President Hinckley

We got a call on Sunday night at about 8:30pm from my sister Heather, telling us that my uncle Christopher had called from Salt Lake to tell them that President Hinckley had passed away that night at about 7:00pm. He was 97 years old at the time of his passing, and had served as the President of the Church for the last 13 years of his life, and as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for some 34 years before that.

There are some articles on lds.org that summarize his life and service a lot better than I could, but for my part, I'll always remember him as the Prophet during my "coming of age" in the Church. It's his signature on my mission call, and I also had the pleasure of meeting him when he toured our mission and the rest of Canada back in 1998. He's always been one of Tammy's all time favorite people, and together we've enjoyed the many sessions of General Conference that he's spoken in since we've been married. He'll be missed, but not forgotten, as his impact on the growth of the Church will effect generations to come.

On a similar note, we've also recently mourned the loss of one of my young men's leaders, Kevin Way. His funeral was held on the 11th of January, and was both uplifting and well attended. One of the speakers at that funeral said something that stuck out to me, and I think applies to both Kevin and President Hinckley. I don't remember the exact phrasiology, but it was something to this effect:

"...When you look at the dates on a grave stone (1910 - 2008 in President Hinckley's case) the most important part of that inscription is the dash that separates the dates. That dash represents all the years and all the service and all the contributions that that person made over the course of their lifetime..."

There was more to it, but the idea is there. The remaining members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have put together some tributes to the Prophet already, and I'm sure his funeral, which I believe will be held on the 2nd of February in the Conference Center, will also be uplifting and well attended.