On Friday, October 4, 1963, Thomas S. Monson walked into the Tabernacle on Temple Square and looked for and found a seat on the main floor’s north side of the building, fairly close to the front.
A photographer assigned to cover the 133rd Semiannual General Conference of the Church snapped what might well be the last photo of him as a “rank and file” member of the Church. Just moments after that picture was taken, 36-year-old Thomas S. Monson was sustained as the newest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
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Fifty years ago, at that semiannual general conference, he began his first address as a newly called General Authority with these words: