United For the Love of God

"They who have a desire to hear, let them hear that they too may have access to the light of the Lord."

I am staying at the Royal Garden Inn in Salt Lake City until Tuesday and this weekend, a group of LDS people from France checked into the room next door to mine so they could go to General Conference. They are all very pleasant, but don't speak a word of English and yet, we are able to communicate pleasantries to each other and I absolutely love that.

Around 3:00 this afternoon, I happened to open the door for a breath of air and I saw one of the ladies from the room next door and outside in the cold, deeply frustrated that Conference wasn't being broadcast on the hotel televisions. The others in her group went to the Visitors Center, but she stayed behind.

I invited her into my room to watch the remainder of Conference on my laptop and she accepted. She spoke no English and I speak very, very little French, but she was happy to just watch Conference and listen to both the speakers and the choir. We did exchange some small talk and it turns out she is from Bordeaux, is married and was married in the temple, and has two children: a boy and a girl. It's amazing how well you can get to know a person even with a language barrier present if you simply listen and observe carefully.

We exchanged names and email addresses and the lovely lady's name turned out to be Nicole Lerbscher and she was the most wonderful person. She was so grateful to watch Conference even though she spoke no English, as she understood the Spirit of it and I could see it in her face as we sat side by side watching the last session.

I find it absolutely amazing that even though not everyone can understand one another's language, we can all come together with a unified love of the Lord and enjoy a beautiful event like General Conference. Language is clearly not a barrier when Saints come together to hear the inspiration that the Lord sends to the people of his word through his many mouthpieces.

This experience really instills in me a desire to socialize, help, and show love by serving those in other areas of the world (including France) who are also members of the Church, as even with all our differences, we are united by our faith and desire to learn of Christ and become more like Him.