Good-bye, President Hinckley

I found out tonight while I was hanging out with some friends that President Hinckley had died. We had been playing Rock Rand, but somehow, we lost interest as we sat there contemplating the death of our prophet.

For those of you who don't know President Hinckley, he was the president and prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the 15th prophet since Joseph Smith, and the one I know best since he has served as prophet for almost 13 years. For more information about his life, go here and here . I want to just write a little bit about what I remember about him and what he meant to me.

I am going to miss President Hinckley. I loved listening to and watching General Conference and hearing him speak, because he always bore such a simple, yet strong, testimony about the truthfulness of the gospel, the love that God Has for us, and his love for Jesus Christ and testimony that he is our savior. I don't remember hearing anything completely revolutionary from the pulpit, but always left with a feeling of love and safety. I remember a few years ago when I went to the Sunday session of General Conference at the conference center. It was amazing to sit there, and feel this incredible electricity in the air when President Hinckley came in, and to then stand with thousands of people singing we thank thee o god for a prophet, with tears streaming down my face and my heart so full it felt like bursting. He was a prophet of God. I knew then, and I know now, and I've had that testimony reinforced so many times.

I remember when the World trade Center was attacked and collapsed. I remember the words that President Hinckley said comforted me. I don't remember what it was exactly that he said, but they were words of love, not hate, encouraging us to become our better selves and not seek revenge, but rather to heal together. Something like that. I remember the talk he gave right before his wife died about how amazing women are, how women are God's greatest creation, and how he shared how much he loved his little wife. It was beautiful, and a few days later, after 67 years of marriage, she passed away. He was so sad, but then testified constantly of the eternal nature of families and the knowledge that he had that they would be together again shortly. I remember coming home from my mission and being too traumatized by life in general to do much, and so the first book that I read was the biography of president Hinckley while on the beach in Prince Edward Island by the cabin. I inhaled that book and grew to love him even more, learning about his life dedicated to service in the church and serving people everywhere. I loved also to learn about his own struggles early on, and how he stuck with it. He was a prophet after my own heart, with the way he brought temples to people all over the world. There are now 126 temples in the world! and one of them is in Finland! Because of this effort, so many more people can participate in the blessings of the temple. Oh, how I wish I could bring all of you into the temple with me! Then you would understand why I love it so and how I can be so dedicated to this religion and what it means to have a prophet on earth today. I can't wait to find out who the next one is, and I hope to be able to sustain him.

President Hinckely will be missed. But what a great man to have in the world.