President Gordon B. Hinckley

President Hinckley in Nauvoo

I knew this day was coming, but you can never prepare yourself for it. When I heard of his passing last night, I had mixed emotions. Sad, because we love him so much and hard to have him gone, but Happy that he gets to reunite with his lovely wife.What a Beautiful day it must be for him to see her again!

I am so grateful that I got to see him In Nauvoo, and enjoy the sweet spirit that was there, while singing "We thank thee O God for a Prophet", (written by Melissa’s Great-great-great-grandfather)This is the Prophet who I will always Remember as the Prophet of my teenage and early adult years. A Prophet whose words helped me through some of the hardest times in my life, and who has sculpted me to be the kind of Man, Husband & Father that I am! This is the Prophet who helped me Gain my Testimony and helped me to become a better person.

I'll add my own experiences, feelings to Benji's.

As a teenager I had the awesome opportunity of working at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (JSMB) as a banquet server. On several occasions we had general authorities eat there in conjunction to a meeting or celebration of some sort. One of these times the whole first presidency was there as well as some others and to get to their seats at the back of the banquet room they walked though the kitchen! I was right there and I think I got to shake their hands. Another time President Hinckley after dinner we allowed time to meet with the people who he just spoke to so there was a crowd of people outside the b. room, I waited and waited and finally I got to shake his hands and he said to me and my coworker "and here are the girls that served our chicken, thank you, it was so good!" while he said that he shook our hands. I felt so blessed, I held my own hand and literally felt and said "I will never wash my hands again" I meant it too, (don't worry I have) all the other guys I worked with teased me but I felt so happy I didn't care.

I know our new prophet who ever it may be will also be called of God. As a child I had a strong love for President Benson and didn't think I could ever love another prophet as much as he, but I already loved President Hinckley. I remember I always laughed when President Hinckley spoke before he was the Prophet, because he was so funny and told good stories! I always enjoyed his and President Monson's talks. I know President Hinckley was called of God and led the Church through inspiration from Jesus Christ! What a blessing it is to be led by a living prophet!

President Gordon B. Hinckley1910-2008