So I'm sure the passing away of Pres. Hinckley all sort of caught us off guard. We knew it was going to happen sooner or later. I found out during a stake priesthood meeting Sunday night. The funny thing was that the Stake President was speaking about distractions and that in a conversation with Pres. Bateman (Provo temple president), he said that the #1 problem they have right now in the Provo temple is cell phones, especially in the locker room. Then at about 8:00 pm, when the breaking news of Pres. Hinckley was first aired on TV, a few cell phones went off in the audience. You could see some of the people on the stand sort of rolling their eyes, but then my cell phone went off too. Luckily I had set mine to silent, but I noticed it was Tami. Tami and I have a rule that if I'm in a meeting and she really needs to get a hold of me for something important, I tell her to call me twice in a row. She didn't, so I didn't bother. The Stake President finished and we began to sing the closing hymn when the 1st counselor in the Stake Presidency was called off the stand and out the side door. I thought that was strange. He came back pretty quickly and mentioned something to the Stake President, but I didn't think anything else of it.
Suddenly a text message buzzed through from my sister-in-law Stephanie stating that President Hinckley had just passed away. I still remember the sinking feeling in my stomach and the immediate sadness that swept over me. I was sitting next to the Bishop and I showed him the message and I'll never forget his reaction. He closed his eyes very tightly, looked for a moment upwards and then bowed his head and began to weep. At this time it was getting difficult for me to even finish the song we were singing. I looked up and saw that the Stake President was now weeping as well. However, only a handful of people in the audience probably knew what had happened. I was very much expecting one of the members of the Stake Presidency to get up after the closing prayer and make an announcement, but he didn't. Immediately after everyone began to migrate to the back of the cultural hall for refreshments, people were on their cell phones. I tried calling my parents in San Diego and couldn't get through due to busy circuits.
Anyway, we will all miss President Hinckley. It's strange though because after the initial feeling of sadness I first felt, it was quickly replaced with a feeling of concern for President Monson and what he is now going through. The passing of a dear friend is one thing, but the weight he must feel on his shoulders for what will be coming next is something I can't even imagine. I am so grateful though for the order of the church. It's such a good feeling to know that the Lord is very much aware of every single facet of this church. Prophets come and go. New leaders are called and released. But the work of the Lord continues uninterrupted. What a marvelous work this is!
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2 comments:
I remember the first time I heard President Hinckley talk as a prophet. After a few years with Benson and Hunter I was used to the prophet being a type of authoritarian, staright-faced person. Being young it was really weird for me to hear the prophet cracking jokes in his first address. I think the best part of President Hinckley's tenure is the amount of significant church history that occured. Temples dot the earth. The PEF was created. And the world's general view of mormonism has warmed. I am just so happy that I live during this time when I know that God directly leads his church through his prophets.
Good entry Kevin
Ben jackson 1/29/08
I also liked your entry. We had been up visiting Mike's grandparents and the minute we entered the house the phone rang and it was Mike's sister. She said she wondered if we had heard that Pres Hinckley may have passed away because her in laws had, but she didn't believe it because she couldn't see anything on the church web site. I told her to check ksl.com and she said that she couldn't get on it. At that moment I knew it must be true because what else would make KSL so hard to get onto.
My mom and I were just talking today about how certain we are that the first time we hear Pres Monson speak as the prophet, we will recognize the mantle he will have. Even with how used to Pres Hinckley we all are, it is very comforting to think of how seamless the transition will be.
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