The Tabernacle Choir left a trail of tears along the route of its historic tour to Europe June 8-29.

But these weren't tears of sadness. They were tears of joy and happiness that come with sharing the gospel message. They were tears that accompany the emotions of finding and, only a short while later, parting with new friends who speak different tongues but communicate soul to soul through the universal languages of love, music and the whisperings of the Spirit.And they were tears of gratitude - gratitude on the part of audiences, particularly Church members, and on the part of singers for being able to lift their voices in eight nations of the world. Choir members or their predecessors had already performed in three of those nations: Germany, France and Switzerland. The other five countries were new for the choir: Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Soviet Union. With the exception of Austria, these latter countries are new ground for the Church.

Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Council of the Twelve and his wife, Dantzel, traveled with the choir throughout the tour. Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Council of the Twelve attended the concert in Moscow, having traveled there after going to Armenia where he, Elder Nelson and Elder Hans B. Ringger of the Seventy and president of the Europe Area accepted a gift of a plot of land in the city of Yerevan from officials of the Armenia Soviet Socialist Republic. (See Church News, June 29.)

Elder Ringger and his counselors, Elders Spencer J. Condie and Albert Choules, also of the Seventy, attended choir concerts and firesides at various points on the tour route. Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander, a newly called member of the Seventy and president of the Austria Vienna East Mission, attended the choir concert in Vienna.

In a fireside address, Elder Nelson described the choir tour to Europe as "part of the Lord's plan to preach the gospel to the people of the world." Elaborating on his understanding of that plan, Elder Nelson described how, many centuries before Jesus was born, the star that was to appear at Bethlehem had to be placed in position so when the proper time and place were ready the star would shine over the place of the birth of the Savior of the world.

He said that the First Presidency and Tabernacle Choir Pres. Wendell M. Smoot planned the choir's tour "years ago, well before the crumbling of communism, well before the Berlin Wall came down in November 1989. They even had the boldness to conceive the idea that when June 1991 came around that the choir would sing in Moscow, Russia. At that time, religion was not so well considered in the republic. But the `star' was put in place so that six days after the first Russian election in a thousand years, the Tabernacle Choir would sing in Moscow."

Elder Nelson outlined some of the highlights of the circumstances leading to the choir's tour, of how he and Elder Ringger were given a special assignment by the First Presidency. That assignment, said Elder Nelson, can be summed up by D&C 112:21, in which the Lord said the Twelve will have power to open up doors to nations of the earth wherever sent by the First Presidency.

Elder Nelson cited D&C 88:73, in which the Lord stated He would hasten His work in His time. "We live at this time that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is touring these countries," Elder Nelson said. "The Lord is hastening His work in its time."

After the choir's return to Salt Lake City, Pres. Smoot described the tour as highly successful. "We achieved all the objectives that were set out for us," he said. "First, in the various areas where we went, we were able to acquaint the people with the Church, to let them know who we are and, to a degree, what our cultural values are.

"Second, we were able to give great support and encouragement to the local members and to the missionary program as it is now emerging in some of these countries, particularly in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. I think the thing that was most important from the choir's view point is that there was a tremendous interest in what we were doing. The Church achieved considerable public recognition as the results of our efforts.

"The choir received broad radio, television and newspaper coverage. More than 600 articles were written about the Church and the choir; there will be additional broadcasts on radio and/or television throughout every nation we went to, with the exception of France, where there was to be a local broadcast in the western part of the country. In all, we were very pleased that so many people were able to learn about the Church. Our potential television audience in these European countries is almost 250 million people.

"Third, we were able to generate a considerable amount of interest among the people in finding out more about the Church." Pres. Smoot said the choir's singing was alone a great missionary tool. In addition, choir members mingled with crowds after concerts, and gave people Articles of Faith cards and filled out missionary referral cards. "We took more than 6,000 cassette tape recordings of the Tabernacle Choir; we gave them all away," Pres. Smoot said.

"We had sell-out crowds for all the concerts except in two instances, and those were still very well attended."

In each country where the choir performed, there were either receptions or dinners attended by national and international dignitaries, business and political leaders, and representatives from the fields of education, culture and the arts, and various religions.

Those receptions and dinners were hosted and financed by prominent Church members from various parts of the world. Pres. Smoot pointed out that the choir's tour was funded by the choir itself, that tithing and other Church funds were not used to pay for the trip. The choir is financially supported mainly by royalties from its recordings, concert fees and donations.

Pres. Smoot described the tour as "extremely hard physically. We had to cover so much ground." The choir's 313 singers and those traveling with them - a total of more than 500 people - traveled by air from Salt Lake City to Frankfurt, Germany, June 8. From June 9-June 21, they traveled by bus, covering nearly 3,000 miles to Strasbourg, France; Zurich, Switzerland; Vienna, Austria; Budapest, Hungary; Prague, Czechoslovakia; and Dresden and Berlin, Germany. The group then traveled June 22 by air to Warsaw, Poland; June 23 to Moscow, and June 26 to Leningrad in the Russian Republic of the Soviet Union.

"The choir just kept going, despite fatigue," Pres. Smoot said. "They generated their own energy and strength. We know where they got that energy and strength - from the inspiration each choir member received from his or her efforts."

About 200 members of the choir group returned to Salt Lake City June 29; the other group, after more than a 12-hour delay leaving Leningrad, arrived home June 30.