More than 650 people registered for at least some portion of the conference, which began Friday, March 22. Attendees of all ages represented 61 tribes from across North, Central and South America and the Pacific Islands.
This was the second such gathering in Mesa — the first was held one year ago — and nearly two-thirds noted at registration that this was the first gathering they had attended. The first Gathering of the Tribes was held in Calgary, Alberta, in September 2022.
During Gathering of the Tribes conference, Elder Echo Hawk urges Native American attendees to actively participate in the gathering of Israel
Elder Larry J. Echo Hawk tells attendees from 61 tribes across North, Central and South America and the Pacific, ‘Because of your heritage, it is your work, it is your time, your responsibility’
Attendees of the "Gathering of the Tribes" conference in Mesa, Arizona, sit in front of the Mesa Arizona Temple on March 23, 2024. The conference, held in in Mesa, Arizona, is sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. | Scott P. Adair
MESA, Arizona — Elder Larry J. Echo Hawk, emeritus General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke at the opening session of the Gathering of Tribes conference on Saturday, March 23, in Mesa, Arizona — urging participants to make reading the Book of Mormon the most important part of their day and to actively participate in the gathering of Israel.
“This is the gathering, and we need to do more,” he told the attendees. “We have a personal responsibility to prepare for the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It’s not just you, we have a responsibility as a group of the remnant of the House of Israel to do our part ...
“This sacred book is another testament of Jesus Christ,” he said. “You hear the voice of ancient prophets in the Book of Mormon. They are speaking and praying about the very days we live in now. Prophets can see into the future, and they saw the very times we are living in. They prayed that the gathering would take place now. This is our work, especially speaking of the Indigenous people, because of your heritage, it is your work, it is your time, your responsibility. To be the best you can be and to teach your children, your posterity, to have them have the opportunity to embed a knowledge and testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ and the words of the Book of Mormon in their lives. That is our responsibility, and to share that with others.”
. . .Elder Echo Hawk, a member of the Pawnee Nation, addressed the gathering the following morning. He was sustained as a General Authority Seventy in 2012, and received emeritus status in 2018. . .
Elder Larry Echo Hawk, an emeritus General Authority, shares his conversion story and testimony of the Book of Mormon during the Gathering of Tribes conference in Mesa, Arizona, on March 23, 2024. | Scott P. Adair
. . . Elder Echo Hawk was elected attorney general of Idaho in 1990, the first American Indian in U.S. history elected as a state attorney general. He served two consecutive terms in the Idaho House of Representatives, and subsequently worked as a law professor at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University. At the time of his call to the Seventy, he was serving as assistant secretary for Indian Affairs for the U.S. Department of the Interior. He has served in numerous Church callings, including stake president, bishop, Gospel Doctrine instructor, and second counselor in the Philippines Area presidency. . .
Also speaking at the opening of the gathering were representative of FamilySearch, announcing that a new oral history/family history project aims to work closely with North American tribal communities to document oral histories, similar to what’s been done recently in Africa. They conducted initial interviews with elders from Navajo and San Carlos Apache communities.
No comments:
Post a Comment