(Updated)
At 8:30 p.m. I received a phone call from my wife. She was attending a youth fireside and learned during the fireside that President Hinckley had passed away.
Here is the official press release from LDS.org:
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.
Feel free to take a moment and post any thoughts, reflections or memories of President Gordon B. Hinckley.
Posts from around the Bloggernacle on President Hinckley’s passing (in no particular order):
Times and Seasons
By Common Consent
Mormon Mentality
Messenger and Advocate
Mormanity
Feminist Mormon Housewives
Recommended Reading (from J. Max Wilson’s blog): Deseret News
He was a remarkable, inspirational man. He will be missed.
Laura, I agree. He was a wonderful man and a great leader. God be thanked for President Gordon B. Hinckley!
Although I mourn his loss, I am pleased to know that he is now with his beloved wife, Marjorie.
He lived a long and wonderful life.
Brian, I can only imagine the joyous reunion he and his wife must now be having. It was always so apparent how much he loved her and missed her.
I still remember like it was yesterday seeing President Hinckley–then 1st Counselor–walk into the lobby of the MTC. He paused for a moment, looked around the room with a look of awe and praised the missionaries for their service.
When I heard him speak, I thought to myself, “How could he possibly be impressed with 19-year old young men?” Nevertheless, there stood an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ who was impressed by one so young and inexperienced as I and the others in my company.
How Ever Long
How ever long since the porch sat bare
Empty and silent without you there
Calling to the wind goes the sailing leaf
Crisp with the color of sadness and grief
Flushed with mourning is autumn’s copper tint
But oft a memory of you in sunset’s glint
Shining and brilliant each page of your life
A flowing pen wetted with tears and strife
Alas the pen flows no more, but is silent and still
Sitting on the parchment, heedless of its will
And now the porch sits empty and bare
Ever so silent without you there
Oh, ever in springtime with the flowing brook
Illustrating the pages of a remarkable book
Swept away in gaiety without a single care
Oh, happy and free, when you were there
A flood of memories so poignant remains
That of distinction and honour proclaims
Oh, one such as this shall in memory keep
While in dour procession we freely weep
Soon comes winter’s cold and bitter chill
As autumn settles under the snow-covered hill
And ever for spring we longing forbear
Staring at the porch, empty and bare
How ever long the memories will remain
Filled with the sunshine of springtime’s refrain
Oh, when autumn’s leafs have fallen to the ground
In springtime they return and anew are found
©1999 Brian Duffin
The phone rang here after I went to bed – 10:30pm EST or so – and I hadn’t been able to sleep since then. I finally gave up at 1:10am and this news had filled my inbox. Now I know who on earth would be calling so late on Sunday.
I can’t help but worry about my Primary kids – especially the little boy who sat next to me today and whispered that the “Latter-day Prophets” song would have to change when President Hinckley died. I told him the teachers had a hard time knowing the words because they mostly learned it when Spencer W. Kimball was the prophet. I hope he doesn’t think about that.
I stink at emotional reactions, especially late at night, but this will be on my thoughts all day today.
I remember President Hinckley just before he was called as the prophet of the church. He was over at York (England) and I had the privilage to have had a conversation with him. I still remember it like it was yesterday.
I really loved him and I have tried to follow his counsel from General Conference and from the Ensign messages. We in our family will really miss him.
He was only just our inspiring leader but he affect so many people both member and non-member alike
He will be so missed but at least he will have been greeted by his wife!
My thoughts are with his family
It is surprising how off-guard I was for this announcement. I had seriously come to expect that President Hinckley would outlive both of his original counselors and continue leading the Church until he was 102 or so. I wonder with whom he has passed his first day awaiting resurrection.
This has been commented on elsewhere, but I wanted to share with M* readers an experience from Sunday afternoon at stake conference. This was a regional stake conference for Florida, GA, SC and a few other portions of the Southeast. We gathered in our stake center and watched the broadcast. We were expecting Pres. Hinckley to be there, but he wasn’t. Pres. Monson was there, however. He gave a fascinating talk. For the first 20 minutes, he basically told stories. Some of them were Gospel-related, some not. He seemed sad, pensive, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Everybody was saying afterwards, “what’s up with Pres. Monson?”
I want to make this clear: he did not seem depressed. Just a bit sad, like he had a huge task to take on and he was preparing himself for it. I would compare it a bit to how I imagine the Savior felt as he walked into Gethsemene. I know there is no real comparison to that, but that was what entered my mind. And then this morning when I got up I saw all the e-mails on Pres. Hinckley’s passing. Now I understand a bit better.
I have wonderful memories of Pres. Hinckley. I was baptized in 1999, so he is the only prophet I have known as a member of the Church. I will share some of those stories later this week. I will miss him, but I have no doubt he is having some wonderful reunions with family members right now.
One more observation: I have never known a figure so generally loved as Pres. Hinckley. People in the Bloggernacle appear to love to hate various personalities: I’ve seen negative drivel directed at ETB, various apostles and of course more popularly known figures like Glenn Beck, Orrin Hatch and Mitt Romney (and I’ve directed some of my own at Harry Reid). I’m not comparing all of these people because they are apples and oranges comparisons (except for ETB), but isn’t it interesting that everybody seems to love Pres. Hinckley? There was something incredibly special about that man.
Geoff, thank you for sharing that comment. I can only imagine how President Monson feels right now, knowing that the mantle of leadership is now his by virtue of his calling as President of the Quorum of the Twelve.
I would like to think that President Hinckley was welcomed by the Savior, past apostles and prophets (as well as his wife), as he passed between the veil of mortality and the spirit world.
My prayers are with the Hinckley family, and also with President and Sister Monson.
The Washington Post reports the death of Gordon Hinckley on page A3. The article occupies the right, above-the-fold quarter of that page, fairly prominent placement on a slow news day. This, however, was only the second most newsworthy death Sunday of a longtime world leader. The central item on the front page is a photo of mourners at Suharto’s home. Suharto, 86, had been the leader of Indonesia from 1966 to 1998.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/27/AR2008012702590.html
I remember years ago on my mission, that President Hinckley, then an apostle, requested at a zone conference that I sing “Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words.” What a privilege it was then, and a sweet memory through the years!
I was lucky enough to have had a personal encounter with him as well as serve with his grandson on my mission. I have some experiences on my website:
http://www.graceforgrace.com
I shook his hand once. That was about it.
Also, I’m horrid. I walked into the institute today and they were talking about the his death. Interestingly, the Institute director was purging the hard drive on his computer for some reason or another as well.
So I said: “This is how the purges start. The old leader dies, the new leader will purge the members of the old leader’s regime. Clearing the computer’s hard drive won’t save you. You’re all doomed.”
He burst out laughing, so I guess it was okay, but I did feel a little bad abut it afterwards.
Ivan, that’s funny!! I can’t help but think that President Hinckley would have found the humor in it, too.
When my dad’s father passed away in the early ’80s, we found comfort in telling humorous stories about my grandfather.
Now, to the important question: Should I be purging my hard drive?? 🙂
I posted some of my thoughts on my blog, if anyone cares to read them.
http://witteafval.livejournal.com/313399.html