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TORONTO — President Thomas S. Monson returned to Toronto — where he spent three years as a mission president 45 years ago — to address the Eastern Canada Regional Conference, the first satellite broadcast in Canada.
The conference, held May 1-2, originated from the Brampton Stake Center, next to the Toronto Canada Temple. It was viewed by 12,951 people at 99 chapels in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. From 1959 to 1962 President Monson served as president of the Canadian Mission, which included the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
There were no wards or stakes in the vast area when he arrived — just branches in seven scattered districts. Some were more than 1,000 miles from Toronto. The nearest temple was Cardston, more than 2,000 miles to the west.
Today, there are 82 wards and 55 branches in 13 stakes and four districts, and temples in Toronto, Montreal and Halifax.
Accompanying President Monson was Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve who served as mission president in Toronto 30 years ago.
The use of satellite transmission has become more common in regional conferences. Members in British Columbia recently viewed a conference that originated from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. The Toronto conference was the first broadcast of a regional conference originating in Canada. Broadcasting to 99 chapels, this conference was received by more sites than any previous conference.
President Monson spoke of using the marvels of modern technology and said at the priesthood session on Saturday evening that members could look forward to more uses of satellite transmission.
President Monson spoke of using satellite technology in Mexico last April. In a conference there, he was able to reach one-third of the Church membership in that country through downlinks to several locations. Also, last month he was in Berlin, Germany, for a conference that was transmitted to Germany as well as Austria and Switzerland.
The conference in Eastern Canada was translated into seven languages — Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish, German, Portuguese, French and Korean.
President Monson was 31 years old when he was called as president of the Canadian Mission, based in Toronto. He spoke fondly of his memories and said Canada was "the only other country besides the United States that Joseph Smith visited."
President Monson told how one of the first missionaries sent to Canada informed Joseph Smith that he couldn't go because he had no coat to wear. President Monson described how Joseph took off his own overcoat and gave it to the missionary, John E. Page, who labored in Canada for two years, traveling over 5,000 miles — mostly on foot — and baptizing some 600 people.
President Monson also related how Parley P. Pratt journeyed to Canada and met with John Taylor, a Methodist minister in Toronto. John Taylor did not join the Church right away, said President Monson. But of course he did join later, had a close relationship with Joseph Smith and went on to become the third president of the Church. "What a heritage," declared President Monson.
In his remarks Sunday, President Monson described returning to the mission home where he served with his family.
He said, "We have been richly blessed in Eastern Canada. We now have the buildings we lacked, the acceptance we wished for and the members for whom we prayed."
"I am a better man for having the privilege of bringing my wife and family to Canada," said President Monson.
Sister Monson said they met "many wonderful people and there were great missionaries in our mission. Many of our missionaries have been presidents of the mission here."
One of them, Ward Taylor, current president of the Canada Toronto East mission, attended the regional conference.
In his comments, Elder Ballard, who presided over the Canada Toronto Mission from 1974 to 1977, said, "The members and missionaries have done a great work in bringing the Church out of obscurity and into a recognized organization that teaches the gospel of Jesus Christ. We appreciate that the Lord has blessed the Church here and know that there is much more yet to be accomplished."
The marvel of the Restoration of the gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith was reviewed by Elder Ballard. Respect and admiration for those who have given so much to establish the Church of Jesus Christ was expressed with appreciation for the Atonement of the Savior. He spoke of the prophets of all dispensations who made great efforts to teach truth, and the Savior's apostles who gave their lives as did the men and women of the Reformation.
"How much we owe all of them," he said, "in their preparation for that special day in the spring of 1820 when the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph and opened up this last dispensation of time by calling Joseph Smith to be the prophet of the Restoration of the gospel.
"We must never forget how much we owe to so many who have gone before us in giving to us the light and knowledge of the gospel as a way of life."
In her testimony, Sister Barbara Ballard expressed her love for Canada and the great impact on her family that their mission had.
President Monson's daughter, Ann M. Dibb, accompanied her mother and father to the regional conference and spoke about coming to Toronto with her family as a 4-year-old. When she visited the Ossington Chapel — Toronto's first chapel — she said memories came flooding back about a talk she gave there as a child.
"Our father always taught us to memorize our talks," she said. She recounted that on the Saturday before she was to speak, she could not find the talk. When she glanced over at the parakeet cage in the mission home, she noticed her talk was being used as cage liner. Because she had prepared the talk in advance and studied it before it became a cage liner, "I was able to give my talk because of my father's direction."
