Do you hold a special place in your heart for our passed Prophet Pres. Hinckley too? Do you recall his quick wit, his loving smile, his love for sweet Marjorie, his hand shaking away at us from the pulpit admonishing us to be better& the wave of his cane.
However, Tyson and I both have this special connection with President Hinckley, we share this affection for him and have often discussed it. My admiration for President Monson is present and ever growing but it is just different.
I have pondered this and I think I've figured out why exactly we feel this way for President Hinckley. Fact: He became the prophet in 1995 I was 12 years old and he passed away in January 27, 2008 during my 26th year.
Do you know what occurred in my life during those years? What huge life changing decisions were made? EVERYTHING! Those were the critical years when I truly gained a firm testimony of the Gospel and figured out who I was and the girl/woman I wanted to become.
President Hinkley, figuratively speaking was there with me when I moved to Utah, not knowing a single soul in the world walking into that massive Junior High all alone with a pit in my stomach, he was there throughout all of those tough teenage years encouraging me to BE SMART, BE TRUE, BE HUMBLE, BE GRATEFUL, BE PRAYERFUL & CLEAN, all of which I strived to live by.
I got to be in his presence time and time again to listen to him speak or sing in choirs of meetings he was speaking at, one of the joys of living in Utah. Did I ever meet him, shake his hand or greet him with a hello? No. But that didn't matter. I felt like I knew him personally and he was a part of my life in such a special way.
He was the prophet when I decided what college to attend & what to study.
When I received and tried to magnify my first real calling.
He called Tyson to serve his full time mission to upstate New York.
He instilled in us a love for the temple and encouraged us to go as often as we could.
He helped oversee the building of the Conference center which has blessed me in so many ways.
I looked to him and his wife's example while I was choosing my eternal companion.
He was the prophet during my first 4 years of married life.He challenged us to read the Book of Mormon and promised us amazing blessing if we did it.
He was the prophet when I became a mother and I now have The Proclamation to the Family to help me with my sacred calling.
We wept with him when his wife died and mourned for him when he passed away few years later. Tyson and I were blessed with the opportunity to attend his funeral and we will always remember the spirit we felt there.
To this day when I hear a recording of his voice my heart swells up with joy and love for him and often a tear or two comes my way.I grew up hearing about President McKay and how wonderful he was from my parents and Lydia will now grow up and hear Mom and Dad talk about the admiration and love for we hold for President Hinckley, "our" prophet.
3 comments:
I love this Laura! I too consider him the prophet that I grew up with. I love and miss him :) Thanks for sharing.
Ditto, to all you said about this amazing man and his wife. I miss him dearly, he had such a great sense of humor.
Oh I agree - he became prophet when I was 10 and was the first real prophet I remember. How I loved hearing his voice and seeing his sweet smile. Thank you for sharing such a sweet testimony.
Post a Comment