Gordon B Hincley Research Paper

February 2nd, 2008 will always be an emotional, vivid memory to me. It was a Saturday, and it was lightly snowing outside. My Saturdays usually consisted of sleeping in, watching a couple of my favorite TV shows, annoying my parents, and the occasional hanging out with friends. This Saturday, however, didn’t include any of my usual weekend routines. Instead, I was watching the funeral procession of my beloved prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley. I was devastated that day. I had grown to love this man deeply even though I was only twelve. I remember listening to each speaker earnestly, looking for solace in the words spoken. While I found comfort, nothing could take away the deep ache felt inside. The only thing that temporarily softened it was hearing …show more content…
Hinckley’s father was very involved with the church. He was a stake president, mission president, as well as the president of the LDS business college. His wife also taught at the college. Together, they were wonderful examples and teachers to their children. President Hinckley gave an example of this during the priesthood secession in 1987. He talked about an experience where he came home from a rather tough day at school and let forth an expletive that included the name of the Lord. His mother was shocked. She quietly, but firmly, told him how wrong he was. She then led him to the bathroom where soap was used to wash out his mouth. His final comments on the experience he said “The lesson was worthwhile. I think I can say that I have tried to avoid using the name of the Lord in vain since that day. I am grateful for that lesson.” His mother, and father as well, taught him many lessons like this that shaped him and his powerful testimony. By the age of 11, he received his patriarchal blessing. He spoke of this blessing saying "It is personal, and I will not read extensively from it. However, it contains the statement: 'The nations of the Earth shall hear thy voice and be brought to a knowledge of the truth by the wonderful testimony which thou shalt bear."' I can testify that his testimony did, in fact, was heard by nations throughout his ministry as a counselor in his ward, president of his stake, assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve, a general authority, a …show more content…
It changed, but luckily, in the end, I was still in a wonderful, and I would even say more loving family. Two years after this drastic event, my parents felt inspired to ask their bishop for an unusual request concerning me. The bishop, upon review of the church’s handbook, responded that he would not ask or even consider seeing if this request was possible because the policy was very clear. My parents accepted his response and left feeling a bit uneasy. They had both felt the spirit strongly to ask him about it, but were denied. They didn’t know what to do. A couple weeks later, my parents had an interview with the stake president regarding a completely different subject matter, but during the meeting, both my parents felt the spirit, even more so this time, to ask their request again. They explained they knew the policy, but they knew the spirit was speaking to them when requesting this special circumstance. They pleaded for him to send a letter to the First Presidency inquiring of their counsel. The stake president agreed and said there would be no harm in doing so. After a short time, a response was received back. In summary, it said that upon pondering and praying, they feel that the request should be granted. It also said that due to the deviation from standard policies, it is asked that the letter they received should be returned back promptly and that the whole