Wisdom From A Loving Prophet and a fond goodbye til we meet again!
Last night I received a text from my sweet friend Heather with the message that President Gordon B. Hinckley had passed away. I had to have her confirm to me where she had heard this since I was not willing to take her words at first. Then I realized that if President Hinckley had really passed away I was very happy because that meant that he was finally back with his Sweet Marjorie! I shed a few tears, but mostly i am thankful that our world has been blessed with such a man to lead our Church, to fill this life with an outlook of love, happiness and humor!
Forward to today... I can say the same thing about President Hinckley, but to a more personal feeling of sadness since He was more accessable to all of us at all conference meetings, regional stake conferences and anytime he dedicated a temple or talked to reporters- he made us feel as if he belonged to all of us as a family member does!
After watching the news and the short synopsis of his life on KSL, I realized that even though we've heard the messages that he has given to us over numerous talks and knowing that he was the "temple" president, the "humorous" president, the "grandfatherly loving" president was the fact that i at the moment couldn't remember a single thing that he had talked about except for the 6 Be's. What was wrong with me?! He was a general authority for longer than I have been alive, He has been the only Prophet that my children can remember and he has had the most impact in all of our lives as adults- so why can I not remember anything? AHHH..... so, I made a goal to read all i could to remind me of what he had taught us. First thing was to started reading a little book that my mom had given me for Christmas 1 year ago. I had glanced through it and was looking for a quote that i remembered seeing. The book i am reading is called "One Bright Hope- a message for women from Gordon B. Hinckley." I have decided that again i might need to read President Hinckley's biography written by Sheri Dew. I actually read it last year and also "Standing for Something," so I know I have many facts, feelings and memories of this dear man, and yet, still at a loss for a definitive idea of what he has taught.
So, sorry, got side tracked! back to the book I am reading.... I had wanted to find the thought for my sister Diana- because it had helped me at a time in my life when I needed it and when the book came and I found the quote again, i was reminded of how much it bouyed me up and BINGO- there was my thought of President Hinckley- it didn't matter where he was, what he was doing or who he was with- HE ALWAYS BOUYED YOU UP!
Here is the Quote: "Rise to the great potential within you. I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity. I hope that you will not nag yourselves with thoughts of failure. I hope you will not try to set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. I hope you will simply do what you can do in the best way you know how. If you do so, you will witness miracles come to pass."
What I love the most about this quote is that President Hinckley figuaritively speaking to me was letting me know that I need to strive to reach my potential, but if I stumble on the way I should not make myself feel like a failure, I should just get up and try again! He also made me feel as though even as we are on our paths and trying to reach perfection that we were not to feel as if without the perfection we are nothing... it is not the 'Perfection in a day' attitude we need to have, but the joy of the journey, the perfection that we are to have when our time has come to return to our Father in Heaven. I believe that is what President Hinckley was trying to tell us all.
Another side track: Devin recieved a text last night from about 24 people that asked everyone to wear church dress to school... I thought that was really neat until I went to school and talked to a few of my students. One of them said that they had started the text to all the kids in our area. Now, whether they passed a forward from friends from other areas or not, or they were really the start to the whole tribute to President Hinckley was not really my concern. What I cared about was how touched these 11 and 12 year olds had been about President Hinckley's passing. I still believe that the youth are so spiritual compared to the time that I was 12! I know that President Hinckley had a special place held in his heart for all the Youth from my years of being in Young Women and teaching Sunday School for this very age group, but I forget sometimes that they in return really do listen to adults that "get" them. I know that President Hinckley really did get them!
When I first recieved my calling as a 12 year old Sunday School teacher (so long ago,) it always bugged me in my idealistic 23 years of life on earth, that people would just use the word "teenager" as if it was a curse word-expecially since my feeling has always been that we are all "teenagers," when it comes to the Gospel- we all listen and then rebel, then try to do harder and then forget our goals and slid a little from our path and then hopefully bounce back onto the right path, And we are always forgiven just like what we should do with the youth we deal with. So, President Hinckley always made me feel as if these Young people should be treated with the utmost respect since they would be the next generation to lead our Church. The kids in our area who showed this tribute to our Prophet really did today show me that what I had learned and try to remember from President Hinckley is true- they are the "royal generation!"
* Interesting tid bit: Eyewitness News did talk to AT&T and Verizon, and indeed they saw a significant spike in cell phone data transmissions last night starting at around 8 p.m. It's how this generation communicates, and it came together like never before.
Final thought:
As we sorrow for the passing of this Great Man may we follow not only all those things that he has taught us with the help of the Holy Ghost ( because, really, that is what drew us to him in the first place the strong Spiritual love that was given to him and exuded out of his whole being. The love that he felt for our Elder Brother Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father and the Prophet Joseph Smith.) but may we remember this sentiment from him." The Gospel is a thing of joy. It provides us with a reason for gladness. Of course there are times of sorrow. Of course there are hours of concern and anxiety. We all Worry. But the Lord has told us to lift our hearts and rejoice."
We should remember that it is okay to have sorrow for the world's loss of our dear Prophet, but may we also find joy and rejoice with the knowledge that this world is better off because Gordon Bitner Hinckley was in it and that he lived his life the way we all should- with an eye single to the glory of God!
In my official journal,which I have not written in it for over 4 years, because I also have a gratitude journal, a scripture journal and this wonderful blog and the family blog, so writing in the hard covered journal hasn't happened forever, last night i figuared that what I was feeling about our Prophet's passing needed to be put down in a permanent place, so that I could look back at it when need be. What I didn't realize was that 2 entries before was my feelings on Sister Hinckley's passing! On the day that Sister Hinckley passed away I had the week before started reading her book "Glimpses into the heart of Marjorie Pay Hinckley," and our book club was going to be meeting the next day to discuss it, so it was with sadness in our hearts that we said goodbye to an incredible lady who so felt like a grandma with the closeness that I felt about her after reading her book.
Forward to today... I can say the same thing about President Hinckley, but to a more personal feeling of sadness since He was more accessable to all of us at all conference meetings, regional stake conferences and anytime he dedicated a temple or talked to reporters- he made us feel as if he belonged to all of us as a family member does!
After watching the news and the short synopsis of his life on KSL, I realized that even though we've heard the messages that he has given to us over numerous talks and knowing that he was the "temple" president, the "humorous" president, the "grandfatherly loving" president was the fact that i at the moment couldn't remember a single thing that he had talked about except for the 6 Be's. What was wrong with me?! He was a general authority for longer than I have been alive, He has been the only Prophet that my children can remember and he has had the most impact in all of our lives as adults- so why can I not remember anything? AHHH..... so, I made a goal to read all i could to remind me of what he had taught us. First thing was to started reading a little book that my mom had given me for Christmas 1 year ago. I had glanced through it and was looking for a quote that i remembered seeing. The book i am reading is called "One Bright Hope- a message for women from Gordon B. Hinckley." I have decided that again i might need to read President Hinckley's biography written by Sheri Dew. I actually read it last year and also "Standing for Something," so I know I have many facts, feelings and memories of this dear man, and yet, still at a loss for a definitive idea of what he has taught.
So, sorry, got side tracked! back to the book I am reading.... I had wanted to find the thought for my sister Diana- because it had helped me at a time in my life when I needed it and when the book came and I found the quote again, i was reminded of how much it bouyed me up and BINGO- there was my thought of President Hinckley- it didn't matter where he was, what he was doing or who he was with- HE ALWAYS BOUYED YOU UP!
Here is the Quote: "Rise to the great potential within you. I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity. I hope that you will not nag yourselves with thoughts of failure. I hope you will not try to set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. I hope you will simply do what you can do in the best way you know how. If you do so, you will witness miracles come to pass."
What I love the most about this quote is that President Hinckley figuaritively speaking to me was letting me know that I need to strive to reach my potential, but if I stumble on the way I should not make myself feel like a failure, I should just get up and try again! He also made me feel as though even as we are on our paths and trying to reach perfection that we were not to feel as if without the perfection we are nothing... it is not the 'Perfection in a day' attitude we need to have, but the joy of the journey, the perfection that we are to have when our time has come to return to our Father in Heaven. I believe that is what President Hinckley was trying to tell us all.
Another side track: Devin recieved a text last night from about 24 people that asked everyone to wear church dress to school... I thought that was really neat until I went to school and talked to a few of my students. One of them said that they had started the text to all the kids in our area. Now, whether they passed a forward from friends from other areas or not, or they were really the start to the whole tribute to President Hinckley was not really my concern. What I cared about was how touched these 11 and 12 year olds had been about President Hinckley's passing. I still believe that the youth are so spiritual compared to the time that I was 12! I know that President Hinckley had a special place held in his heart for all the Youth from my years of being in Young Women and teaching Sunday School for this very age group, but I forget sometimes that they in return really do listen to adults that "get" them. I know that President Hinckley really did get them!
When I first recieved my calling as a 12 year old Sunday School teacher (so long ago,) it always bugged me in my idealistic 23 years of life on earth, that people would just use the word "teenager" as if it was a curse word-expecially since my feeling has always been that we are all "teenagers," when it comes to the Gospel- we all listen and then rebel, then try to do harder and then forget our goals and slid a little from our path and then hopefully bounce back onto the right path, And we are always forgiven just like what we should do with the youth we deal with. So, President Hinckley always made me feel as if these Young people should be treated with the utmost respect since they would be the next generation to lead our Church. The kids in our area who showed this tribute to our Prophet really did today show me that what I had learned and try to remember from President Hinckley is true- they are the "royal generation!"
* Interesting tid bit: Eyewitness News did talk to AT&T and Verizon, and indeed they saw a significant spike in cell phone data transmissions last night starting at around 8 p.m. It's how this generation communicates, and it came together like never before.
Final thought:
As we sorrow for the passing of this Great Man may we follow not only all those things that he has taught us with the help of the Holy Ghost ( because, really, that is what drew us to him in the first place the strong Spiritual love that was given to him and exuded out of his whole being. The love that he felt for our Elder Brother Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father and the Prophet Joseph Smith.) but may we remember this sentiment from him." The Gospel is a thing of joy. It provides us with a reason for gladness. Of course there are times of sorrow. Of course there are hours of concern and anxiety. We all Worry. But the Lord has told us to lift our hearts and rejoice."
We should remember that it is okay to have sorrow for the world's loss of our dear Prophet, but may we also find joy and rejoice with the knowledge that this world is better off because Gordon Bitner Hinckley was in it and that he lived his life the way we all should- with an eye single to the glory of God!
Good bye dear loved one- God be with us all til we meet again!
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