President Hinckley

I was thinking about Pres. Hinckley's death. I wondered if you guys knew or remembered that about 1966ish, the Phx North Stake was to be divided. It was a Saturday and my sisters and I had cleaned the house all morning...(only good enough to eat off the floor though). Right after lunch (I was 18 and Keri 1) I had gone to take a shower and as I was getting into the shower my mom called to me. She told me not to take one and to get dressed because Elder Hinckley and Elder Longdon were coming over to talk to our family.

Do you remember the teenage years? It's all about yourself. I was ticked because the only thing I could do w my dirty hair was to put big rollers into it and a huge cap to cover the whole thing. I knew I looked stupid and besides this would mess up my plan to spend the ENTIRE afternoon on myself, getting ready for the Sat. Nite dance. (Mom said I had to act nice to the G. A.'s too).

They rang the bell and then came into our home. We met them in the foyer and I remember that Pres. Hinckley had a hat and I was pretty impressed w that moment. They talked to our family and explained that our dad was going to be the new S.P. and would we support him, etc. We couldn't use the phone the rest of the day. I can't remember what my restrictions were for the dance but I WAS obedient.

The next day was Sunday and the conference meeting. I remember a discussion that ensued before the mtg. In my mind I had thought, 'cool we get to sit in the reserved section of the pews and wouldn't have to go so early'. This is what the then Stake Presidency did. (How wrong can a teenager be). The parents told the stake people NOT to reserve any seats for us. If we wanted to sit in front we would go early like the rest of the people. Great! We either got there 2 hours early or 1 1/2 hours early because everybody comes when the stake is reorganized.

I instantly liked Pres. Hinckley and met him multiple times (8-10) over the years. The older I got the more I liked him. I'm so happy that he is reunited w his wife and others. I loved him and he made quite an impact on me. I'll miss him.