I knew this day would come... the day when we had to let President Hinckley go. But that doesn't always make the letting go any easier. How grateful I am for the Gospel of Jesus Christ! How grateful I am to know that we are led by His Prophet. How grateful I am to say that I knew and loved Gordon B. Hinckley.
No, I don't know him personally or have a daily interaction with him... but that is not important in my knowing with all my heart and soul that he was the Lord's prophet! He has made such a profound impact in my life.
The first strong impact President Hinckley had in my life came in the spring of 1993. He came to Los Angeles for an Area Conference. The Saturday night meeting was held in our Palmdale Stake Center. (In preparation for this meeting we got a whole new pulpit and A NEW ORGAN. Hooray, the old one was a nightmare to play!) Sunday's session was held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. It was at this conference that President Hinckley challenged us all to read the Book of Mormon - 4 (four) times in the coming year.
This was a pivotal time in our lives. Our little children, Stuart, Camille and Spencer, were only 8 & 9. Stuart had already shown that he too had dyslexia like is Mama. We accepted President Hinckley's challenge. I made cool bookmarks, each with a different little DJ Inkers clipart to suit our individual personalities, to keep us on track for reading the Book of Mormon not once, but four times in the coming year. What a wonderful blessing in our lives! I can testify to the power of that great book and the blessings that come from following the Lord's Prophet. Through our daily reading together, not only did we reap the spiritual blessings, but there was a hidden blessing in that Stuart was able, at a very young age, to get a handle on coping with dyslexia. It made a world of difference for him!
The second pivotal moment came when President Hinckley spoke to the Relief Society in September 2000. He stated, "We--the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve--have taken the position, and I quote, that "the Church discourages tattoos. It also discourages the piercing of the body for other than medical purposes, although it takes no position on the minimal piercing of the ears by women for one pair of earrings." " ( From Your Greatest Challenge, Mother ) I can still see his characteristic mannerism of waving his arm to emphasize each word (and for me there is a memory of him saying, "...one pair of earring, only one." but that doesn't appear in this text).
I had multiple earrings (as you can see in the 1999 photo with my friend Jaquelle). I was the YW President in my ward. These earrings defined who I was! I was hip... I was Joanie... JB! I am ashamed to admit that I didn't immediately take out my extra earrings. It took getting the November Ensign and reading that address again. I had to ask myself, "What has the Prophet asked me to do?"
With tears of sadness (hmmm... pride that I was losing this identity) and repentance (what took me so long?), I asked Camille, then 14, to help me get out the top hoop because I couldn't do it myself. I told her why I was taking out my top earrings. She said, "Mom what should I do?" (She too had top piercings). I told her we knew what the Prophet had asked, but it was her choice. Sweet, sweet girl... with no trouble at all she removed her earring as well.
Because I had set the example of cartilage piecing in our ward, I felt that it was my responsibility to share my experience with the YW and other members of our ward. I told them that I didn't think the Lord really cares how many earrings I have, but he does care about me being obedient to the counsels of his Prophet. I have since come to realize that that this was a line in the sand, so to speak. It was a dividing line between being obedient and drawing our selves away from worldly practices and joining in.
So much has already been said by so many writers who can express it so much better than me. But I loved him for his wit, his candor, his courage (He did not take counsel from his fears).
What a marvelous man... a man raised up by the Lord to carry out His great latter-day work here on the earth during this last dispensation. To use a quote I have heard about Joseph Smith, "I want to shout hooray that I ever knew such a man as Gordon Bintner Hinckley!)
President Hinckley "knighting" Pres. Eyring after his call to the First Presidency in Oct 2007
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