President Gordon B. Hinckley

By now you have already heard that Pres. Hinckely died Sunday, January 27, 2008. The world has lost one of the great ones.

I have stories I will remember forever about this dear prophet, and I am sure you do too. Do you want to share them?

I have had the privilege of meeting Pres. Hinckley a dozen or more times--one of the perks of being a Salt Laker. One time, he came to the viewing at the chapel for my sister who had died at age 42, leaving two young teenage children. For some reason, I was the only one in the room at the moment President Hinckley walked in, without security guards. His eyes were filled with tears as he took my hand and expressed his heartfelt sympathy. Just seven days earlier he had visited her at the hospital and offered the most powerful blessing--not of healing, but of overcoming her life's challenges, and a blessing of comfort for the family. A few days later she was released from the burdens and trials of mortality. I saw a side of President Hinckley I had not noticed before. His tenderness, compassion, and priesthood power defined his actions.

I am going to read his last conference talk before going to bed tonight. And then I will thank Heavenly Father for the privilege of living in the days of Gordon B. Hinckley and for hearing words of truth and testimony from him.

Here is a link to a photographic essay with some awesome pictures of Pres. Hinckley. Be ready for some tears.

http://www.ldsmag.com/photoessay/060331Hinckley.html

The following entry was copied from a blog written by Kelly McCaleb, at kellymccaleb.typepad.com It contains some wonderful quotes from Pres. and Sister Hinckely.

my favorite teachings of the prophet gordon b. hinckley

“Under the plan of heaven, the husband and the wife walk side by side as companions, neither one ahead of the other, but a daughter of God and a son of God walking side by side. Let your families be families of love and peace and happiness. Gather your children around you and have your family home evenings, teach your children the ways of the Lord, read to them from the scriptures, and let them come to know the great truths of the eternal gospel as set forth in these words of the Almighty."
"The way will be lighter, the worries will be fewer, the confrontations will be less difficult if we cultivate a spirit of happiness."
"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."
". . . I am satisfied . . . that whenever a man has a true witness in his heart of the living reality of the Lord Jesus Christ all else will come together as it should."
"Let your children be exposed to great minds, great ideas, everlasting truth, and those things which will build and motivate for good."
"Of all the creations of the Almighty, there is none more beautiful, none more inspiring than a lovely daughter of God who walks in virtue with an understanding of why she should do so, who honors and respects her body as a thing sacred and divine, who cultivates her mind and constantly enlarges the horizon of her understanding, who nurtures her spirit with everlasting truth."
"I testify that our prayers, offered in humility and sincerity, are heard and answered. It is a miraculous thing, but it is real."
“Before I married her, she was the girl of my dreams,” he said. “She was my dear companion for more than two thirds of a century, my equal before the Lord – really my superior. Now in my old age, she has again become the girl of my dreams.” President Hinckley said he has seen too many marriages end in tragedy because of arrogance and degradation. In his estimation, if men and women were to do whatever it took to ensure the comfort and happiness of his or her counterpart, there would be little or no divorce. “Arguments would never be heard, accusations would never be leveled, angry explosions would not occur,” he said. “Rather love and concern would replace abuse and meanness.” In President Hinckley’s 67 years of marriage, he could not remember one serious quarrel or argument with his wife. The prophet pleaded with the men of the church “to look for and nurture the divinity that lies within their companions.” He said that harmony, peace and enrichment of family life are results of such treatment. “The cure for most marriage troubles does not lie in divorce; it lies in repentance and forgiveness, and expressions of kindness and concern,” he said. “We can live together in the God-given pattern of marriage and accomplish that which we are capable, if we will exercise discipline of self and refrain from trying to discipline our companion.” President Hinckley said women are endowed with certain divine qualities and that men should give them the opportunity to express their qualities and talents. According to President Hinckley, Sister Marjorie Hinckley summed up her gratitude for her husband’s encouragement in one statement. 'You’ve always given me wings to fly, and I’ve loved you for it,' she said"
-quotes/writings from Gordon B. Hinckley, prophet and president of the LDS church, who passed away last night. he was the prophet who came to byu (when i was an ungrateful 20 year old who didn't really want to be there and wasn't really trying) and told us not to be "scrubs", encouraged us to make the jump from mediocrity to excellence, and to walk a little taller...and with those words changed the course of my life. he was the prophet while i was a missionary and later a teacher at the mtc- in total about three years- of daily testifying that he truly spoke with the lord and was leading the church as his mouthpiece, and feeling the spirit confirm that again and again to my heart and to those i was teaching.
i am going to miss his bright optimism and expressions of love. his encouragement and true christianity. but i am so happy for him! i tried to imagine his reception in heaven and i thought it must've been glorious! and to be with his wife again! he expressed his lonliness these past few years and i'm so happy they are together again. my favorite quote of all time was said by sister hinckley, and i think it is especially applicable and true of the hinckleys entrance to heaven:
"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenck's lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived." -marjorie pay hinckley, wife of the prophet