President Gordon B.
Hinckley's early assignments in public relations gave him
much experience with the media. His later appearances
on television and radio gave the Church
unprecedented opportunities to share the message of the
restored gospel with the world. President Hinckley
respected the media, but he was not afraid of them. With his understanding of
Church history and facts, he was not derailed by
questions that had not been previously pondered. He was quick mentally
and he spoke the truth without pretense. Why is the Church
growing so quickly? What purpose does it serve? Well, it's growing because
it has a commission, to go in the world and teach
the gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. We consider that a divine
commission and we're pursuing it very aggressively. And at the same time,
while in that process, we think we're doing good. We think we're improving
people's lives. We think that we're causing them
to stand taller and straighter, and be better people. In February of
2002 Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics. Under President
Hinckley's direction, thousands of volunteers
represented the hospitality of Utah and the Church. In this time, and in numerous
other moments of leadership, he met with world, national,
and religious leaders. President Hinckley
had a capacity to connect with people from
all beliefs and nationalities and was eminently prepared to
tell the story of the Church to the world.