I’ll miss you President Hinckley

There are those sweet memories that you have, like from a favorite teacher who would always give more to make sure that you were okay, and who you would follow anywhere they would lead you because you could sense their honesty, their sincerity and their love. Then they would teach you to stand on your own so you could see for your self the self-evident truths that lay before you in life. They would teach you how to learn rather than what to learn. They would love you as you did and speak encouraging words when you fell short. You simply wanted to be better because they lived what they spoke and you knew the truth of what they said because now you had tested it and experienced it for yourself. You saw them and simply wanted to be better.

I can see how people grew so attached to Moses after he had led them through the wilderness for the better part of their lives (in many cases their whole lives). I can see that they were resistant to accepting Aaron as their new leader. The experiences of learning are experiences that bind; and whoever was there to teach became a large part of those lessons. I am who I am in large part, due to what I learned while President Hinckley led the Church. I have learned from a multitude of sources, people of all faiths, from experiences with the Divine in prayer and otherwise. I have at times become frustrated by my own progress (or lack thereof). Always, as I have heard the words of the Prophet, has my vision been expanded and I become more humble and grateful.

It is remarkable the impression that one man, speaking truth from our Heavenly Father, can make on a boy’s life. I will miss President Hinckley and I am grateful for his influence on my life. I look forward to what the next Prophet has in store. I will continue in trying to live more and more like Christ, learning the same principles over and over, deeper and deeper and someday I’ll have something to show for myself. I’m just glad that I got to grow up when I did, being taught by who I was taught.

P.S. The NY Times had nice things to say about President Hinckley.

P.P.S. As did the Deseret News (along with a fairly extensive rundown of everything that happened while he was Prophet).