A Real Post

Much too long ago, I kind of cheated on my last posts by more or less cutting a pasting.

However, I do want make a few brief comments on President of Gordon B. Hinckley, the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who passed away a few weeks ago.

"Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." (Matt. 7:20) Not many people yield fruit as good as President Hinckley did. He loves God as is evidence by his unshaking testimony and willingness to go the extra mile in his service of the Savior. He seemed to go non-stop always trying help the stone 'cut out without hands' (Dan. 2:34) roll on with increasing momentum. During his watch on the tower (Ezekiel 33:7), he saw 13 million members of the church, and 124 Temples in operation around the world. You can tell by the sincerity and powerful testimony when speaks that he loves God and loves people. His love of people is also manifest in his desire to travel around the world bearing his testimony of the Savior and expressing his love to a multitude of congregations. He also instigated a fund to provide specific education loans for people around the world who needed a boost so they could be successful temporally as well as spiritually. Many of the good works he did are not publicly known, but evidenced by the growth of the church and its programs.

The thing that amazes me is that he endured 97 years to the end...living righteously, keeping a clear mind, and continuously working day to day under the direction of the Lord. I have a hard enough time enduring day to day, let alone almost 27,000 days. I guess that's the example...its making good choices each day, each choice, one at a time. And when you make less than perfect choices, fixing it and moving forward always improving upon the previous day. Then the 27,000 days inperceptibly build with one righteous personal victory after another.

President Hinckley reminds me of one of my favorite parts of the Book of Mormon (Alma 13:3, 10-13 :

And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; in the first place being left to choose good or evil; therefore they having chosen good, and exercising exceedingly great faith, are called with a holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such.

Now, as I said concerning the holy order, or this high priesthood, there were many who were ordained and became high priests of God; and it was on account of their exceeding faith and repentance, and their righteousness before God, they choosing to repent and work righteousness rather than to perish;

Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were sanctified, and their garments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb.

Now they, after being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, having their garments made white, being pure and spotless before God, could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence; and there were many, exceedingly great many, who were made pure and entered into the rest of the Lord their God.

And now, my brethren, I would that ye should humble yourselves before God, and bring forth fruit meet for repentance, that ye may also enter into that rest.


I hope I can follow President Hinckley's example and be as faithful and clear-minded as he was everyday for 97 years!

Beloved Church President, Gordon B. Hinckley, Dies at 97

SALT LAKE CITY 27 January 2008 President Gordon B. Hinckley, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through twelve years of global expansion, has died at the age of 97.

President Hinckley was the 15th president in the 177-year history of the Church and had served as its president since 12 March 1995.

The Church president died at his apartment in downtown Salt Lake City at 7:00 p.m. Sunday night from cause’s incident to age. Member of his family were at his bedside. A successor is not expected to be formally chosen by the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles until after President Hinckley’s funeral within the next few days.

President Gordon B. Hinckley Testimony

A few highlights from President Gordon B. Hinckley's leadership.

President Hinckley was known, even at the age of 95, as a tireless leader who always put in a full day at the office and traveled extensively around the world to mix with Church members, now numbering nearly 13 million in 171 nations.

His quick wit and humor, combined with an eloquent style at the pulpit, made him one of the most loved of modern Church leaders. A profoundly spiritual man, he had a great fondness for history and often peppered his sermons with stories from the Church’s pioneer past.

He was a popular interview subject with journalists, appearing on 60 Minutes with Mike Wallace and on CNN’s Larry King Live, as well as being quoted and featured in hundreds of newspapers and magazines over the years. During the Salt Lake Olympics of 2002, his request that the Church refrain from proselytizing visitors was credited by media with generating much of the goodwill that flowed to the Church from the international event.

In recent years, a number of major developments in the Church reflected President Hinckley’s personal drive and direction. In calling for 100 temples to be in operation before the end of the year 2000, the Church president committed the Church to a massive temple-building program.
In 1999 — 169 years after the Church was organized by its founder, Joseph Smith — the Church had 56 operating temples. Three years later that number had doubled, largely because of a smaller, highly practical temple architectural plan that delivered these sacred buildings to Church members in far-flung parts of the world. Many more Church members can now experience the sacred ceremonies that occur only in temples, including marriages for eternity and the sealing of families in eternal units.

President Hinckley was the most traveled president in the Church’s history. His duties took him around the world many times to meet with Latter-day Saints in more than 60 countries. He was the first Church president to travel to Spain, where in 1996 he broke ground for a temple in Madrid; and to the African nations of Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Cape Verde, where he met with thousands of Latter-day Saints in 1998. In 2005, he traveled nearly 25,000 miles on a seven-nation, nine-day tour to Russia, South Korea, China, Taiwan, India, Kenya, and Nigeria.

At a general conference of Church members in April 2001, President Hinckley initiated the Perpetual Education Fund — an ambitious program to help young members of the Church (mainly returning missionaries from developing countries) receive higher education and work-related training that they would otherwise likely never receive.

Closer to his Salt Lake City home, President Hinckley announced the construction of a new Conference Center in 1996 and dedicated it four years later. Seating 21,000 people, it is believed to be the largest religious and theater auditorium in the world and has become the hub for the Church’s general conference messages to the world, broadcast in 54 languages.

Even before his term as president, President Hinckley’s extensive Church service included 14 years as a counselor in the First Presidency, the highest presiding body in the government of the Church, and 20 years before that as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

President Hinckley was born 23 June 1910 in Salt Lake City, a son of Bryant Stringham and Ada Bitner Hinckley. One of his forebears, Stephen Hopkins, came to America on the Mayflower. Another, Thomas Hinckley, served as governor of the Plymouth Colony from 1680 to 1692.
President Hinckley’s first job was as a newspaper carrier for the Deseret News, a Salt Lake City daily. After attending public schools in Salt Lake City, he earned a bachelor of arts degree at the University of Utah and then served two years as a full-time missionary for the Church in Great Britain. He served with distinction and ultimately was appointed as an assistant to the Church apostle who presided over all the European missions.

Upon successfully completing his missionary service in the mid-1930s, he was asked by Heber J. Grant, then president of the Church, to organize what has become the Church's Public Affairs Department.

President Hinckley began serving as a member of the Sunday School general board in 1937, two years after returning home from missionary service in Great Britain. For 20 years he directed all Church public communications. In 1951 he was named executive secretary of the General Missionary Committee, managing the entire missionary program of the Church, and served in this capacity for seven years.

On 6 April 1958, while serving as president of the East Millcreek Stake in Salt Lake City (a stake is similar to a diocese), President Hinckley was appointed as a general authority, or senior full-time leader of the Church. In this capacity he served as an assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles before being appointed to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on 5 October 1961.

President Hinckley received a number of educational honors, including the Distinguished Citizen Award from Southern Utah University; the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Utah; and honorary doctorates from Westminster College, Utah State University, University of Utah, Brigham Young University, Southern Utah University, Utah Valley State College and Salt Lake Community College. The Gordon B. Hinckley Endowment for British Studies, a program focused on the arts, literature and history of the United Kingdom, was established at the University of Utah.

President Hinckley was awarded the Silver Buffalo Award by the Boy Scouts of America; was honored by the National Conference for Community and Justice (formerly the National Conference of Christians and Jews) for his contributions to tolerance and understanding in the world; and received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In 2004, President Hinckley was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in the White House.

In March 2000 President Hinckley addressed the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. He also addressed the Religion Newswriters Association and the U.S. Conference of Mayors and twice addressed the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.

President Hinckley wrote and edited several books and numerous manuals, pamphlets and scripts, including a best-selling book, Standing for Something, aimed at a general audience. In it he championed the virtues of love, honesty, morality, civility, learning, forgiveness, mercy, thrift and industry, gratitude, optimism and faith. He also testified of what he called the “guardians of virtue,” namely traditional marriage and family.

President Hinckley married Majorie Pay in the Salt Lake Temple in 1937. They have five children, 25 grandchildren and 38 great-grandchildren. Sister Hinckley passed away 6 April 2004.

© 2007 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved

Taken from:

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/beloved-church-president-gordon-b-hinckley-dies-at-97

To Change or Not To Change

The Sermon had ended

The Preacher descended

So delighted were they,

But preferred the old way.

--???

Every six months the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints conducts a world-wide conference in which the top leaders of the church speak to the world. The meetings, consisting of five two-hour sessions, are broadcast via satellite, cable, internet and printed word to all the world and translated into several languages. The leaders who speak consist of the President of the Church, his two counselors, the Twelve Apostles, and other General Authorities of the Church.

For me, I anxiously look forward to listening to or watching all ten-hours of the conference every six months. What would make sitting in meetings for ten hours on a weekend so exciting?!

The answer is simple. When else in the history of the world do you have the opportunity to listen to all the living prophets and the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ in one weekend?

Just as Jesus Christ, himself, called Peter, James, John and the other disciples to follow Him and be special witnesses of His work on the earth (including the Atonement and the Resurrection); so also, in these latter-days, since the restoration of His church on earth, the resurrected Savior calls men to be special witnesses of Him to the world. The First Presidency and the Quorum of Twelve Apostles of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are these modern special witnesses of the Savior. Listening to these men is like listening to Peter, James, John, Paul and the other apostles who led Christ's church after His resurrection and His ascension into heaven. The tone and power of these modern day apostles' words matches the tone and power of Peter, John and Paul as found in the New Testament.

You can't listen to these righteous men without feeling the truth of their words and their testimony of the Savior. You can also feel their sincerity and love for the Lord and for all people.

I am surprised that more people don't take advantage of this unique blessing every six months.

Although I've developed my own conviction of the significance of the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the more difficult part of Conference (and studying the scriptures) is following the council provided.

Listening and feeling good about what is said (and read in the scriptures) is easy. But the real test is afterwards when you face the everyday world and can no longer hide behind the temporary protection of ignorance. In the instant you are forced to make decisions, great or small, is the test of whether you will fulfill the personal commitment you made as the Holy Spirit confirmed the truth of the words of the Lord's representatives. In the blink of an eye, in an instant...and sometimes within seconds of gaining the new depth of knowledge, your commitment may be tested, the decision made, and the uncontrollable consequences unleashed.

Hopefully the right decision is made, releasing the blessings associated with obedience. But, unfortunately, all too often I fail the test, forfeit the blessings, and sit ashamed that I disappointed the Lord and sabotaged my own potential. I end up with a 'mess' that I must 'clean-up' in order to repair any damage made to myself or others. And gratefully the opportunity to sincerely try again is made available by the atonement of Jesus Christ.

The ultimate challenge from the historically unique opportunity of listening to the Lord's representatives at General Conference every six months is: To Change or Not to Change. But I know the Lord gives no commandments that we can't keep and gives us the opportunity to turn things around when we don't do what we know we should do. Heavenly Father loves us so much, he gave his only begotten son to give us every opportunity in the world to choose eternal life.

You may listen/watch archives from this weekend's General Conference to learn these truths for yourself. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.