We shed bittersweet tears in our home yesterday upon learning of the passing of our beloved Prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley. For our family members and friends who aren't familiar with the LDS Church, I'd like to tell you about this wonderful man. Gordon B. Hinckley has been the Lord's chosen Prophet for the past 12 years, leading the church and the world with his sweet example and by receiving revelation from the Lord and providing guidance and direction to the world. He was 97 at his death, and despite his age, he was as familiar with the trials and adversities of this day and age as any. He was humble and hardworking and sincere. We will miss him dearly, but we are also relieved that he can be in the rest of the Lord and can once again be reunited with his dear wife Marjorie who preceeded him in death in 2004. At our house, President Hinckley is the first Prophet that either of us remembers in our adult lives, as I was only 12 when he was sustained in 1995, and Chris didn't become a member of the church until 1998. We will always remember him as an incredible spiritual giant.
He will be succeeded by another man, and the Church will go forward, but we will always remember with fondness this man who has done so much for the Church. Although I can't provide an exhuastive list of his accomplishments, here are a few things from his life and ministry that make up his legacy:
- His utilization of radio and television media to spread the gospel's message
- Revealing The Family: A Proclamation to the World in 1995
- The Perpetual Education Fund, which provides means for young adults throughout the world (mostly developing countries) to obtain an education
- His involvement in building and dedicating temples, including smaller temples, Houses of the Lord in which individuals can learn more of the nature of God and receive essential ordinances, and in which families can be sealed together for eternity
- The building of the Conference Center
- His extensive worldwide travels and humanitarian efforts, even in his advanced age
- And so many more...what am I missing?
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It is bittersweet, isn't it? I know I'll love the next prophet just as much as I hear him bear testimony, and it is so happy that President Hinckley is finally with his wife. But I am very sad that I won't hear from President Hinckley again: he is so cheerful and I'll miss that.
Just yesterday I was thinking about him as I cleaned up some spilled soap in the church restroom, because I have heard that whenever he saw a paper on the floor or anything out of place in a meeting house he bent over and cleaned it up. I figure that if he could be so humble and serve so faithfully at his age, Icould follow his example. He was my example of how I think Jesus would act and talk.
Here are some more:
President Hinckley's challenge to read The Book of Mormon at the end of 2005, with the promised blessings of "an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God."
President Hinckley taught, by example, about humor. How and when to use it.
President and Sister Hinckley taught a lot about marriage, again by example.
President Hinckley challenged the youth with six B's: be grateful, be smart, be clean, be true, be humble, and be prayerful.
There are many, many things I will remember him for. Most significantly for his testimony of Jesus Christ, our Savior, Redeemer, and the Son of God; his testimony that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church; his testimony that Joseph Smith truly was a prophet of God; and his testimony that The Book of Mormon is a true witness of Christ.
Many thanks to President Gordon B. Hinckley.
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