President Hinckley

More than half of the readers of my blog are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, yet all of you know me well enough to know our beliefs. I appreciate those of you who have e-mailed me the past couple of days to express your condolences about the death of our prophet and president of the church, President Gordon B. Hinckley. Thank you for thinking of me, and knowing the significance of his death to me.

President Hinckley, the fifteenth president of the church, passed away at 7:00 pm on Sunday, January 27. He was 97 years old.

This is actually a very bittersweet time for most of the members of the church. Although we will miss him greatly, there was no one more prepared to be greeted by those on the other side. His sweet wife, Marjorie Pay Hinckley, passed away on April 6, 2004. He has frequently commented on how lonely he is without her. I can imagine what a joyous reunion that has been.

One of Ryan’s favorite books is “The Story of the Walnut Tree.” It is the story that President Hinckley originally told in the April 2000 conference, about planting a black walnut seed in the yard at his home, the growth of the tree and his care of the tree, and finally, the tree being cut down and used to make the pulpit at the Conference Center. We love the book, because as each page talks about different elements of the care and growth of the tree, there are corresponding stories of the care and growth of President Hinckley and his family. We are reading the story again tonight for Family Home Evening. I also recorded a special broadcast that aired last night after Ryan went to bed that we are going to watch. We will also review some of President Hinckley's direction and challenges to us from past conference talks.For those of you in my WGU family, our friend Kevin Schlag shares President Hinckley’s birthday, although they were born exactly 60 years apart. (Kevin is now serving as a Bishop in Laie, Hawaii.)

As we learned of President Hinckley’s death, Ryan and I reflected on the wonderful opportunity that we had to see him in person twice in the past four months. We know that there are millions of members of the Church that would love to have that opportunity even once in their lives. We are grateful that we were able to have that amazing experience twice so recently. We will miss his smile, his sense of humor, his endless energy, his absolute conviction and testimony, and especially his love.(Photos from http://www.lds.org/)

Story from Church website:
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/beloved-church-president-gordon-b-hinckley-dies-at-97

Biography of President Hinckley:
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=262af508ce69f010VgnVCM100000176f620aRCRD&vgnextchannel=67509c643826e010VgnVCM1000004e94610aRCRD

Timeline of President Hinckley’s service as the prophet:
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/time-line-of-significant-events-as-president

Testimony of President Hinckley:
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/testimony-of-president-gordon-b-hinckley

Succession in the Presidency:
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/succession-in-the-presidency-of-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints