As I am sure all of you know by now, last Sunday, January 27th at 7:00 pm, Gordon B. Hinckley, Prophet, Seer and Revelator, died in his home. He was 97 years old. As I have reflected on this great loss, I have had many diverse feelings: happiness, sadness, joy, depression, hope and hopelessness. I have pondered the reasons why the loss of a man I did not personally know has effected me in such a way. When I was young I vaguely remember President Benson and President Hunter but for more than half of my life, President Hinckley was the Prophet and President of the Church. It was his face I saw and his name referenced with many different programs and talks. He put himself out there to advance the Lord’s work in a way that it had never been before and everyone who crossed his path was a better person for it.

My experience with a Prophet of God…
When I lived in Birmingham, Alabama, we were blessed to have one of President Hinckley’s smaller temples built. I remember that President Hinckley came all the way to dedicate that temple. I don’t remember exactly, but my father was serving in some capacity on the temple committee. That gave us the opportunity of being in the Celestial Room during one of the sessions in which President Hinckley dedicated the temple. Because this temple was one of the smaller ones, the Celestial Room was not very big. I remember sitting in my seat waiting for President Hinckley to enter the room to then give the dedicatory prayer. The feeling when that man entered the room was so peaceful and hopeful and joyful. You could feel it wash in as though a dam had broken and the flood waters followed this man. The spirit was so intense and I remember thinking that I would never feel it stronger. I don’t know that I have felt it stronger than at that moment in any other experience except for one. On Friday, February 1st, I decided to go down the conference center to wait in line to pay respects to the man I called Prophet for 13 years. I waited for a little over 4 hours, about 1.5 hours of that outside in the 20 degree weather. A news report said that over the two days, Thurs. and Fri., that President Hinckley’s body lay in state at the Conference Center, that over 60,000 people waited in those lines for a 20 second view of a Prophet of God who had returned Home. As we got to the floor on which the Prophet lay, I remember talking to the people in line behind me. We received a gentle “hush” from a Conference Center worker and we turned a corner. As I crossed the threshold into the next room, I remember that same feeling. That flood that washed over me back in Birmingham, Alabama, hit me again, only stronger. It was almost unexpected and in an instant I could not keep tears from my eyes, no matter how hard I tried. The feeling became stronger and stronger the closer I got to casket. As I walked past it, I looked at the man who had been called of God to serve. Everything inside me affirmed what I had already known, here lay a man of God, a Prophet called to lead the Restored Church of Jesus Christ. As I crossed the threshold out of the room, I felt that feeling remain with me, though not as strong. I would have waited in line, in the freezing cold, for days to experience that again. Again, there is no doubt in my mind or my heart that God is real, that His son Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior of mankind and that this church is lead by Christ through a Prophet who is called and set apart by the laying on of hands.

While he was always an old man, he seemed to identify with my younger age group very well. Whenever he spoke to us about issues that faced our age group, he was very well versed and spoke as though he he truly understood what we were going though. You could always see the love and caring spirit in his eyes. Because of this, I had always felt that he would live forever as our prophet. Even though, of course, I knew inside that the day would come that he would pass on, it just didn’t seem as though it would ever happen. I have talked with many of my friends and peers and they have said the same thing. We all loved our prophet and will miss him terribly.

However, with the death of a prophet, our loving and caring Father in Heaven has promised us, ever since the First Vision and the calling of Joseph Smith as the prophet of the restoration, that He will never again leave His children without a prophet. Today, the church had an official press conference in which they announced the new prophet and 1st presidency. The new Prophet and President of the Church is now Thomas S. Monson. President Monson is then given the opportunity to choose two counselors. These three men make up the 1st Presidency. President Monson chose President Henry B. Eyring and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf as his 1st and 2nd counselors, respectively.

The calling of a prophet has been reported by several media sources as a “long-standing tradition”. To many it might seem to be this way because the most senior Apostle is always chosen as the president of the church. However, from an LDS point of view, we look at this as more than a mere tradition. I believe that when God calls a man to serve in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he is in a way of expression, set on a track. This track eventually leads to one of two ends: a call as the president of the church or a call home to that God that gave him life. I believe that if God does not intend for current most senior Apostle to take the presidency of the church, He will call that most senior Apostle home to Heaven before He calls the current president of the church home. This in turn will advance the line of seniority amongst the Apostles.

The Lord guides and leads The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Of this I have no doubt. It is now His will that President Thomas S. Monson take over the mantle of Prophet and President of the church. And now as a Church, we sustain him as a Prophet and we will follow his counsel and guidance as we did President Hinckley’s. As for me, I hope that I can give greater heed to our newest Prophet and follow his counsel better than I did that of President Hinckley.

Glenn Beck had some thoughts on the passing of President Hinckley:

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