Mission Reunion w/Pres Asay in SLC Temple
Friday April 2, 1999, Marie, Jeff and I went to a Texas North Mission reunion at the Salt Lake City Temple. President Carlos E Asay was then the President of the temple and had invited all of us to come with our spouses and any endowed children to participate in a temple session for our reunion. There were 305 of us in attendance including Elder Haire whom I had not seen since my mission in 1973 while we served together in Midland Texas for 6 months. As we were waiting in the chapel for the reunion to begin Pres Asay spoke to us and told us that the session could hold 300 but we would get all 305 into the session. Needless to say it was a pretty big group. It was a very special reunion however and Pres Asay took those who lived outside of Utah for a special tour of the temple that night after we were done. He told the rest of us that we could schedule a time with his secretary later and he would take us on a tour as well. That never had a chance to be fulfilled since on Monday morning he went into his office as it were on a cloud since it had been such a special experience. Then that night he had a massive stroke and the following Friday we were in the tabernacle on Temple Square attending his funeral rather than a special tour of the temple. He was a very special mission President and had been etched deep into the hearts of all of his missionaries.