Remembering My Mission President part 1

Normally my blog consists of random thoughts that occur to me during my life. While all of these posts are a valid part of who I am they are usually light hearted and seldom delve into serious matters. So this is a warning to my regular readers (both of you) that the next two posts will be uncharacteristically serious. I’m serious.

On July 12^th I attended the funeral services of my 2^nd Mission President. This post contains a few highlights from an entry I made in my journal following this experience. I just wanted to publicly express my gratitude for President Michael R. Hinckley and my mission to England.

          I remember finding out who are next mission president was going to be long before the other church members. When asked by members, I would often tease them by simply saying, “Haven’t you heard? It will be President Hinckley. He’s coming here.” If any of you are wondering, the answer is yes. He is a cousin to the former Prophet and was a pal bearer at the funeral of President Gordon B. Hinckley. He is also the grandfather of Kirsten Hinckley who was one of the victims in the 2007 Trolley square shooting. For the rest of this post I shall only be referring to my mission president in order to avoid confusion

          President Hinckley was my mission president for about 3/4’s of my mission. Prior to this, he had served a mission in England as a young man. When speaking of it he would often say this, “When I came on my mission we took the boat here to England, but at the end of my mission we took the plane home.” I still remember his sense of humor when he spoke to us in zone conference about grooming standards. He said, “Elders, there’s a little thing called shoe polish…and it would look a whole lot better on your shoes then on your heads. That’s all I have to say about that.” He then proceeded to give a great talk on missionary work. Another favorite thing he always said was, “Work works, hard work works better, and work is fun.” I cannot recall many of his words, but I easily remember how I felt in those meetings. I’m sure most missionaries can recall the powerful spirit that attends missionary meetings.