Conference moment: Gift of a lifetime
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"It is amazing to be here," said centenarian Torkil Dresso of Denmark as
he surveyed the Tabernacle and the Salt Lake Temple. "It is impossible to
describe, so fantastic, so wonderful to be here — it is a life dream
come true."
The trip to Church headquarters for the just-concluded October general conference was a gift for his 100th birthday — first class airline tickets for him and his wife from Denmark to the United States — by a former missionary companion, Paul Mikkelsen of Seattle, Wash.
Brother Dresso and his wife of 69 years, Sara, were baptized in 1955 when the Church in Denmark was struggling because it had been seriously depleted by hundreds of members immigrating to the United States at the end of World War II.
"Because of the lack of leadership, missionaries from Zion filled in until the local boys grew up enough to serve missions," said Brother Dresso through an interpreter, William Pedersen, his host in Salt Lake City.
Shortly after his baptism, Brother Dresso was called as branch president. Next, he was called as district president and then he served as a counselor in the mission presidency. In all, he served as a counselor to seven mission presidents.
Brother and Sister Dresso agree that the most wonderful experience they had as the Church was growing in Denmark was the dedication of the Swiss Temple in 1955 by President David O. McKay.
"We were with the first group to receive our temple sealing," said Sister Dresso.
They also dreamed of coming to Salt Lake City to visit Church headquarters, but were never able to afford the trip.
As they attended the final conference in the Tabernacle on the sixth row, they were "thrilled beyond description." They were touched by the reverence shown to the First Presidency.
"Everything we see and experience [here in Salt Lake City] is almost too much to contain," said Sister Dresso. "We are so moved by it all. The Lord has blessed us so much in all the years we have been members of the Church. We consider ourselves rich and happy." — John L. Hart
Illustration by John Clark.
