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Religion Specialist Carole Mikita reporting
October 4, 2002
Every
first weekend in Oct. and April, members of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gather for worldwide religious
meetings. One-hundred thousand come to the Conference Center
for five sessions, but because of a technological revolution,
millions more can now see it live.
"The
Church grows ever larger. It touches more and more lives for
good. It is spreading over the earth in a wonderful way,"
says LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley.
As of June 1, a new satellite system has given Church leaders
immediate access to members in eastern Europe, Russia, the
Far East and the Pacific Rim.
Lyle Shamo,
managing director for the LDS Church audio-visual department:
"I can remember as a young missionary, sitting in a chapel
in England, listening to the Conference come in by phone line.
But now, it's instantaneous. We can see the face, we can hear
the voice."
Church leaders have held General Conferences since 1830...
and eventually radio and television broadcasts reached a growing
audience. There are now thousands of people who are listening
in on the outside.
This new satellite system had its test run for the Nauvoo
Temple dedication -- the June 27th service was the Church's
largest audience to date.
Members in Guatemala lined up waiting hours to get into meetinghouses.
In Russia, dozens of buses carried members hundreds of miles.
This now global event requires hundreds of volunteers, technicians
and one of the largest translation facilities in the world.
Satellite
dish installation is not finished. There are still 130 more
dishes to install in Asia. General Conference begins Saturday
morning. We'll have the story this weekend.
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