A Tribute to President Gordon B. Hinckley

Last night I learned that President Hinckley passed away at 97 years old from causes incident to old age. I just wanted to write down a very few of my favorite memories of President Hinckley.

I’ll always remember the CD Devin burned of President Hinckley’s conference talks the year before he went on his mission. We’d be driving around in the red ’98 Dodge Caravan and Devin would say, “You’ve got to listen to this.” Then he’d jump from track to track playing the opening so we could hear President Hinckley say, “My dear brothers and sisters, my dear brothers and sisters…”

Of course, one of my favorite memories is the many nights I carried his picture down the basement steps, waving it in front of the group of teenagers who were up late watching movies or playing video games. At first I would remind them, “You know what President Hinckley says. ‘No good thing happens after 11 PM.’” After awhile, I would only need to wave the picture before hearing them protest, “Ah, Mom!” But up the stairs they would go. You can argue with your Mom, but how do you go against the words of a prophet?

Then there were the 6 bees. Well, be’s, really—but they sometimes got made into bees.

Be prayerful.
Be smart.
Be grateful.
Be true.
Be humble.
Be clean.

Kristi had a pillow case with those B’s on it. David had a postcard tacked to his cork board with the 6 B’s—that, along with a picture of President Hinckley, went into a collage he made with his school pictures and pictures of his friends.

I remember how steady President Hinckley was in the October conference after 9/11. I printed that talk out and covered it with underlines and highlights, then passed it on to a friend. It comforted me, it reassured me. I was so grateful to have a living prophet on the earth.

Last, but not least, I will always be grateful to President Hinckley for the Book of Mormon challenge. It changed my life.

President Hinckley, I will miss you.