1/27/08

President Gordon B Hinckley Passes Away


I just received three texts that President Hinckley passed away tonight at 7pm. He was my Prophet. I remember so vividly hearing about President Benson's passing nearly 15 years ago - I was walking into the kitchen at Uncle Glen and Aunt Jody's house when I heard the news. President Hunter's passing is much more vague in my memory, and I don't even recall sustaining President Hinckley. But since then, through all my teenage years, my missionary service and the last 5 years of growing into adulthood, I've repeatedly returned to the words of my Prophet for guidance and inspiration. I have a hammered copy of the Ensign from high school that I carried around for years (until the pages fell freely from the binding) because of the two pages filled with quotes from President Hinckley. President Hinckley reminds me of temples and earrings and the Book of Mormon challenge, of Vietnam and the silver thread and the dedication of Asia for missionary work. I recall the several last General Conferences in which President Hinckley looked so weak, and everyone thought it was his "last time" when he mentioned his failing health and his hope to make it to another conference. I remember his good-humored reply to these assumptions, that he was not giving his own epitaph but just his feelings. I look back to just two weeks ago and see President Hinckley speaking at the Southern California Stake Conference Broadcast. He did look frail and the camera intentionally focused on the other side of the pulpit while President Hinckley arose and sat down, perhaps in an attempt to allow him the time and assistance he needed to move.

I just received two more phone calls about President Hinckley's passing. I am grateful for the internet and text messaging that allows news to relayed to hundreds or thousands of individuals at the click of button. I will miss President Hinckley, but I look forward to see the continued progression of the Church upon the foundation he built. One thing is for sure: of all the people on the earth right now, he's the only one I know for sure is going straight to Heaven.


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travel log
  • 02.13.08 - to the temple with Luan and his mom, good to be back
  • 02.14.08 - Mẫu's alive! and staying for the weekend
  • 02.15.08 - floor hockey and Thái food makes for some strange dreams
  • 02.17.08 - frisbee and swamp monster at the park: fun but I'm pooped!
  • 02.19.08 - just read Triết's response to my last post - game on!
  • 02.20.08 - raining and expected to continue through Sunday - thank goodness!
  • 02.21.08 - 3-hour nap is a bad idea right before bed
  • 02.23.08 - to the beach to watch kites, a baptism @ 5pm, and homemade bulgogi - what a day!
  • 02.25.08 - just gave myself a haircut - woo, cold head!
  • 02.26.08 - 75° and spring cleaning - couldn't feel better
  • 02.27.08 - fed the elders bún đậu tonight - think it's their first time
  • 03.01.08 - working on new background...
  • 03.02.08 - finalized javascript to change background without muffing up my other scripts
  • 03.03.08 - fhe: "In his strength I can do all things" (Alma 26:12)
  • 03.07.08 - some decisions are harder than others, but some are downright excruciating
  • 03.08.08 - there is life after work... i almost forgot
  • 03.11.08 - the distance between good and bad is much shorter than between better and best
  • 03.12.08 - conversion is sometimes a gradual process, so much so that we don't even notice
  • 03.14.08 - for some reason everything was a little harder today, looking forward for bed!
  • 03.15.08 - last night after blog reading, I missed OnlyBlue, today I find she's back
  • 03.16.08 - best day of my life!
  • 03.19.08 - "Pray for the answer that they've been looking for"
release notes v1.0 - FINALLY DONE!
  • 12.07 - first thought of starting a new blog
  • 01.08 - busy with election stuff but blog design still on back burner
  • 01.13.08 - first idea to imitate jk rowling with the "desk" theme
  • 01.28.08 - start sketching current design, breaking down development into phases
  • 02.02.08 - election only days away but still drafting final plans
  • 02.04.08 - v0.6 LAUNCH
    • main components (blog body, sidebar, header, etc) designed and implemented
    • styling for font, links, drop caps, etc. finished
  • 02.07.08 - v0.8 LAUNCH
    • image style to imitate polariod
    • moveability - post-it notes and static clings can be repositioned by drag and drop
    • release notes styled and written
  • 02.16.08 - travel log (beta) added in hopes of catching the mundane
  • 02.22.08 - lightbox 2.03 reinstalled and working fine (hopefully - let me know otherwise)
  • 02.26.08 - v0.9 LAUNCH
    • travel log seems to be working, so I'll keep it
    • lightbox also seems to have passed the test, so it's a keeper
    • some credits/info added to bottom (will expand)
    • keeping old Viet terms in archive for future viewing
  • 03.18.08 - v1.0 LAUNCH
    • installation and testing of time-sensitive background completed (for now)