Why I Believe Wednesday: President Hinckley

I know everyone who's LDS has "their prophet," the one that they grew into their testimony with and loved for a long time, and President Gordon B. Hinckley was mine.  He led the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--and the whole world--for my whole youth and into young adulthood...pretty formative years.  I think most of my testimony I owe to him, in one way or another.

There were so many great things about that man.  His sense of humor, always a twinkle in his eye.  How up-to-date he was on all current affairs throughout the world.  His love of and incredible dedication to building temples, the symbol of our faith.  The humanitarian efforts he and other prophets do...the Perpetual Education Fund, a cause I believe in most passionately!  His wisdom and ability to bridge any generation gap with relevant, timeless information.  His total and complete love for his wife, who was his equal in all things, and the example of marital bliss that they set together.  Most of all, the love that emanated out of his very being and that you could feel every time you looked into his eyes.

I was a young youth when he visited Chicago (1998, I think?) and the whole region got to come hear him speak in the United Center.  I don't remember the counsel he had, but I remember his wife was hilarious and he mentioned how hard it was to follow her.  It was my first introduction to their marriage, which could literally be the standard for us all to follow.  My heart broke for him at her funeral years later, and my heart rejoiced when he got to catch up with her, because, as he'd said, it was so hard to follow.

I was (barely) a youth for his now-famous-and-often-quoted 6 B's talk.  While the actual "be's"--be grateful, be smart, be clean, be true, be humble, and be prayerful--were clever, easy to remember, and wise, what I remembered most about the talk was the moment at the end when he prayed for us.  I felt like those in the Americas when the Savior visited after his Resurrection, who said something to the effect that words could not express the feelings of their heart when they heard Him pray for them unto the Father.  Just knowing that we were there, that we were loved so dearly and so REALLY and TRULY, touched my heart.

I was older when he challenged the Church to re-read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year.  Wow, was that an interesting experience!  I put it off, scripture study never being my strong suit, until just two weeks before the new year.  But I loved President Hinckley and knew I would kick myself in the pants for the rest of my life if I didn't follow his counsel, so I picked it up and read it again.  For hours, every night.  And I finished on December 30th, with a day to spare.  I was so grateful to have gotten my act together in time, and reading that wonderful book straight through put a lot of things in context that I didn't always get or remember when I studied by topic.  I've since decided that I will often read the Book of Mormon that way in between my other kinds of study, and am in fact doing so right now.


I saw him in person in General Conference a few times.  While the Spirit is the same outside of the Conference Center as far as the talks go, there IS something magical and wonderful and meaningful happening when you see the prophets of God all together in one room, or meet them in person.  I had one experience in particular, I think it was my first time at Conference, when I realized that the most righteous, powerful men in the world were all under one roof...I felt their authority and was in total awe that I could even be in the same building with ONE of them, let alone nearly ALL of them.  Yes, they are just people, but they are people with a mantle and a calling that you can feel in their presence.
I said a lot of my testimony came from President Hinckley.  His counsel, his words, his challenges, and his example really did shape my own ideas about the world and my understanding of the higher principles and doctrines of the gospel.  More than anything, though, I just KNEW, without a doubt in my mind, that he was the Prophet.  Knowing that meant that everything he said as such was and is true, even the things I didn't/don't understand or believe wholeheartedly myself yet.  Most of my testimony is founded on his being a prophet and on the Book of Mormon as the word of God, and you will never be able to convince me otherwise in either of those two areas.  Because I knew he was a prophet, I knew that Joseph Smith was one, too.  Which meant everything he did was God's will, and that the Church was restored to the earth once more.

How much I love the current prophet, President Monson!  If I had grown into my testimony when HE was the prophet instead, I'd probably say all the same things about him.  I know, because I have prayed to know and felt the Spirit confirm it, and because his teachings are true, that he is a prophet, as well.  And as long as I live, there will be a prophet of God on the earth to direct the Church and to encourage the whole world to come to know Christ and prepare for His coming.  How grateful I am to know that we will ALWAYS have a prophet on the earth, from here to the second coming of the Savior.  How fortunate we are to know that!  It makes all the difference.  And that is why I believe.