Rubbing Shoulders with the BIG GUYS.

We know that many of you are aware of our recent stake conference activities. . . . We just did a tour of the stake with Elders Holland and Causse' (of the Seventy) and their wives. What a wonderful experience! It was a crazy ten days, starting with Jeddah, Riyadh, and the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. We were then on to Doha in Qatar, Kuwait, and then Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and finally Dubai. It was a grueling ten days including seven general sessions, four leadership sessions of conference and three special firesides. In ways it went very fast, but in other ways it was a very long haul. Our two esteemed guests came to release Dave as Stake President and find his replacement. They interviewed as we went from place to place, and it was certainly interesting to see their day to day behaviors and how they interacted with all the members. They made us feel very comfortable with them and they were very nice. The two couples were very gracious and appreciative of everything we did for them. They made everyone feel at ease in their presence, and they were very easy to talk to. Sisters Holland and Causse' were very sweet ladies. I had fun visiting with them.
On the last day, in Dubai, they released Dave with a vote of thanks, and put in his replacement, President Waldo Galan. He is the head of Ford Motor Company in the Middle East. Dave's two counselors stayed on and are the new President's counselors. The picture below is the old stake presidency and the two general authority couples.