Tad Talk

You know how you see the elevator doors starting to close and you rush the last few steps, hoping to catch someone’s eye so they will press the button to open the doors again for you or to stick your arm in to stop them?

I did that Monday morning in the hotel in Bogotá, Colombia. Much to my surprise, the eyes I saw belonged to President Russell M. Nelson and one of his bodyguards I’ve come to know.

I stuck my arm between the doors. The bodyguard pressed the button. I slipped into the elevator.

President Nelson did what he always does when we meet or when I have seen him greet thousands of other people around the world, from presidents of nations to lawmakers and from authors of international bestsellers to widows with little more than mites.

His face opened in a smile, he put out his hand, took mine and looked me directly in the eyes. He said, “Hello, Tad. How are you?”

I told him I was fantastic. I was still on a high from spending the two previous days in northern Colombia to visit the Wayuu indigenous people, who allow few visitors, much less reporters.

I asked how he was. Still smiling, he nodded and said sincerely, “Fine, fine.”

He seeks connection in every encounter, and this time he told me he had read the story I posted online the night before. I gave him a brief description of my Wayuu visit.

You know how you race to an elevator to go down, and get on one that’s going up? As President Nelson and his companion got off on a higher floor, and I didn’t, we laughed. I told him I’d see him in a couple of hours for a scheduled interview after he visited with Colombia’s president, Iván Duque. We also looked ahead to Quito, Ecuador, that night for the third of three devotionals he was giving on three consecutive nights in three separate countries.

I do some devotional coverage on these trips, but my main job is to write news features about the church in some of the countries President Nelson visits. To do so, I spent two days in Colombia before he arrived, and I’m staying in Ecuador two days after he spoke here.

I’m writing this at 5:30 a.m. as a driver takes me and a humanitarian missionary couple down, down, down steep, winding roads and highways out of Quito, Ecuador (elevation 9,350 feet). We are headed to Santo Domingo (1,758 feet). The two-and-a-half-hour trip will allow me to report on two projects involving church members and Latter-day Saint Charities, including one with another indigenous people.

But when President Nelson meets with a head of state, it’s what we call hard news, which is my other assignment on these trips. So, after he met with President Duque in a narrow window between the two men’s flights, I got to spend seven minutes asking him questions about the visit. He was focused, thoughtful, funny and helpful. Then we were done, and he walked directly onto a plane for the flight from Bogotá to Quito.

Flying into Quito is remarkable. It is a huge city on a massive, mountaintop plateau, the second-highest capital in the world. Smaller cities, some still quite large, sit on a series of plateaus in the approach path. The airport is actually in a city below Quito. Our flight arrived later than we expected, so we went directly to the arena where the devotional was held, up, up, up a steep, winding road to the striking, modern city above.

I headed to the room where President Nelson would meet with a group of about a dozen dignitaries from Ecuador’s government, General Assembly and religious communities. Elder Quentin L. Cook and Sister Mary Cook spoke to them first. Then President Nelson and Sister Wendy Nelson arrived. His face opened in a smile. He put out his hand to each person and looked them directly in the eyes. He connected with each one.

I had watched the Rev. Federico Boni, the legal representative from what is the equivalent of the Vatican’s embassy in Ecuador, smile broadly and nod repeatedly as Elder Cook related President Nelson’s visit with Pope Francis in March. He was at the end of the reception line, and I observed him beam broadly as President Nelson drew closer and closer. The attorney blushed when they met, smiling and nodding and shaking hands.

“It is a great honor to meet him,” he told me afterward.

The night before, President Nelson taught that “exaltation is a family matter.” After meeting the Rev. Boni, he taught members to live by the moral values Christ taught. As he began to leave the arena, he even connected with the chorister, taking her hand between verses of “We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet.” Still grasping her hand, he began to lead the next verse with her, both enjoying the moment.

I’ve watched him see people, really see them. I’ve heard him validate people who have suffered. I’m convinced it would be difficult to overstate how highly he values unity. It’s impossible to truly understand him without that. His international tours are in part an effort to promote unity in the church and in the world.

We’re getting close to Santo Domingo now. Our brakes are grinding. Clear weather in the mountains has given way to a mist. It might rain in the afternoon. The drive has reminded me of the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon or driving from Utah to Colorado, lined with green trees. It’s a good day to be a reporter.

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