear him speak again.

However, I do give credit to Russell M. Nelson for the ways in which he arranges his speeches.  He is generally considered a straightforward speaker.  Sunday was no exception, though it did have an emotional touch.  He began by explaining that he was friends, not just associates, with the recently deceased apostles.  This lead seamlessly into the exemplary reactions of those apostles’ widows.  Because he wasn’t initially explicit about it, he allowed his listeners to find the similarities between those faithful women in spite of their differences.  If those heart-wrenching stories weren’t enough to hold your attention, he displayed photos of each wife.  I watched my grandmother cry during this talk, both because of the loss of these men and the inspiring speech.  To follow up (just in case the audience didn’t get it) President Nelson listed off five or six different attributes that women should have.  I noticed how he divided this up between married and will-be-married women.  He gave several lists throughout the talk.

To make sure that he didn’t numb his audience, he included a personal humorous story about his own late wife.  After crying for a whole night, his wife, who had been comforting him, asked, “Are you done crying?”  While the comic relief was much needed, it drove home an important point.  We need this mix of tenderness and grit in women today.  I could easily say “Amen” after his talk.