In the opening session of April 2002 General Conference, President Hinckley stated, "Though we made a deliberate decision to not use the Olympics as a time and place to proselytize...the entire community did join together in a great expression of hospitality. And out of all this came something wonderful for the Church."
Not only did the Olympics go well, NBC Sports' Dick Ebersol described the Salt Lake Olympic Games as "far and away, the most successful Olympics, summer or winter, in history." Utah, he said, will always be remembered for its warmth and "the collegial feeling which doesn't just go to how people were greeted going in and out of venues....I think the friendliness of this place really seeped through. It said, 'this is a nice place to come to'...I was very taken by all of them...they couldn't be nicer."1
I see the Olympic experience as a prototype for us in our individual spheres. Just as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined together with the entire SLC community to welcome the world to the Olympics, we can welcome our communities—and neighbors—into our homes and hearts.
1 Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Church Goes Forward" Ensign, 2002: 4.