183rd General Conference in Salt lake

My hearing is so bad now that I have taken to watch and read this 183rd General Conference online as I did the last conference session in October last year. In the Saturday morning session President Monson spoke in his opening remarks of the conference of all the travelling he had done in six months since the last conference. Of special significence was the opening of the Tegucigalpa Temple in Honduras for the dedicated Saints in that land. Further Temples were announced to be constructed in Cedar City and another in Rio De Janiero. It seems at each copnference now more Temples are announced. I think we now have 158 Temples built around the world.

Ground was first broken for the Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple on Saturday, June 9, 2007—one year from the date of its announcement—at its originally chosen location adjacent to the institute building on the eastern side of the city. President Spencer V. Jones of the Seventy presided at the event, which was attended by invited priesthood leaders and their families—several of whom participated in the first ceremonial scoops of dirt with gold-colored shovels. Stake presidents from Nicaragua expressed gratitude that the temple would be only four hours away, allowing them to spend more time doing ordinance work than traveling, as had previously been the case.
President Monson went on to tell us that there are now 65,634 full-time missionaries now serving, 20000 who had calls issued and a further 6000 in the interview process since he announced the lowering of the missionary age in October. He marvelled how many of the youth had sprung forth to serve missions after that announcement. Because of the sudden spirt in growth, a further 58 mission fields have been prepared! We have all been asked to contribute to the mission fund and I am thankful that I have already started doing that about three pensions ago. I am awed that I anticipated our Prophet's words and the Spirit had been whispering to me and I heeded his whispers. There may be more conference addresses written in this blog as my reading progresses!
And as I write this, because of the rain  we have had, the perfume of the bush drifts through my front door. It is deligthful and I want to jump in the car and head for Jarrahdale to wander through the trees near Wungong Brook as in my junior years.