I looked at his picture and thought that Pres. Hunter looked better. And at that time, I didn’t know what was the importance of having a prophet. I just knew that a prophet was an important man. So I ran off, wanting to eat some of the snacks which the other kids were passing around.
I am Keefe Lai, and I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Many don’t consider the Church as a Christian Church. Some have even labeled us a cult. Some have derided us as lost, fallen, blasphemous. Some, in their zeal and love for us, have gone out of their way to try to convince us of the error of our ways. To this, I am grateful. To all my friends who have showed concern for my eternal welfare, I say, a profound thank you. Though in doctrine I do not agree, yet in the spirit of love are we united. I respect and want to learn from your evangelistic zeal.
We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive Church- namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists and so forth. We believe that this divinely ordained government structure has not been changed, that it is the best way to meet the needs of the followers of the Lord.
We believe in revelation, that it is the guiding force and life-blood of the Church. So we believe in a living day prophet, and that he receives revelation from God on behalf of the Church. Gordon B. Hinckley was a prophet.
I think I’ll never forget the themes that he stood for- anti-pornography, anti-violence, patience, peace and understanding. He was always promoting love and understanding. To me, it couldn’t have come at a better time. Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to see some bible-thumping Christian proclaiming that other Churches are false and deriding them. It’s not uncommon to see people viewing Islam with a terrorist-like slant. It’s not uncommon to see neighbor fighting against neighbor, for the stupidest reasons, like ‘oh, her carwash water splashed onto my clean car.’
He was the first prophet to really use the media to promote awareness of the Church. He courageously went on 60 minutes, Larry King Live, and other shows. He also always put in a full day’s work. To me, the amazing part of this man was his depth of love for ALL the peoples of the earth, and his desire to show his love by works.
Gordon B. Hinckley died of cancer. During the last week of his life, he told the doctor to increase his chemotherapy regime. He said, ‘The Lord expects me to prolong my life as much as possible. I have a work to do. I want to continue to put in a full day’s work.’ And this he did, every day till the day that he died.
I don’t know him personally. But whenever he went up to the pulpit to speak, I knew that the prophet of God was speaking. I don’t know how I know it, but I know it. When he spoke, it was to my heart. I won’t forget his pleadings to be slow to anger, to be a little kinder, a little better, to stand for something. If there was one prophet who repeated a lot of his teachings, it was him. But those were great repetitions, because I learnt the importance of many many truths. One of the greatest things that has helped me is that I must be a little better each day. He never advocated huge bursts of spirituality. He never expected more than what one could give. But he encouraged us to live higher than ourselves a little bit each day. And for that, I am grateful. You see, I’m a perfectionist by nature. There was a time when I would keep on wanting to be perfect overnight. His words helped me to understand that I need to do it slowly.
And his example is a legacy for millions of Church members and people who know him. This is an example of a man who lived great, who lived meekly and never expected and wanted any acclaim. This is the man who deflected praise and focused on the work and the people. This is the man who gave an honest day’s work everyday.
So what am I going to do? I’ll try to be more like him. I don’t know him personally. But I do know what he stood for, and I think it’ll be a good thing to try to be like him. A little each day.
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