Gordon B. Hinckley

Elder Gordon Hinckley makes personal phone calls to the parents of hundreds of missionaries

admin — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:11:58 +0000

When Paul McNabb was a missionary in Japan, he met Elder Gordon B. Hinckley at a missionary conference. He remembers the kindness of Elder Hinckley, who was then an apostle:

I met Gordon B. Hinckley once when I was a missionary in Japan in the mid 1970s. After speaking to the missionaries at a special conference, he offered to call our parents when he returned home to America to wish them Merry Christmas and to pass on brief messages. (In those days missionaries never called their families or friends during their entire missions.) I went up afterwards to talk to him and told him that my parents weren’t LDS and didn’t really like the Church. I gave him my parents’ names and phone number and some money to cover the expenses. He was very kind to me.

A few weeks later a letter arrived from Elder Hinckley in which he said he had had a nice talk with my parents and that they were doing fine. He returned my money in the envelope and told me to use it for my mission. From this trip alone this busy apostle had made many hundreds of personal phone calls to people just to be kind and helpful, and who knows how many personal letters he wrote. My parents wrote me to say they had had a nice call from an “Elder Hinckley” who talked with them about meeting me in Japan.

My experience with the prophets and apostles is that they are among the sweetest, kindest, humblest, and most hardworking people on earth.

Gordon B. Hinckley was a great and good man, tireless in his testimony of Christ and faithful in his work for the Gospel. He was certainly a man who knew Christ, and it radiated from him almost as a real light.

Source: An Experience with Gordon B. Hinckley by Paul McNabb

President Gordon B. Hinckley: Viewing & Funeral

karenrose — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 21:02:11 +0000

In the Hall of the Prophets of the LDS Conference Center, the first evening of President Gordon B. Hinckley’s 2-day viewing drew thousands of visitors. A reverence pervaded the Center as the faithful flowed in to share their expressions of love at the passing of the 15th Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The viewing for President Hinckley continues today, February 1, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the LDS Conference Center, 60 W. North Temple, Salt Lake City.

The Prophet’s funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Conference Center. Tickets for about 21,000 seats are available starting at 9 a.m. at the north gate of Temple Square. Overflow seating, which also will require tickets obtained at the north gate, is available in the Tabernacle and the Assembly Hall on Temple Square, in the Conference Center Little Theater, and at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, 15 E. South Temple.

President Hinckley’s Funeral Services: MormonWiki.com

List of All President Hinckley’s General Conference Talks

admin — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 20:56:23 +0000

April 1995

October 1995

April 1996

October 1996

April 1997

October 1997

April 1998

October 1998

April 1999

October 1999

April 2000

October 2000

April 2001

October 2001

April 2002

October 2002

April 2003

October 2003

April 2004

October 2004

April 2005

October 2005

April 2006

October 2006

April 2007

177th Semiannual General Conference, October 2007

via: RussPage.net

Temple Building

karenrose — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 19:04:22 +0000

“When it was announced that we would build a temple in [Denver] and had selected a site on which it should stand, opposition rose against us. We gave up that site an tried another. Again we were thwarted. But we were determined to go forward, putting our trust in the Lord that He would guide us in accomplishing His purposes. Two other possible sites were selected. At the time, President Kimball and President Romney were both ill, and mine was a serious responsibility. I asked President Benson, then President of the Council of the Twelve, if we might go to Denver together, and there with Elder Russell Taylor, we looked over these sites. I give you my testimony that we were guided by the Spirit in choosing the ground on which the beautiful structure now stands. . . .”

(”The War We Are Winning,” Ensign, November 1986, pp. 43-44.)

Sealing Power of the Priesthood

karenrose — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:49:44 +0000

“I thank [Joseph Smith] and love him for the sealing power of the holy priesthood that makes possible and certain the continuance of the family through eternity. I have said many times that if nothing else came out of all the sorrow and travail and pain of the restoration than the sealing power of the holy priesthood to bind together families forever, it would have been worth all that it has cost.”

(”As One Who Loves the Prophet,” Symposium on the Life and Ministry of the Prophet Joseph Smith, BYU, February 22, 1992.)

Priesthood Power

karenrose — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:46:24 +0000

“I thank my Eternal Father for the restoration of the holy priesthood, that ‘every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world’ (D&C 1:20). I have seen the beauty and wonder of that priesthood in the governance of this remarkable church. I have felt its power flow through me to the blessing and healing of the sick. I have seen the ennoblement it has given to humble men who have been called to great and serious responsibility. I have seen it as they have spoken with power and authority from on high as if the voice of God were speaking through them.”

(”My Testimony,” Ensign, November, 1993, p. 52)

Mission Memory

karenrose — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:42:58 +0000

“I always remember two young men who served in my mission. One was a superstar. He was educated. He was bright. He was quick. He was a little arrogant. We had another who was a sign painter. He came from a sign shop with very little education, but he knew his inadequacies and he relied on the Lord. When he prayed, you knew he was talking with the Lord. It wasn’t a rote thing, it was a conversation and that young man accomplished wonders while the other young man went through the motions. The power that was in the one and the absence of power in the other was so apparent. Call upon the Lord. He has extended the invitation, and He will answer.”

(Smithfield/Logan Utah Regional Conference, priesthood leadership session, April 20, 1996.)

Prayer

karenrose — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:36:36 +0000

“I can call on the Lord for help as a leader in this Church. I know we do it, but we need to do it a little more earnestly. Nothing helps so much as putting a matter in the hands of the Lord. . . I don’t hesitate to say that I have had prayers answered. I know that. I could not deny it. We need to pray for guidance in this difficult age. . . . Prayer is a marvelous and miraculous resource we have available to us. The marvelous thing is you don’t have to be a genius to pray. He will listen to the voice of the most humble.”

(Smithfield/Logan Utah Regional Conference, priesthood leadership session, April 20, 1996.)

The Power of My Mother

karenrose — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:29:09 +0000

“Nearly sixty years have gone since my mother passed away. At the time I was a university student. I have forgotten much of what I was studying then, but he memories of those last months of my mother’s life remain ever green, as do the memories of earlier years. I hope she knew that I loved her. I did not say so very often. Like most boys, it was not easy for me to speak those words.

She died in the early harvest season of her life. Her youngest child was ten, old enough that Mother had come into a freedom she had not known for many years. She was on a journey in Europe when she felt the pain that frightened her. Six months later she was gone.

I recall the gray November day of her funeral. We put on a front of bravery and fought back the tears. But inside, the wounds were deep and painful. That experience, at a sensitive season of my life, has, I hope given me a deeper understanding of all who lose a mother.

I was called on a mission shortly after that. It was in the depths of the Great Depression. Few missionaries were called at the time because of distressing financial circumstances all over the world. I had saved a few dollars, my brother worked and contributed generously, and my father carried the major burden. But something else made it all possible. We discovered that my mother, with prescient foresight, had nurtured a savings account with the small coins she received in change when buying groceries. This money provided the balance needed for my expenses in what was then the costliest mission in the world.

For me, the money was sacred. I felt it been consecrated not so much for me as for the Lord. I hope I was careful in its expenditure.

I experienced times of discouragement on my mission, as does every missionary. On an occasion or two, when the clouds were particularly dark, I felt in a very real but indescribable way the protecting, guiding, encouraging influence of my mother. She seemed very close. I tried then, as I have tried since, to so conduct my life and perform my duty as to bring honor to her name. I am the first to concede that I may not always have done so, and the thought of living beneath my mother’s expectations has been painful, and has afforded a discipline that otherwise might have been lacking.”

(The Wondrous Power of a Mother, booklet, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989, pp. 1-2.)

Missionaries: Power Over Fear

karenrose — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:09:09 +0000

“Is there a missionary who has never felt fear? I know of none. Of course we feel fear now and again. Some are fearful of tracting. Some are fearful of their own capacity. Some are fearful of dogs. Some are fearful of speaking out in declaration of the truth. All of us experience fear now and again. But God has not given us the spirit of fear. That comes from the adversary. When we recognize that, then we can tell the adversary to get behind us, and we can go forward with courage.

God has given us power, and love, and a sound mind. What do these mean? I think they mean the power of our calling, the power of our priesthood, the power of our message; love for the word of the Lord, love for Him whom we serve, and love for those we teach; and a sound mind–the simple sweet beauty of the gospel.”

(Missionary Training Satellite Broadcast, May 11, 1993.)