From Reg Littlecott
It was very good on Sunday a couple of weeks ago to see the Stake revitalized. I sat two rows back from Carol Cottrell. It wasn’t her fault, but my mind kept going back to the last time we held a meeting at the Guildhall at which she would have been present. Sort of “back to the future” feeling. I started to think also that I was probably surrounded by the children, grandchildren and possibly great grandchildren of the Saints I worked with years all those years ago in the church in this reformed area. Here are just a couple of memories.
Something was said at that time to me by the visiting authority Elder Howard W Hunter on the plaza outside the Guildhall. He asked me as the District President, how often I met with the High Council. I told him it was every two weeks. His response was the High Council are a duplication of the Quorum of the Twelve and they meet weekly. That was a real shocker to me because we had a High Council from all over the area, some from Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Poole, Southampton, Winchester, and one from Weymouth – a very diligent Brother Mervyn Dadds. After much prayer and thought, I decided to keep it to the fortnightly meeting and somehow after a few months, Brother Dadds asked me if it was true what he had heard about President Hunter’s remarks. I had to admit it was correct and what he said didn’t surprise me at all “I would attend weekly” and I said “I know, that’s why I made the decision to keep it fortnightly”. As I viewed the congregation at the Guildhall this time, I thought, if we can have the dedication and commitment of Brother Dadds , the challenges we have ahead will be opportunities.
If anyone is interested in me going down memory lane about the joining of the Bournemouth/Poole and Southampton Districts and then the eventual formation of the Southampton Stake under the direction of Elder Packer, I am happy to come back with more memories.