marc and michelle

President Hinckley

I just laid Jackson down for his nap and wanted to just write a few things down (maybe more for my own Journal/remembering purposes). I just keep thinking about President Hinckley passing away last night. My initial response was sadness, simply because he has been the prophet for most of my lifetime and I love and respect him so much. However, my thoughts instantly turned as I thought of what an amazing blessing it is for him and his wife to be together again. I am so grateful for the time that he did spend as the Prophet of our Church. I have learned from his many talks in general conference and from other public speeches I have heard.

I remember so clearly the day he was put into office as the Prophet. The speech he gave, I must admit I don't remember, but I do remember him making a public announcement in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building that he would become the Prophet of our church.

I have had many opportunities to listen to his words, but two experiences keep coming back to me. The first being, while I was at BYU he came to speak and the Marriott Center. I was working at the BYU ticket office and wasn't sure I was going to be able to see any of it in person, but since the ticket office is in the Marriott Center, our boss let us walk into one of the tunnels and listen. I remember hurrying so fast down the back hallways and hearing all the noise and commotion, when suddenly as we walked in the place instantly feel silent as the prophet walked in. I remember feeling an overwhelming amount of love and gratitude for him.

The other experience that comes to mind is one that I had while on a BYU Study Abroad Program in Spain. If I remember correctly, President Hinckley's wife had passed away recently and this was his first public addresses since her death. We sat in a small chapel in the town of Alcala and listen to him speak. I remember thinking how weak and feeble he looked and how sad and wearing his wife's death must have been on him. But as he continued with his talk I felt the power of his words and his love for the people of Spain. It was an amazing testimony builder of how the church is always moving forward to cover the earth and how the messages being taught to us are the same all across the world. The the spirit I felt in that meeting was the same spirit I have felt listening to him in my home at General Conference or at the devotional at BYU.

I am so grateful for a Prophet who leads and guides us and for the knowledge that we have been given through Prophets and Apostles of the Plan of Salvation and Eternal Life. I am so grateful the intergrity and righteousness he lived his life with. I love him and am happy for the reunion that he is having with his wife and so many others.