"I got on my knees in that little bedroom and made a pledge that I would try to give myself unto the Lord.

"The whole world changed," he said. "The fog lifted. The sun began to shine in my life. I had a new interest. I saw the beauty of this land. I saw the greatness of the people. I began to feel at home in this wonderful land.

"Everything that has happened to me since that's been good I can trace to that decision made in that little house ... in Preston, Lancashire."

Recalled companion Wendell J. Ashton: "We didn't baptize many people in London in those days, but Elder Hinckley was a knockout in those street meetings on Hyde Park corner. I can promise you we learned to speak quickly on our feet. And Elder Hinckley was the best of the bunch.

"I have always thought that he gained tremendous firsthand experience there in London's Hyde Park doing what he would so skillfully do for the rest of his life — defend the church and speak up courageously of its truths."

Another effect from his mission came when he was church president, as he stressed the need for increased emphasis on fellowshipping new converts.

In 1998, he returned to Lancashire to dedicate the Preston Temple. Often in his talks, he tearfully reminisced about his "walking the soil of Lancashire as a missionary."