Passing of a Prophet

So many of my friends and family have done blog posts in the last couple days about President Hinckley’s passing. I hesitated, because I’m not sure I have much to add. I know that some of you who read my blog aren’t members of my church so you might wonder what this is all about. (click here to learn what we believe about prophets)

In 1995 I was living up in the Andes Mountains in Bocono, Venezuela as a missionary and we got a call one night before we went to bed telling us that Gordon B Hinckley was the new Prophet/President of the church. This wasn’t a surprise, but I remember distinctly feeling that this was exactly the right person to be in that role. No one had ever been so prepared. He did so much to bring our church into the public forum, and as a member I really appreciated that. So many people associate our church with misconceptions and partial truths, so I’ve always welcomed people shining a light on us. (this is a good NYT article about it) People know Steve Young, The Osmonds, Mitt Romney, & Harry Reid, but sometimes I wonder if they even know that they probably know several “Mormons” personally. (as this little story showed)

Anyway, last night we watched a video about Pres Hinckley’s life (even the kids paid attention now and then) and it sure made me feel grateful to have had him running the show for so long. I was also reminded of stuff I have to work on. I will miss President Hinckley a lot.