We Thank Thee Oh God For A Prophet

At 7:00 pm last night we lost our beloved prophet Gordon B. Hinkley. Kevin came upstairs and told me. I felt a rush of shock through my body, but I was surprisingly not sad. All I felt was gratitude. My thoughts went directly to the sweet reunion he must have had on the other side with his sweet Marjorie and with our Savior. I am sure the emotions of this even have not really begun to set in considering just a few weeks ago I pondered his nearing death and began to weep. However, it is also hard not to remember his amazing sense of humor and just smile at the very thought of him. He was my prophet. The prophet of our days. His energy, dedication, optimism and enthusiasm will never be forgotten. In fact, is should propel us into action ourselves. Let us take advantage of his work and attend our temples, teach our children, and prepare ourselves and our homes. I love this man, and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to experience his love.

Here is a sweet letter he wrote to his wife Marjorie after the publication of her latest book. Please take the time to read it!

"My Darling,All that is said in this book concerning your virtues is true. Your own words and those spoken by a host of friends bear tribute to your worth. More, much more, might have been included.It is now more than sixty years since we entered the Salt Lake Temple, there to be married for eternity. I had known you for a long time prior to that. I knew what I was getting into, and it has turned out as I had hoped it would. What a treasured companion you have been. Through all these years we have walked side by side as equals before the Lord. There have been good days and bad days, but the good days have far outnumbered the bad ones.Life for the most part has dealt gently with us. During the Depression, when we were newly married, we were poor and didn't know it because we were so rich in the things that really count. The laughter of happy children graced our kitchen table. The presence of a loving mother blessed our home. The Lord has opened the windows of heaven and showered down blessings too numerous to mention. He has smiled upon us in a wondrous way.We have found comfort and gladness in one another and in our children. Now they have families of their own and grandchildren. All of our posterity have brought joy to our hearts.When our children were young, you seldom traveled with me. I would be gone for as long as two months at a time. There were not even telephone calls permitted in those days. We wrote letters. You never complained. How wonderful it was to come home and be held warmly in your arms and those of our children.Now in more recent years we have traveled far and wide together. We have visited every continent. We have held meetings in the great cities of the world and in many smaller ones. We have met the distinguished of the earth. We have spoken to millions who have appreciated you greatly. With your familiar words you have won the love of all who have heard you. Your down-to-earth good sense, your sparkling and refreshing wit, your quiet and unfailing wisdom, and your tremendous and ever constant faith have won the hearts of all who have listened to you.You have been my critic and my judge. You have seen to it that my shoes were shined, my suit pressed, my tie straight. You have pushed aside the flattery that comes with public life, and winnowed the kind and sincere words of honest and loving friends. You have held at bay that old fraud of adulation and kept my feet planted on the solid earth. How I appreciate you.Your voracious appetite for reading and your relentless pursuit of knowledge have kept you alert and refreshing throughout a long and fruitful life.Now we have grown old together, and it has been a sweet experience. We have shrunk in stature and move a little more slowly. We are more forgetful. But as of this writing we still have one another--and that is so good. And when in some future day the hand of death gently touches one or the other of us there will be tears, yes, but there will also be a quiet and certain assurance of reunion and eternal companionship.'Trusty, dusky, vivid, true...'*The God of Heaven fashioned you.I love you, dear,Gordon"