Posted by
Steve on Monday, January 28, 2008 2:20:26 PM
Last night at 7 pm Mountain Standard Time, President Gordon B. Hinckley died. He was the 15th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He had served as President since 1995. For most of my children, he is the only church President they have known. He was 97 years old and the oldest person ever to be Prophet. He served longer than all the Prophets, except for Brigham Young.
He was a great person and an enlightened leader. He understood the new age of the internet and the new media. He wrote many books and brought the church into the forefront of American life. He will be greatly missed. He did hint at the last conference that it might be his last. He turned out to be correct. He did age a lot after his wife died four years ago. That took a lot out of him and he was never the same, physically.
When my daughter called me last night about 9 pm, I was surprised. I had not heard that he was ill. That the church got out information so quickly told me that they were not surprised. If tradition holds, Thomas S. Monson will be the next Prophet. Tradition is that the longest serving Apostle and President of the Quorum of the Twelve becomes the next Prophet. As the President of the Quorum of the Twelve, he is nominally the President, anyway. Boyd K. Packer will become the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He had been the acting President while President Monson served in the First Presidency. A new Apostle will also be chosen to replace Gordon B. Hinckley.
General Conference will be held the first weekend in April. There the new Apostle will be announced. The new First Presidency will be announced after the funeral for President Hinckley. I believe the funeral is Wednesday. The meeting to choose the new Prophet will be held on Thursday with an announcement made later that day.
For some people, this will shake their faith. They have leaned on President Hinckley for so many years that a new Prophet will be hard to take. The fact that it will be President Monson will make it easier. He is one of the most beloved Apostles alive today. He at least tells the best stories. I know I always sit on the edge of my seat when he tells one of his stories.
I am not sure of the dates, but I think that President Monson is the last Apostle called before I joined the church. I believe he was called in 1953. I believe that President Packer was called at about the time I joined the church, in 1967. It is amazing that there has been that much turnover in the last 30 years. It does not seem like there ever is turnover in the Quorum of the Twelve. But, when you look back, you can see how many changes there have been over time. For me, I will support President Monson with the same intensity that I supported President Hinckley. It will take some time to be comfortable calling President Monson the Prophet. But, it will come and the entire world will be blessed. President Monson will have a task to accomplish just like all the other Prophets. It remains to be seen exactly what that will be.