Perhaps the first thing one noticed about the 169th Semiannual General Conference Oct. 2-3 were the huge crowds on Temple Square. Temple Square management listed attendance figures at 57,000, including capacity congregations in the Tabernacle and additional seating in the Assembly Hall and North Visitors Center on Temple Square and in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to the immediate east and in nearby chapels.

Often, the word "historic" is used in combination with "Tabernacle." At this conference, particularly, the two words belonged together, for this gathering, indeed, was historic — likely the last general conference to be held in the Tabernacle, and the last conference before the calendar rolls over from the 1900s to 2000.

In his Sunday afternoon address, President Gordon B. Hinckley said, "If present plans hold, this is the last time we will meet in this Tabernacle. With few exceptions, for 132 years our conferences have been held here." (Please see pages 12-13 for a report on President Hinckley's comments about the Tabernacle.)

President Hinckley presided over the conference, conducting three of its five sessions and delivering addresses or making remarks at four. Also taking turns conducting and addressing the gathering were his counselors, President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor, and President James E. Faust, second counselor.

During the two days of conference, 28 speakers gave 33 speeches. Elder David B. Haight and Elder Robert D. Hales, both of the Quorum of Twelve, did not speak because of health reasons.

Among conference proceedings were:

• The granting of emeritus status and release from full-time service to two members of the Seventy.

• The release of four Area Authority Seventies.

• The sustaining of three new Area Authority Seventies.

• The release of the Primary general presidency and the sustaining of a new Primary general presidency.

Also noted at the conference by President Hinckley was the upcoming retirement of Jerold D. Ottley as director of the Tabernacle Choir and JoAnn Ottley as the choir's voice coach. Sunday afternoon's session marked Brother Ottley's last time on the conductor's podium at a general conference.

With record numbers of people on Temple Square, some were disappointed that they could not be seated in the Tabernacle, but many went to Temple Square expecting to participate in the conference by listening to proceedings on the grounds. Even through the Sunday afternoon session, an unusually large number of people still gathered on the grounds.

There was little evidence of the damage caused on Temple Square during a tornado that struck Salt Lake City Aug. 11. The storm had left the Square littered with broken limbs and branches from trees. Windows still boarded up in the rotunda of the North Visitors Center provided about the only visible evidence of the storm. Thousands of flowers bloomed, creating a scene of almost transcendent beauty.

Many seemed to want to prolong the scenes, sounds and sociality of this conference. After the closing prayer, the congregation inside the Tabernacle seemed reluctant to leave. Members stood and waited as the First Presidency and other General Authorities left the podium. Then they remained, listening as Clay Christiansen played a majestic postlude on the Tabernacle organ. It seemed as if they were trying to absorb the sounds the organ sent to the venerable building's very rafters. Many people wiped tears from their eyes as the last notes that were played in the last conference likely in the Tabernacle faded and became a memory in the building's history.

Tim and Lori Lines and friends Jon and Shelly Buehner of the Gilbert Arizona Val Vista Stake brought their children to the conference. "We enjoyed all the talks," Brother Lines said, noting particularly President Hinckley's comments about the growth of the Church that led to the need for the larger Conference Center.

Brother Buehner felt very much a part of history, not only of the conference but of the Tabernacle itself. "My great-great-grandfather, William H. Folsom, was one of the architects of the Tabernacle," he said. "There has been a feeling of nostalgia, and also a warm feeling at seeing the end of one era and the beginning of another."

All sessions were televised by satellite to more than 3,700 meetinghouses throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. The sessions were carried live on KSL-TV, Channel 5, in Salt Lake City, and tape-delayed on KBYU-TV, Channel 11, in Provo, Utah. In addition, sessions were transmitted via satellite to approximately 1,500 cable television systems plus television and radio stations in the United States and Canada on a public service basis.

The Saturday and Sunday morning sessions were transmitted live to Europe. The priesthood and Sunday afternoon sessions were transmitted on a delayed basis on Sunday, Oct. 3, and the General Relief Society Meeting, which was held Sept. 25, was transmitted on a delayed basis on Saturday, Oct. 2. The Sunday morning Tabernacle Choir program, "Music and the Spoken Word," was also transmitted live. All Europe transmissions were in 11 languages. Conference sessions were received in more than 180 meetinghouses.

Church units in areas of the world where satellite and other transmissions were not available will receive videotapes of conference.