As I stole into Sacrament Meeting, a few minutes late, on August 22, 2021, Nancy Monson whispered to me, “President Oaks is sitting on the stand.” Dallin H. Oaks is the first counselor in the First Presidency --the number two man in the 16 million member LDS Church. Grace Wilson, our second Sacrament Meeting speaker, cut her talk very short, and President Oaks and his wife, Kristen, shared the podium for 15 minutes. President Oaks told us that, whenever he doesn’t have a Sunday assignment, he picks a ward himself to attend, after praying and checking the demographics of nearby congregations. He doesn’t tell the bishop or anyone else in advance. “I want to see the Church as it really functions,” he said. This was a big day for David, who, as bishop, accompanied President Oaks during the two hours of Sunday meetings. All of us were delighted that the ward performed so well. The Sacrament Meeting speakers and Priesthood and Relief Society teachers were excellent and unflappable, and the classes participated unselfconsciously, as if the Oakses were family friends. I thought of Jesus' parable of the ten virgins. Our ward members are good, humble people, who host inspiring Church meetings, regardless of who is there. We were prepared for the special visit of President and Sister Oaks.
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