What President M. Russell Ballard tweeted about his eyes and his general conference talk
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Speakers used the teleprompter in the Conference Center to deliver 27 of the 28 talks at the 193rd Semiannual General Conference.
President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve, spoke extemporaneously because of his eyesight, for which he gave a self-deprecating explanation.
“My eyes aren’t what they used to be,” he said. “I went and saw the eye doctor, and I said, ‘I can’t see the teleprompter.’ And she said, “Well, your eyes are old. They’re not going to change.”
“So I’ll do the best I can,” he said.
Those who listened heard him bear a tender testimony of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon and the Restoration.
His words are now printed on ChurchofJesusChrist.org below the video of his talk, alongside the text and video of all of the other general conference talks.
President Ballard’s social media pages carried an additional message about why he still wanted to speak despite his eyesight.
“I didn’t want to allow this obstacle to keep me from sharing my testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ,” he said.
I did not read a prepared address today at general conference. My eyes are getting dim as I approach 95 which makes it more difficult to see the teleprompter. However, I didn’t want to allow this obstacle to keep me from sharing my testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ.
I declare… pic.twitter.com/1A5GuwbD4u— M. Russell Ballard (@BallardMRussell) October 1, 2023
Church members shouldn’t miss what he said. He spoke sweetly and directly to them several times.
“We’re in the process of trying to prepare ourselves, a day at a time, to be a little better, be a little kinder, be a little more prepared for that day, which will surely come, when we shall pass back into the presence of our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” he said.
“That’s getting a little closer for me. I’ll soon be 95. My children tell me they think I’m a lot older than that some days, but that’s OK. I’m doing the best I can.”
But he also thanked the church’s members, similarly to Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who said members make him a better man and a better disciple.
“For nearly 50 years,” President Ballard said, “I’ve had the privilege to cover the world in my assignment as a General Authority of the church. It’s been a wonderful blessing. I think I’ve gotten pretty close to almost all parts of the world. I’ve met with members of the church all over the world.
“Oh, how I love you. What a glorious experience that’s been — to look into your faces, be in your presence and feel your love that you have for the Lord and for the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
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About the church
The most popular story at the Deseret News for several days has been the one with the talk summaries and photo galleries from general conference.
Read one powerful quote from each October 2023 general conference talk.
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Among those announced temples were four more temples in Africa and a temple on fire-ravaged Maui.
There’s been more vandalism of Latter-day Saint buildings.
How Latter-day Saints, Catholics and other religious Americans feel about climate change.
Rwanda’s first Catholic Cardinal visited church headquarters, and Samoa’s prime minister visited Welfare Square in Salt Lake City.
What I’m reading
How a returned missionary became the NFL’s top return man.
Saddened by the death, by brain cancer, of former Boston Red Sox knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield. Wake was a great American story, a college slugger who was failing in the pros and remade himself as a pitcher with the knuckleball. A Hall of Fame slugger once described how hard it is to throw the knuckleball well — “Throwing a knuckleball for a strike is like throwing a butterfly with hiccups across the street into your neighbor’s mailbox.” But Wakefield did it so well, he won 200 games in his Major League Baseball career. He also was a kind man who raised millions for charity and spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours with children with cancer. His 2003 and 2004 playoff appearances with the Red Sox are the stuff of legend. Rest in peace, Wake. ESPN obituary here. New York Times here. His teammates’ reactions here.
Some great points on this column about how the sports media treats quarterbacks, or really any sports stars, who struggle. One good line was that what is heaped on them is “a lot to hang on guys who could legally still be on their parents’ health insurance.”
Behind the scenes
