President Hinckley Passed Away

"What is this thing that men call death,

This quiet passing in the night?

Tis not the end, but genesis

Of better worlds and greater light.

O God, touch Thou my aching heart,

And calm my troubled, haunting fears.

Let hope and faith, transcendent, pure,

Give strength and peace beyond my tears.

There is no death, but only change

There is recompense for victory won;

The gift of Him who loved all men,

The Son of God, the Holy One."

-Gordon B. Hinckley

(My mom clipped this from a church news article about twenty years ago, it's been on her filing cabinet for as long as I can remember. It's from a talk that was in the May 1988 Ensign. He wrote these lines while he was at a funeral service of one of his friends).

I got the news not too long ago about the passing of President Hinckley. It seems like we have known for a while that he wouldn't be around for too much longer, yet when you hear the news you are never quite ready for it. As it's been said, "It's hard to remember the church without him." Especially with those of us who are younger. I remember President Benson and the day he passed on. We were swimming at Bishop Chappell's house when someone broke the news at the ward party. The younger Galloway boys started crying, and we all felt a loss. Shortly after, President Hunter died. I remember President Hinckley best, he's been the prophet of my youth as well as young adulthood. I've loved watching him speak, seeing his cheerful countenance, witnessing him whack people with his cane, felt his love as he prayed for the youth of the church, and been amazed at his strength, example and stamina. Gordon B. Hinckley is a prophet of God in these latter days. I pray for his family and for all of us who he has left behind, but rejoice for him in that he is once again with our Heavenly Father and his beloved wife. I know that death is not the end of life, but the beginning, it is all part of a wonderful plan that our God has in store for us. NEWS LINK