[MUSIC PLAYING] He cut off one of his carefully-arranged curls when he was five. His mother wept. But he soon had the boyish haircut he wanted. He played the piano, the baritone horn, and the trombone. And in his teen years earned some much needed dollars playing in a band and dance orchestra. He later sold the trombone to buy a diamond ring for his sweetheart. But he never lost his love for the piano. As a visiting General Authority, he often surprised ward and stake officers by volunteering to substitute for an absent organist. As a young husband and father during the Depression, he did his own gardening and landscaping complete with small sunken pool. Such a person was Harold B. Lee, 11th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The story of his life from Idaho farm boy to President of a worldwide Church starts with a few basic threads which weave into a rich fabric. He was born in Clifton, Idaho, on March 28, 1899 to Samuel and Louisa Bingham Lee. He learned very early the value of work. "We began to do chores," he said, "shortly after daybreak so we could start with a day's work by sun up. When the day's work was finished, we had yet to do our evening chores, usually by the aid of a lantern." He also learned very early the importance of listening to the Lord. One day when he was a little boy, he decided to explore some sagging farm buildings, but then he heard a quiet voice which said, "Harold, don't go in there." He looked around to see if his father had spoken, but his father was far off in the field. Young Harold didn't question the source of the warning. He immediately left the place.

He attended local schools, including Oneida Stake Academy in Idaho, where he played basketball and excelled in debate with his partner, Sparrel Huff. Then at 17, he attended Albion State Normal College, where in one summer, he passed the teacher certification examination in 15 subjects. That fall he began his teaching career at Silver Star School near Weston, and at 18 became a school principal at Oxford, Idaho. Many of the students were older than he, and rough and tough besides. He gained valuable experience in human relations as well as administration. After three years as principal, he was called to serve in the Western States Mission. There he met a lady missionary, Fern Lucinda Tanner. And after they were released, he went to Salt Lake City to get better acquainted with her. They were married on November 24, 1923. To his wife, in one verse of a longer poem, he wrote, "For Fern, first great love of my life, whose selfless devotion and humility inspire me to live from the dawn of day to dark of night a better man." They were blessed with two daughters, and it was in his own home that Harold B. Lee began to practice the principle which he later taught: "Remember that the most important of the Lord's work that you will ever do will be the work you do within the walls of your own home." The Lord's work which Harold B. Lee performed encompassed not only his home, but many Church assignments. Then at the age of 31, he was called as president of the Pioneer Stake in Salt Lake City. The year was 1930, and the cloud of the Great Depression was settling on the world. Over half the men in his stake were out of work. He had empathy for their problems, born of his own experience. He said, "I have come to know you intimately. Your problems, thank the Lord, have been my problems, because I know as you know what it means to walk when you have not the money to ride. I know what it means to go without meals, to buy a book to go to the university. I thank God now for these experiences." But Harold B. Lee had also had experiences which helped him find solutions to the problems. He had often helped his father, the bishop, load grain or clothing from their own storehouse to be taken to a needy family. This same sense of compassion and preparedness guided President Lee in developing a self-help program for the needy and unemployed in Pioneer Stake. He also promoted a building project to provide a recreation center for a statewide program. And he instituted specialized classes in leadership development and teacher training, later adopted worldwide by the Church. While serving as stake president, he also served as a commissioner of Salt Lake City. But on April 20, 1935, he received a call from the First Presidency that resulted in his release as stake president and in his resignation from the City Commission. He was called to develop a Churchwide welfare program to turn the tide from government relief and to help put the Church in a position where it could take care of its own needy. Later he described his feelings on the day after his call, as he took a solitary walk in a secluded park: "And there all by myself, I kneeled down in one of the most humble prayers. Here I was, just a young man in my early thirties. My experience had been limited. I was born in a little country town in Idaho. I'd hardly been outside of the boundaries of the states of Utah and Idaho. And now, to put me in a position where I was to reach out to the entire membership of the Church worldwide, was one of the most staggering contemplations that I could imagine. How could I do it with my limited understanding? As I kneeled down, and my petition was, what kind of an organization should be set up in order to accomplish what the Presidency has assigned? And there came to me in that glorious morning one of the most heavenly realizations of the power of the priesthood of God. It was as though something were saying to me, there is no new organization necessary to take care of the needs of this people. All that's necessary is to put the priesthood of God to work. There is nothing else that you need as a substitute." And so with much thought, prayer, and understanding borne of experience, Brother Lee put the priesthood organization to work in directing the Church welfare plan. Work programs, warehouses for food and clothing, and an organized distribution system reflected the guiding principle that every member of the Church gives what he is able to give and receives in return whatever he needs for the sustenance of himself and his family. Then on April 6, 1941, his services to the Church were expanded as he was called to be a member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles. As an Apostle, he brought with him the conviction that the priesthood was the greatest organization to carry out the Lord's work. In an expanding worldwide Church, he was a key figure in developing the correlation program, which has streamlined Church administration with all activities under the guidance of the priesthood. He continued to serve as Managing Director of the Welfare Committee, and from the beginning, he practiced what he later preached, that we should follow the Brethren and with the testimony of their divine callings that goes down into your heart like fire. And then he met with unexpected sorrow. In September of 1962, his beloved Fern passed away. And just three years later, his daughter, Maureen. Drawing on his own experience, he could say to families bereaved by the Vietnam conflict, "death of a loved one is the most severe test that you will ever face. And if you can rise above your griefs, and if you will trust in God, then you will be able to surmount any other difficulties with which you may be faced." He did trust in God, receiving a peace of mind and heart. And in 1963, he married Freda Joan Jensen, adding another verse to his family poem: "So Joan joins Fern, that three might be more fitted for eternity." It was Freda Joan who was with him when he was impressed to fly home early from a mission tour at a time when he had been suffering from a severe ulcer condition. He shared this deeply personal experience in general conference: "As we approached a certain point coming across country, someone laid their hands on my head. I looked up. I could see no one.

That happened again before we arrived home, again with the same experience.

Who it was, by what means or what medium, I shall never know--except I knew that I was receiving a blessing that I came in a few hours later to know that I needed most desperately. "As soon as we arrived home, my wife, very anxious, called the doctor. It was now about 11 o'clock at night. He called me to come to the telephone, and he asked me how I was, and I said I'm very tired, but I think I'll be all right. But shortly thereafter, there came massive hemorrhages, which if it had occurred while we were in flight, I wouldn't be here today talking about it. I know that there are powers divine that reach out when all other help is not available." That his life had been preserved for a special reason became apparent on July 2, 1972, when President Joseph Fielding Smith passed away, and Harold Bingham Lee became the 11th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and prophet, seer, and revelator. His theme as he assumed the presidency was direct and to the point: "It is to keep the commandments of God, for therein lies the safety of the Church and the safety of the individual. Keep the commandments." And which commandment did he consider the most important in the gospel? "The most important of all the commandments for you at this moment," he said, "is the one you are having the most difficulty keeping. And when you have successfully mastered that particular problem, then you should select the next one you are having trouble with, and so on, until you have conquered them all." As President Lee assumed the tremendous responsibilities of his new calling, many of the programs under his direction were those he had already helped to develop, notably in welfare and correlation. Yet in his administration, there were also new and sweeping changes to meet the needs of a growing worldwide Church, such as the reorganization of the youth programs to be directly under the direction of the priesthood. He counseled members at area conferences in Mexico and Germany, and he counseled personally with members and visitors in his office. Many Church members had long expected that he would some day be President, and they looked forward to many years of counsel and guidance from him. But on Wednesday, December 26, 1973, only 18 months after becoming President, his desk calendar waited in vain to be filled with appointments, and his office remained unexpectedly and strangely silent. Many spoke of his death as untimely. But as one speaker observed at his funeral, "The death of no man of God is ever untimely. Our Father sets the time." The 18 months of his brief presidency were only the culmination of a lifetime of love and concern for his fellowman, and service in the cause of his Lord and Savior.

"And so I come to you today with no shadow of doubting in my mind that I know the reality of the person who presides over this Church--our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. I know that He is. I know He's closer to us than many times we have any idea. He isn't an absentee Father, our Lord. They're concerned about us helping to prepare us for the advent of the Savior, whose coming certainly isn't too far away because of the signs that are becoming apparent."