It was an unusual general conference. The weather had turned cold, with a steady rain falling. On Wednesday the rain turned to snow, wrapping Temple Square in a veil of white. It was the first general conference in a year, a flu epidemic having canceled October conference the year before. And now a record crowd braved the last snowfall of the season to be in the Tabernacle with their leaders. On Sunday afternoon a new leader was sustained. A 48-year-old stake president from East Millcreek was named an Assistant to the Twelve. His name was Gordon B. Hinckley. "I'm reminded of a statement made by my first missionary companion when I received a letter of transfer to the European mission office.

After I'd read it, I turned it over to him and he read it. And he said, Well, you must have helped an old lady across the street in the preexistence. It isn't anything you've done here.

"Humbly, I seek the blessing of the Lord.

I am overwhelmed with a sense of inadequacy.

I feel shaken. I'd like to express my appreciation to my father, who lies very critically ill in the hospital. No son ever had a better father. I'd like to express appreciation of my mother. "I say these things because I'd like to make the point that all of us in our various situations are the result, largely, of the lives that touch ours. And today I feel profoundly grateful for all who have touched mine." President's office, Great Salt Lake City, April 12, 1867. Elder Ira Hinckley. "Dear brother: We wish to get a good and suitable person to settle on and take charge of the Church ranch at Cove Creek, Miller County. Your name has been suggested for this position. As it is some distance from any other settlement, a man of sound practical judgment and experience is needed to fill the place. If you think you can take this mission, you should endeavor to go a week from next Monday. Your brother in the gospel, Brigham Young." In 1867, Ira Nathaniel Hinckley left his home and built this fort on a lonely prairie in southern Utah. Unlike most of frontier America's wooden forts, which are now largely gone, Ira Hinckley built his Cove Fort of volcanic rock laid in lime mortar. The walls at the base were four feet thick. After 125 years, it still stands. "Dad feels very strongly about his ancestors. Ira Hinckley, of course, who was his grandfather. Bryant S. Hinckley, his father. His maternal grandparents, the Bitners, are very much a part of him and a part of his life. He feels a great debt of gratitude to all of them." "He's solid. There's nothing small about him. He's been firm in the faith all his days. He takes after his father and his grandfather, who were likewise solid. In a way, he's a lot like Cove Fort." In 1922, Bryant Hinckley was serving in the presidency of Liberty Stake, the largest stake in the Church, with a membership of over 15,000. One evening, shortly after Gordon was ordained a deacon, his father took him to a stake priesthood meeting at the old 10th ward. It was here that an unusual event occurred that would remain with him the rest of his life. "My father went to the stand, and I sat on the back row. The meeting was called to order. The opening song was 'Praise to the Man Who Communed with Jehovah.' All of the men stood to sing. The hall was filled with men--many who'd come as converts from Europe. And they lifted their voices in unison in that great hymn: 'Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah! Jesus anointed that Prophet and Seer. Blessed to open the last dispensation, Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.' "It touched my heart. It gave me a feeling that was difficult to describe. I'd never had it previously, in terms of any Church experience. There came into my heart a conviction that the man of whom they sang was really a prophet of God. And I'm grateful to be able to say that that conviction, which came, I believe, by the power of the Holy Spirit, has never left me." Life was full and happy for the Hinckleys. Then in 1930, while Gordon's mother was traveling in Europe, she began to feel an unusual pain. Upon returning, the doctors gave a grim diagnosis--cancer.

Six months later, she was gone.

"I recall the gray November day of her funeral," Gordon said. "We put on a front of bravery and fought back the tears, but inside, the wounds were deep and painful." From that day, he would carry a deepened understanding for all who lose a loved one in death.

The little family tried to return to normal living. Gordon threw himself into his university studies, and in 1932 he graduated with a degree in English and a minor in ancient languages. The class of 1932 entered a world struggling in the depths of the Great Depression. Nearly half the nation's banks had failed. Unemployment was over 30 percent. It was a time of soup lines and suicides. "Only those who lived through it would ever really understand the depth of the economic catastrophe that hit the nation and spread across the world. It was a time of terrible discouragement. It was felt strongly on campus of the university--and I'm frank to say that I felt some of that myself. I began to question some things, including perhaps, in the slight measure, the faith of my parents and some of those things. That isn't unusual for university students, but the atmosphere was particularly acute at that time. "But I'm grateful to say that with all of that, the testimony which had come to me as a boy remained with me and became as a bulwark to which I could cling through those very difficult years." Gordon continued to work at the gym as he carefully saved his money. He had a goal--to enroll the following year at Columbia University and earn a graduate degree in journalism. Then on a Sunday afternoon, Bishop Duncan called him into his office. A mission was discussed. Gordon was shocked. Very few missionaries were being called because of the Depression, but he responded affirmatively. When the call came from Church headquarters, it was to the European Mission with headquarters in London. Because of an unfavorable exchange rate in Britain, it was the costliest mission in the world. Meanwhile, the bank in which Gordon had been keeping his money failed, taking with it his entire savings. "At that time, the bishop spoke to my father, presumably. And my father said, Yes, we'll do all we can to see that your needs are met. And he did so. And my brother who was working augmented that with some of his own resources. And a little more was needed. And we discovered that my mother had established a little savings account from the coins she received in change when she bought groceries and did other shopping. And that filled whatever gap there was. And I always consider that money, which she had saved so meticulously, as sacred--and so regarded it." On June 20, 1933, Gordon Hinckley left Salt Lake City for New York. After a three-day rail journey, he arrived in New York City.

Then he boarded the S.S. Manhattan bound for England.

After arriving at the mission home in London, Gordon was assigned to Preston, 200 miles to the north, in Lancashire. "I felt very lonely on the train ride to Preston," he recalled. His companion, Kent Bramwell, met him at the station and took him to their living quarters. He then announced that they would go into town and hold a street meeting. "I was terrified. I stepped up on that little stand and looked at that crowd of people who'd gathered. They were dreadfully poor at that time, in the bottom of the Depression. They looked rather menacing and mean, but I somehow stumbled through whatever I had to say." "When I arrived there, I was not well. I felt I wasn't getting anywhere in the missionary work, and I became discouraged. I wrote a letter to my father and said, I'm wasting my time and your money. I don't see any point in my staying here. And in due time, a letter came back from him, in which he simply said, Dear Gordon, I have your letter of such and such a date. I have only one suggestion: Forget yourself and go to work. With love, your father. "I pondered that. And the next morning in our scripture class, we read that great statement of the Lord, He that saveth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake and the gospel shall find it. It touched me. That statement, that promise, in conjunction with my father's letter, prompted me to go upstairs in the little bedroom at 15 Wadham Road, Preston, Lancashire, where we lived, and get on my knees and make a covenant with the Lord that I would try to forget myself and go to work. I count that as the day of decision in my life. Everything good that's happened to me since then I can trace back to the decision I made at that time." In June of 1935, Elder Hinckley's mission began drawing to a close. He would leave England a different young man than when he came. He had come to know the beauty and culture of Britain and had grown to love its people. More importantly, the doubts and questions of his college days had been replaced by a firm testimony. "I came to know my Father in Heaven and my Savior," he said, "to a degree unrealized before." Returning to New York, he took a bus to 116th Street and stepped through the gates at Columbia University. Thoughtfully, Gordon walked across campus "just to see what I had missed," he recalled. He traveled by rail to Detroit where, according to arrangement, he picked up a new car for his father--a 1935 Plymouth for $740. Then he and a friend from his mission, G. Homer Durham, drove the 1,600 miles to Salt Lake. Gordon recalls, "I arrived home worn out, weighing 126 pounds, and said that I had no desire ever to travel again." His mission president had asked him to meet with the First Presidency and report on needs and conditions in the missions of Europe. On the appointed morning, he went to the administration building and met with President Heber J. Grant and his counselors, J. Reuben Clark and David O. McKay. "President Grant told me that I could take 15 minutes," he recalled. "Then they began to ask questions, and I was there for over an hour." Several days later President McKay called and offered Gordon a position with the Church. He was asked to serve as producer and secretary of the newly organized Radio, Publicity, and Mission Literature Committee. The committee was comprised of six members of the Twelve, with Elder Stephen L. Richards as chairman. There was an empty office available, but no furniture. He went downstairs and asked for a ream of paper. A whole ream? he was asked. Did he know how many pages were in a ream? He did. Next, he went to a former missionary companion whose father dealt in office furniture, and came away with a reject table. One leg was short. He fixed that with a block of wood. The top was warped and split. He would ignore that. He brought his typewriter from home, set up shop, and went to work. From this office would come hundreds of scripts for radio, filmstrips, and motion pictures and the pioneering of the use of media in the Church.

"We lived in a very large ward--more than 1,500 people. Among the girls who lived in that ward was one named Marjorie Pay. I saw her first when she was in Primary and gave a reading. I don't know what it did to me, but I never forgot it. Then she grew older into a beautiful, young woman. We continued our association, and after a long time, we were married." "When I first met him, I thought he was a very unusual man. He was different. Everything he did, he did with a little flare that was typical of him and no one else. He was a lot of fun. But he had wonderful integrity. You never had to worry about what he said or what he did." "Marge and I were married April 29, 1937 in the Salt Lake Temple. Stephen L. Richards of the Council of the Twelve officiated at our sealing. It was a very impressive ceremony. We moved to the little summer home which my father had and fixed it up, put a furnace in, some insulation, made it tight and comfortable. And there we lived for the first two or three years of our marriage." "Well, his sense of humor got us through all the crises in our lives because he never took himself too seriously, or anything else too seriously, except things that should be taken seriously, of course. But he was not a worrier." "Humor is a very important element in life. It's wonderful to be able to laugh--to laugh at ourselves, particularly. Not to have fun at the expense of others, but to see the bright side of things. There's a little streak of humor in almost every situation. And it's the thing that gives sparkle and makes life tolerable, really. What a great thing is a little humor." "I remember the Saturday of April conference 1958 very well. The phone rang; I answered it. It was President McKay on the phone. I recognized his voice; he did not identify himself. And I ran out in the yard where Dad was working and got him and followed him in and watched his reaction. He said, in essence, Yes, sir, I'll be right there. And he silently went immediately to his room, showered, changed his clothes, and was gone. And the next time I recall seeing him was on the stand at general conference the next day, when he was sustained as a General Authority and Assistant to the Twelve." One of Elder Hinckley's first assignments was to work with President Henry D. Moyle in dividing the missions of the world into areas under the direction of the Twelve. Although at the time he was an Assistant to the Twelve, Elder Hinckley was given responsibility for the work in Asia. Over the next eight years, he would travel to the Orient 21 times.

"The Church was small and weak in that part of the world. We had no buildings; we met in small, rented homes. But it's been my great and satisfying experience to see the miracle of what's happened in Asia. And out of that number have come strong leaders--men and women who, through all of these years, have kept the faith and grown in their capacity and filled great responsibilities in that wonderful part of the earth--an area which I greatly love." "President Gordon B. Hinckley is, without question, the father of the Church in Asia. I can still see President Hinckley situated in some dark, unheated, partially unlighted meeting hall, where people were crouched in discomfort sometimes, with a wonderful, peaceful, happy look on his face--expressing courage, expressing love, expressing faith, inspiring the people to think that this was paradise if they could have the Spirit of the Lord in their lives." "I've tramped over that part of the earth a great deal, worked with the missionaries, and loved the people. And they will always have my love.

I love them. I'm so grateful for the people of this Church. I thank the Lord every morning for the faithful people of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." Three and a half years after his call as an Assistant to the Twelve, another change, perhaps the most significant, came into Elder Hinckley's life. It was early Saturday morning on the last day of September in 1961 when Marjorie answered the telephone. It was president David O. McKay; 45 minutes later, President McKay invited Elder Hinckley to be seated in his office. "He spoke of my grandfather, who came from Nauvoo to this valley, who responded to a call from Brigham Young to go down and build Cove Fort. He spoke of my good father, for whom President McKay had great affection. And then he indicated to me that he wished to extend the call for me to serve as a member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles. I was overwhelmed by that statement and that call. I hope I have kept the trust that was imposed in me by that sacred call from the President of the Church." "When this call to the Twelve came, we knew that he felt very humbled by it, but we knew that he could do a wonderful work for the Lord. And he did. He was blessed." Shortly after his call, Elder Hinckley joined President Henry D. Moyle in Europe, where they visited its 21 missions in 23 days, holding day-long seminars in each. He continued to supervise the work in Asia, dedicating Thailand and South Vietnam for the preaching of the gospel. He traversed war-torn Vietnam several times during the war, strengthening local members and servicemen. In 1967, he was given responsibility for the work in South America, organizing numerous stakes, and opening missions for the first time in Ecuador and Colombia. After three years of supervising the work in South America, he was given responsibility for the work in Europe, then was reassigned supervision of Asia for an additional three years. Wherever he went, he carried a tangible love for the people and a faith that left them strengthened.

In September 1972, the newly-ordained President of the Church, Harold B. Lee, asked Elder Hinckley to accompany him on a historic trip to Europe and the Middle East. It would be the first visit by a President of the Church to the Holy Land in 2,000 years. "We visited the Garden Tomb, and President Lee was very quiet. And then he expressed the view that this was the place where the body of the crucified Lord was laid. And that it was here that the first glorious Easter morning occurred, when the stone was rolled away. It was a wonderful experience to hear the President of the Church, the prophet of the Lord, speak those words with the certitude with which he expressed himself." In May 1980, Elder and Sister Hinckley accompanied the BYU Young Ambassadors on an historic trip to China--where one billion people, nearly one fourth of the earth's population, resides. Here they found crowds of friendly and intelligent people, eager to learn. "Each of us recognized," he wrote, "that somehow under the power of the Almighty, this land will eventually be open to the teaching of the restored gospel." A year later, he accompanied the Young Ambassadors on an extensive performing tour of Yugoslavia, Romania, and Russia.

As the world and the Church moved into the 1980s, it appeared there were few places Gordon B. Hinckley had not been and few things he had not done. But on July 23, 1981, a new level of responsibility came upon him. "Now a new assignment has come. I appreciate the confidence of President Kimball, of Presidents Tanner and Romney, as well as that of my Brethren of the Twelve, the Seventy, and the Bishopric. My only desire is to serve with loyalty wherever I am called. Whether this assignment be lengthy or brief, I pledge my best effort, given with love and faith." His would be the steady and reassuring voice in the First Presidency that members worldwide would grow to appreciate and love. Shortly after his call into the First Presidency, President Kimball's health began to deteriorate. Then N. Eldon Tanner passed away, and the health of President Romney failed. By the end of January 1983, the day-to-day responsibility of the office of the First Presidency had largely fallen upon him. "It was a very heavy and overwhelming responsibility. It was an almost terrifying load at times. We consulted with our Brethren of the Twelve constantly and frequently. But with all of that, there were times when I felt overwhelmed. And I recall on one particular occasion getting on my knees before the Lord and asking for help in the midst of a very difficult situation. "And there came into my mind those reassuring words, Be still and know that I am God. I knew then that this was His work. That He would not let it fail. That all we had to do was work at it, and do our very best, and that the work would move forward without let or hindrance of any kind." The decade of the '80s saw a substantial increase in the construction of new temples throughout the world. During a three-year period alone, from 1983 to 1986, President Hinckley dedicated 18 temples around the world, in locations from South Africa to Chicago. "It's interesting to note that, of the 47 temples that we have in operation in the Church, President Hinckley has been involved in the dedication or rededication of all but five of those temples." "I returned only yesterday from Santiago, Chile, after flying all night. We there dedicated a new building. It was a marvelous experience. Preceding that were similar experiences in Atlanta, Samoa, Tonga, and other parts of the world. I think I've spoken to 15 different congregations in the last 10 days, scattered from California to Santiago, Chile, to Detroit, Michigan. Just ahead is the general conference for which much of preparation is needed. I do not have a speechwriter. I have only the opportunity to pray and work. When I've concluded today, you may conclude that I should have prayed more and written less." In 1985 he was called as First Counselor to President Ezra Taft Benson, and in 1994 as First Counselor to President Howard W. Hunter.

On June 12, 1994, President Hinckley returned to his beloved Preston, where he had labored as a missionary 61 years earlier. There, as a member of the First Presidency, he presided over the groundbreaking ceremony for a temple of the Lord. "This is an emotional experience for me. Never back in those years would I have dreamed that, here in Lancashire, there would someday stand a house of the Lord, and that I would have a part in breaking ground for its construction." "When he learned that one of his dear friends of years ago--when he was a young man as a missionary--was in the audience, he came off of the stand and worked his way through the audience, with emotion, seeking to find Robert Pickles. When he found him sitting in a wheelchair, he took hold of his hand. They embraced one another. Tears streamed down both of their cheeks. And it was a great reunion. That is so typical of President Gordon B. Hinckley--his great love for the Saints." "Our purpose in inviting you here this morning is to announce that a new President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Gordon Bitner Hinckley, was ordained and set apart in the Salt Lake Temple yesterday, Sunday, March 12, 1995. President Hinckley becomes the 15th President of the Church." "I have appreciated his great spiritual depth, his knowledge of the scriptures, his knowledge of the revelations, his knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, which he has always emphasized in his ministry." "President Hinckley has been prepared in a marvelous way. He has been schooled. And he has been carefully honed, we might say, for this wonderful, marvelous call that has come to him to be God's prophet here upon the earth." "I don't know of any single man who's come to the presidency of this Church who has been so well prepared. He's been taught by all the great leaders of our time, one on one." "I'm sure that no man in the history of the Church has traveled so far, to so many places in the world, with the single purpose in mind--that is to preach the gospel, to bless and lift up the Saints, and to foster the redemption of the dead." "Brother Hinckley has a compassionate heart. And he's quick to forgive. And he's ready to welcome home any traveler who has perhaps, strayed from the path of full activity and now has those quickenings in his heart--that yearning for home. And President Hinckley will say welcome home, with outstretched arms." "I know that God, our Eternal Father, lives, and that He stands at the head of this work. I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer, and the Savior of the world, and that He is the living head of this Church, whose name it bears. I know that the conversation which took place between the Father and the Son and the boy Joseph was as intimate and as real as is my conversation with you, that the Book of Mormon is true, that the priesthood is upon the earth, that this is the work of the Almighty, and that its great challenge and destiny lies ahead of it, and that it will continue to move forth until it has accomplished the mission for which the Almighty has outlined for it. "I'm grateful for that testimony. I love the work. I love the faithful people of this Church, and I leave my blessing with them. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, amen."