Monday, January 28, 2008

My favorite memory...

When I was at BYU-Idaho, the prophet came to say a few words at the dedication of the building that would be in his name. It remains my favorite memory of President Hinckley. He instilled within us all such confidence and happiness. I remember my eyes welling up with gratitude at a prophet that loved us all so dearly. He was just so funny and so real, he even made fun of BYU football which was just too funny. I remember through the whole talk we were all laughing or crying, or at least I was:) I am celebrating his wonderful life so richly lived. He was definetely my prophet and I needed him, as so many did. There couldn't have been anyone better for our generation. Here's a few words from his talk...

"First, I want to tell you that I love you. I love you kids, you wonderful young people of this Church. I love you. I believe you are the best generation this Church has ever had. No generation which has gone before measures up to the stature to which you measure up. You are better educated. I think you have greater faith I think you have shown that faith and are showing that faith than any other previous generation. I am so thankful for you. I thank you for your strength; for your willingness to do the right thing; for your desire to serve the Lord; for your capacity to help build the kingdom; for the fact that you get on your knees and say your prayers, as I know you do; for the fact that you pray to the Lord to help you, to guide you in the things you do, as I know you do. God bless you for what you are and who you are."

"May heaven smile upon you. May you be blessed. May you be happy. May you have joy in your lives. May your tears be few and your smiles many as you go forward with your lives is my humble prayer as I stand before you and express unto you my love for you and my confidence in you and my hope for you and my prayer for you. You are the very fiber of this Church and this Church will grow as its young people the young people of this generation magnify their callings and go forward and serve the Lord and live in loyalty toward Him. God bless you.
There is no end in sight for the good you can do. Do you know it? You are just simple kids. You are not geniuses. I know that. But the work of the world isn't done by geniuses. It is done by ordinary people who have learned to work in an extraordinary way people of your kind who can do these things."

If you want to read the whole talk here's the link:

5 comments:

jill facer said...

becky, i seriously remember that day so clearly as well. i was looking in my college journal last night to look over the notes i took from that day at byu-i. we were probably in the same room...that is awesome. i totally remember feeling the spirit so strong as he spoke to us. i remember laughing and crying...i remember when he said "i love you kids" and feeling his love at that exact moment flowing through me...then he got emotional and paused for a while. wow...it is all coming back to me. i miss him already, but i could not be happier that he is with his wife now.

Lindsay said...

So sad. But I am glad he is with his wife. He was so great, and so fun, and SUCH an amazing example.

Magen said...

oh becs...thanks so much for posting that. i had kind of forgotten about that talk but reading it again made it all come back to me. basically that talk is amazing! and his words were so honest and dear. thanks for the reminder. i'll love telling people about his words years from now...how neat to have been there for it.

The Belnaps said...

Thank you so much. We were living there when he came and I still remember parts of that talk. He leaves me with such a feeling of confidence and complete love. I will miss him so much!

Misti said...

Becky, Hi! It's Misti, Brookes roommate! I love your blog, your baby is beautiful! And I totally remember that day President Hinckley came and spoke to us. I feel really blessed that we were important enough to him to come speak to us.