[Teachldsseminary] Gordon B. Hinckley
Kathryn Skaggs
sjagnana at mac.com
Mon Apr 23 18:35:46 MDT 2007
Thank you for sharing. This was so uplifting and filled with the
spirit. How we love Gordon B. Hinckley, prophet of the Lord, whom we
are so thankful was prepared for our day to lead and guide us!
k
On Apr 23, 2007, at 5:08 PM, anita at whiteley.org wrote:
Just thought I’d share a great talk about Pres. Hinckley. It’s realy
long,
but wonderful!!!! Hopefully someone out there can use things from it,
when
teaching about our beloved prophet.
LOL
Notes from Sherri Dew “Gordon B. Hinckley: the man, the ministry and
the
message.”
1998 CES symposium
She shared an Experience: She sat in the church class that made her
crazy. Because the whole message of the lesson was the gospel is hard to
live. How hard it is to pay tithing…… how hard it is to stay clean..
Interpretation is exactly opposite:
It’s not living the Gospel that’s hard, it’s “life that’s hard” there’s
some Great moments and some lousy moments. It’s the Gospel that makes
those things bearable and doable. Yes, it’s requires self-disciple to
live the gospel, but that brings integrity. Integrity brings self worth.
What do we have as members of the church that we wouldn’t have
otherwise?
We know why we are here.
Power of the Priesthood
Ordinances that bind us to each other and endowments that give us power.
We have the gift of the H.G. ,
And we have A living prophet.
We’ve sung we thank o God for the Prophet and heard testimonies a
zillions
times- but what does it really mean to us that we know we have a living
Prophet in our lives?
How much of that privilege of having a living Prophet as part of our
membership do we take for guaranteed. The great question we should be
asking ourselves, is SO ? , So what? What difference does it make
that you
and I believe and know that we have a living prophet that communications
with the Heavens in our behalf.
(Quote)_ from a pre-interview with Bob Anderson from 60 mins. A “Pre
interview” to Pres. Hinckley’s interview to Mike Wallace. He asked “You
know your people say you are like a living Moses, What does that mean,
what does a Prophet do, How does this revelation stuff work?”, and this
is how Pres. Hinckley answered this- (Now think to yourselves, you’ve
got the camera rolling and sitting in front of the producer of 60 mins..
You are the Pres. of the church and how do you respond to that
question.)
Pres. Hinckley said, “The Prophet in this context, is not a astrologer,
not a fortune teller, he is not necessarily a predictor, he is a
witness,
he is a testifier, he stands as a witness of the divinity and reality of
the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, he is a pronouncer and
interrupter
of Doctrine for the people of this church, he is the leader of the
church
responsible for all it‘s activities and ramifications . He stands at the
head of a great organization of people, Now to the matter of
revelation….
(Mike Wallace and Bob Anderson and fascinated by what does it mean to
be a
prophet and what does he do. And they come back to it again and again.)
…Now revelation is a very real thing in this church, for instance, we
believe that every father who lives a worthy life in this church can
receive revelation concerning the affairs within his family. They are
entitled inspiration and direction in responses to their prayer. I
think
you could ask hundreds of thousands of men who have received answers as
response to their prayers. There is one man who receives revelation for
the entire church and that is the man who holds this office. Revelation
comes by way of inspiration and direction in the affairs of this church.
When a problem arises, there is fasting, there is solemn prayer and
anxious seeking of the will of the Lord, and in a quiet and wonderful
way
that inspiration comes, not in a spoken voice necessarily but the
whispering of the spirit which one feels, and experiences and those
experiences are real. (Don’t you love how he’s bearing his
testimony to
Bob Anderson) Most people in this fast world would deny that, but they
would deny it because they haven’t experienced it. They have not put
it to
the test, I can bear testimony that it has happened, that it is
happening
and that it will happen.”
When I heard quotes like that It makes me want to lead you in a cheer,
hang up banner, make Pres. Hinckley pres. of everything.=)
That’s how he defines what the Pres. of the church does for us. What a
privilege that we have a living Prophet to guide us and that he teaches
us.
9 year old talk- by Sherri Dew- Yes, pres. MacKay (Pres. at the
time) I
have received your message- I will comply with your request- not when I
get time ( imagine how busy a 9 year old is=)) but right now- I don’t
need
any convincing because I know you are a prophet of God and that’s good
enough for me-
(I thought- not bad for a 9 yr old=)
That really IS the message-
Pre Hinckley if you said it, it’s good enough for me !
Now is that blind faith or blind obedience –NO, because I’ve never had a
situation that I couldn’t get on my knees and ask for myself and get a
confirmation that what he told me what accurate.
Enough so, that now that I can say if Pres. Hinckley says it, it’s good
enough for me.
I’m going to do what you say- if we did that what difference would that
make? If we did everything he told us to do- it would be very very hard
to get off the path.
There are many reasons for studying the lives of prophets-
In the process of studying their lives it becomes very clear who is
really
in charge. That it is the Lord who is in charge- that we don’t selection
who the Prophet will be- the Lord is directing this church. How many
times
have we heard Pres. Hinckley stand up at the Pulpit and say “this is not
my church, this IS the Lord’s church. And it’s our pleasure and
privilege
to serve him.” No one comes into this position that is not trained.
(Pres. Hinckley’s call to the First Pres. was by Pres Kimball.)
Within 18
months he was flying solo in handling the office of the First Pres.
NOW ,
Know that The Lord is in charge of who is leading us and at what time.
Love knowing the Lord is in charge. Testimony of that is valid. Mantle
which they’ve been blessed is great.
There are many things we can look to proving the Lord had his hand in
Pres. Hinckley Preparation. There is nothing accidental about his
prep or
training, there’s no question in my mind that he has the man in place at
the very hour, that he can lead the church forward.
There’s so many but just a couple:
1- When we look at him there’s one area that sticks out: he is very
prepared: it makes perfect sense – world is media hungry- he’s been
prepared to use the media to bring the church out of obscurity and to
use
the media to help us in that effort- Pres Monson said “There is no
one in
our dispensation who has more experience in relaying our story and
telling our story then does Pres. Hinckley.”
Pre Faust said, “Pres. Hinckley has been raised to lead the church
out of
obscurity and he's been prepared in a marvelous and wonderful way.”
They had this luncheon and Elder Maxwell introduced him, and then Pres.
Hinckley stood up and he began by giving a brief intro to the church.
He’s a master at this – speaking in all kinds of places he knows how to
bridge the gap between him and his audience even in foreign countries.
I’ve been with him in the setting of an audience that’s non LDS. So
this
is how he did it in this situation-
He has the Editor from TIME, senior writer for wall street journal,
people
around the table were of that caliber and of that Stature. Pres.
Hinckley stands and says, “Elder Maxwell has mentioned I’ve served a
Mission in England and I did, I was in London one summer and every
Sunday
we’d go over to Hyde park and teach the Gospel and you know, that was
interesting- the hecklers would come out like crazed _____. Some of
them
were down right professional=). They’d bring their umbrellas or canes
and
wave them at us and he said the law was that the hecklers couldn’t touch
you physically but they could do anything else. So the really good ones
would take their canes and waves them in front of your face as close as
they could get it without touching us, to try and distract us and he
said,
you know, I learned to teach the Gospel even under the most adverse
conditions.=)”
He said “So much that it doesn’t even make me nervous to have Mike
Wallace
staring at me across the table=).”
Everybody laughed just like you did, and you see what he’s doing he’s
breaking the ice and then he went on into the intro of the church and
then
he said “Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m honored you are here today and I’d
like
to answer any questions that you have.”
First of all, they were a little surprised he’d open it up so
freely to
questions. So during this Mike Wallace raised his hand. He said, “Mr.
Hinckley let me confess that I was not all that enthused about coming to
lunch today. I wondered what we could possible get out of lunch from a
man your age, you are after all 8 years old then I am.=)”
And at that Pres. Hinckley interrupted and said “Oh Mike, you’ll have to
forgive me I just assumed you and I were the same age=)”
Can you picture the feeling that was there. All of a sudden here was a
feeling of koumrotery, a little bit of humor, and yes they asked some
very
direct questions and Pres. Hinckley answered them. But there was
definitely a spirit of goodwill in the room. Towards the end of that
Mike
Wallace raised his hand again and said “for years we’ve wanted to
feature
a Pres. of the church on 60’s minutes and we’ve never even gotten a
returned phone call. Would you sit for a formal interview for 60
minutes
sir?” Pres. Hinckley is on the spot. He paused and then he said “I
guess
I’ll risk it”- within a few days 60 minutes formalized the interview and
I’d have to say not every one back in Salt Lake was enthused about
it, of
pres. Hinckley going on 60 min. He worried about it, that he might have
done something that would place the church in jeopardy. There was
tremendous discussion and prayer in determining if he should go through
with it. And he felt he should do it. And he did. His prep was
incredible.
Not only spiritual but also for days wrote out every question in
advance
what he thought he might be asked and how he’d answer those questions.
Well, we know what happened, something aired on 60 mins. And Mike
Wallace
was pretty fair to him, he tried to put the church in a good light
without
losing his creditability, it seemed. But there is something that
developed
between Pres. Hinckley and Mike Wallace a reaper and respect. I
marvel on
how the Pres. of the church handled the questions. Now imagine you are
sitting there on TV or whatever with tons of cameras and here’s Mike
Wallace, one of the toughest journalists in the world- can be very
intimidating. Thought you’d be interested on a few things during the
interview. Mike Wallace lead off the interview by asking
“Mr. Pres. why did you agree to give us this rare interview?”
Pres. H “Because I felt it was a great opportunity to tell the
people of
America something about this great of the cause in which I have a keen
interest”
Mike “But that’s not traditional with Mormons”
Pres H. “Oh I don’t know =)”
Mike “Can you tell me the last time a Mormon Pres. went on National TV
with no questions ahead of time so you know what is coming?”
Pres H “Well, no… I don’t remember one.=)”
Mike “So, Gordon Hinckley decided that there is a message that you
have
for America and the world”
Pres H “Yes indeed”
Pres H “And that message is?”
Ok (you guys are smart – cameras rolling, how would you answer that
question=)
This is how he said it
Pres H “That message is that there a way to greater peace. There is a
way to greater harmony in our living, there is a way to revive the
values
that have made America strong, there is a way to improve things -that is
what I’d like to say.”
Mike “You’ve even retained a public relations agency, Is that to get
people to join the Mormon church or tell the rest of us heathens what we
are missing?=)”.
Pres H “Yes, it’s to tell you heathens what you are missing=)”
Mike “And what is it we are missing?” (How do you answer that)
Pres H “You are missing the Lift that comes from living close to the
lord, walking with faith and with purpose and a feeling that life is
really purposeful. That it is a mission rather then just a career.
There’s
something wonderful about having some concept of who you are as a divine
son or daughter of God. There’s a divine destiny that He can make
more of
who you are than you may have been making of it.”
Mike “You believe in an afterlife”
Pres H “I certainly do, I think life after this life is as certain as
life here, I believe we lived before we came here and that we came here
for a purpose”
Mike “WAIT a minute”, you believe you lived before we came here?
Pres H “Oh, absolutely as intelligence’s, as spirits, not as bodies
but as
spirit sons and daughters of God.”
Mike “Wait a minute there was a sprit of Gordon Hinckley”
Pres H “Absolutely and of Mike Wallace too =)”
Mike “I hope not=)”
(Listen to this teaching Pres. Hinckley is doing)
Pres H “Life is an eternal thing Mike, it is part of eternal plan, are
father’s plan for his sons and daughters. His work and his glory is to
bring about the immortality and eternal life of his son’s and daughters.
It is purposeful, it is meaningful.” (Do you love how the Pres. of
church
responses to those questions)
Sherri Dew asked Mike Wallace after 60 minutes aired, what surprised him
about his interaction with Pres. Hinckley- he said “EVERYTHING. His
humor, which I didn’t, expected. Do you realize he answered every
question
I asked him. He didn’t dodge anything.” (That would be very
important to
a journalist of his statures, he goes on to say,) “The only thing he
wouldn’t answer was what goes on in your temples and to that he replied
it’s very sacred. I can tell you this, we have done many stories on
different organizations including churches and we have never had a
experience we’ve had with Gordon Hinckley and the Mormon Church.”
There has never been another Pres. of the church who has talked so much
with the media. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he has more hours
then all the other Pres. of the church combined. That’s not an accident-
1-think of the time and the period in which we live
2- heard people say, naturally the Lord would help Pres. Hinkcley be
able
to handle that situation with Mike Wallace.- true, but it’s a two part
answer
Yes he was blessed.- the Lord has blessed him everytime he stands in
front of reporters. For 60 years the Lord has been training him for this
job – for 60 years he’s had many experiences where he’s had loads and
loads of practice.
In 1935, he’s 25 years old, he home from his mission and is made the
executive sec of a brand new committee. “The radio and publisher
literature committee”. There had never before then, been tracks or
pamphlet to help missionaries. 6 members of the committee are called and
this young 25 year old boy- Gordon B. Hinckley - He wrote all the
filmstrips, he made all the proposals, the tracks and publications so
when Pres. Monson said there’s no one else in this dispensation - it
started when he was just 25 . You could follow his career forward and
there’s hundred of examples even Pres. Hinckley who doesn’t not like to
have any of his accomplishments mentioned or detailed, even pres.
Hinckley
would acknowledge no one has had the experience he’s had in this realm.
The many things he did in his long serve as a employee of church head
quarters, missionary department the things he did in helping
missionaries
find a way to teach more effectively .
Then you move forward…….. Anytime the church has been in positions where
they need representation before the press they ask (then) Elder Hinckley
to handle the situation. Research 1968, 1969 there was a liquor by the
drink issue in Salt lake- a hot issue, Sonja Johnson situation, a
formal
position to the press of why all worthy men could not hold the
priesthood
he was the one at the time, he was the one who was asked to do it.
And there’s a lot of other things. He was the one who Pres. Kimball
was
the Prophet but he had Elder Hinckley who was not yet a member of the
first pres. but was asked to accompany him to the Mesa temple for that
pre-view they do for clergy and ministers of near by faiths. It’s
before
the dedication. That day when they were invited pres. Kimball got up
and
said , “I know you have come here with questions about our faith, I’ll
have Elder Hinckley step to the Pulpit and he’ll answer any question you
have=)”
When Washington Dc temple was being dedicated their were many
dignitaries
who were being taken through when the first lady came Pres. Kimball
turned
to Elder Hinckley and said “I‘d like you to explain the concept of
eternal
marriage to the first lady.”
So there were many opportunities for him to be in front and to be
speaking
to tell “our story.” In 1980- not A MEMBER OF THE FIRST pres., the
church was celebrating sequential year and Pre. Hinckley was asked to go
on the today show with Tm Brocaw and tell what it was all about.
It’s not an accident that he is Pres. of the church today and he is
prepared to do things that we need to have done today. He knows how to
tell our story and in a way that everyone can heard it., Soul Korea-
all
journalist around table- Sherri dew was there and thinking how is he
going to do this, the leaders aren’t’ even Christian-
She said she sat in the corner and watched. He stood and through a
translator said
“I have been coming to Korea for 35 years and I love Korea, (she could
see shoulders relaxing-) I love the Korean people. I am so impressed
with
what I have seen over the years. When I first started coming to Korea,
Korea was in its’ days of poverty and you’d just endured 40 years a
Japanese domination. You’d just been through struggles with different
kinds of conflicts (and he said ) the people were so poor. (He said) I
don’t know if I’ve ever shed so many tears for anybody than the
people of
Korea, (He said) I’m so impressed, look what has happened here over
the
years, I must tell you I am so impressed with your emphasis about
education, I thought you might be interested to know that we feel
strongly
about education, infact, the worlds largest private university is owned
by the church BYU and then he said, We have a extensive program to
educate our youth- the church education system- we feel strongly
about it.
I’m impressed with how strongly you feel about families. I know how
important families are here in Korea. We feel strongly about families!
There’s some People who wonder if this is an America church we have x
amount of members who are lead by capable Korean men and women NOW You
might be interested to know the church has never taken out money of
Korea
but we have spend millions and millions of dollars here in Korea
“ ( see
what he’s doing he’s building that bridge) after he’s said this he
opened
it up for questions- of course they asked the hard ones- he answered
them
– by the time he was done, he had found a way in all his answers to
bear
testimony of Jesus Christ. The listeners were Buddhist. But he did
it in
a way that wasn’t heavy, he wasn’t beating anyone over the head with
what
we believe, it was a calm telling.
They appeared to respond well to him, every one of them shook his
hand and
got a picture with him.
Pres. Hinckley is a master at sharing our story and doing it in a way
that
we can heard it.
Pres. Hinckley has been under the Lord’s hand his entire his life.
He is the Lord’s anointed
It is to me the greatest kind of confidence that to me stands at
the head
of the church a man in whom the Lord has prepared.
We are lead by a Prophet and if we will listen to him, it would be very
difficult to get very far off the path. Do we take it for granted?
At least twice a year we have the opportunity to hear the Lord words to
us. I know Pres. Hinkcley is a true prophet. We look at this one area in
his life to demonstrate, he is the man the Lord wants him to be. It’s
Great privilege to be taught and lead by a prophet and if we will
listen
it would be very diff. to lose our way Here’s a man whose only goal is
to help us live with our Father in heaven again.
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