While I was a missionary in 1996, I gained a strong testimony of Gordon Hinckley as a prophet. First, let me give a little background. Growing up, prophets were grandfatherly figures. I was too young to really remember an active President Kimball. He was mostly a picture to me, but people spoke of him so lovingly. President Benson really impressed me as a prophet, but again, I was mostly too young to appreciate much of what he was saying. As I got older, President Benson was pretty infirm and we didn't see him a lot towards the end. President Hunter was another very sweet man, but we only saw a little bit of him too.
During all this, President Hinckley had been a familiar face. But he wasn't, for me, a beloved figure. He was an administrator, a stand-in for the prophet when he wasn't available in person. It was almost like he was the guy you had to settle for because the real prophet wasn't available. He was nice, but he wasn't like a grandfather and I just didn't have any special affection for him. When he became the prophet, I was a senior in high school. I was old enough to pay attention to the transition. I was a bit surprised to realize how much I liked President Hinckley after hearing his first few talks. My fondness for him continued to grow after seeing in in person (from a great distance) during my first year at BYU.
Then, as a missionary in my first area, we were stuck in our house. I still remember the house very vividly. My companion was sick and we couldn't go out. He'd borrowed a TV and VCR from the meetinghouse library and a bunch of general conference videos. He was asleep in his bedroom and I was watching a random session from the previous conference. President Hinckley spoke. As he spoke, I was awash in an unexpected sensation that I was watching a real, true, living, breathing prophet of God. I thought I already knew that, but the witness of the Spirit was so strong in my heart that I couldn't deny the power of what I felt. I KNEW Gordon Hinckley, the man I hadn't started out liking very much, was a bona fide prophet.
I'll miss his great leadership. I look forward to learning what our future under President Monson's direction will look like. Bruce R. McConkie gave an interesting devotional address after the passing of Harold B. Lee that some of you might be interested in. The Salt Lake Tribune printed a great article about President Monson. Did you realize he's been in the First Presidency since 1985?! He's been greatly involved in welfare and humanitarian work and some are wondering aloud if a Monson presidency (he's 17 years younger than Hinckley!) will see a lot of growth in our church's humanitarian outreach in conjunction with other religious groups.
