President Gordon B. Hinckley, 1910-2008

Each time a prophet has passed away, I've felt a sense of loss, but also a sense of comfort that Heavenly Father has a plan for the leadership of the Church and won't leave us without prophetic guidance. And each time I've come to love the new prophet just as much as the previous one. But still, I think we will all miss President Hinckley. He was just so friendly and loving and open. I've always admired the way he could lead and inspire and motivate without seeming to put himself above anybody. Maybe I've felt close to him too because he was close to the same age as my grandfather, who also passed away shortly after Christmas. My grandfather's funeral was not a sad thing, but a wonderful family reunion and a celebration of a great life. I imagine President Hinckley's funeral will be like that too.

"My beloved associates, far more of us need to awake and arouse our faculties to an awareness of the great everlasting truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each of us can do a little better than we have been doing. We can be a little more kind. We can be a little more merciful. We can be a little more forgiving. We can put behind us our weaknesses of the past, and go forth with new energy and increased resolution to improve the world about us, in our homes, in our places of employment, in our social activities.

We have work to do, you and I, so very much of it. Let us roll up our sleeves and get at it, with a new commitment, putting our trust in the Lord.

Come, come, ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear;
But with joy wend your way.
Though hard to you this journey may appear,
Grace shall be as your day.
(Hymns, 1985, no. 30)

We can do it, if we will be prayerful and faithful. We can do better than we have ever done before."

--President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May 1995, p. 88