Not long after joining the Church News staff as a reporter, I found myself in Cove Fort, covering President Gordon B. Hinckley at the restored fort his grandfather had built in 1867.

The event was staged to welcome the participants of a 75-wagon procession, which had left Logan earlier in the month and was crossing the state pioneer-style in horse-drawn wagons.

While the wagon train was crossing Utah, President Hinckley was visiting church members in 17 countries on two continents, dedicating the Hong Kong temple and breaking ground for another temple in Spain.

At the same time, I was trying to learn how to do my job.

Headed to Cove Fort — my first out-of-the Wasatch Front assignment — I pondered the twofold instructions from my editor. First, he said, bring back a good story. Second, he said, stay out of President Hinckley's way.

I arrived at Cove Fort on time. The wagon train, however, was delayed. So I accepted an invitation to cool off inside a local home. I hadn't been there long when President Hinckley and his wife, Sister Marjorie Pay Hinckley, also came into the cool living room.

Sister Hinckley sat on the couch next to me, President Hinckley in a chair nearby.

After introductions, President Hinckley's secretary asked a simple question: "While we are waiting," he said to me, "do you have any questions for President Hinckley?"

My mind went blank. I didn't have any questions. I tried to think of just one. Fast. But instead of questions, I kept hearing my editor's instructions: "Stay out of President Hinckley's way."

I knew a good Church News reporter would certainly have a question for the president of the church, so I thought harder. My face began to feel hot. Panic filled my body. I was dizzy.

Finally, in defeat, I said, "No."

President Hinckley looked at me with great empathy. He, too, knew a good Church News reporter would have a question for the president of the church.

"Would you like to know about my family's history at Cove Fort?" he asked.

"Yes," I said.

In 1867, Brigham Young sent President Hinckley's grandfather, Ira N. Hinckley, to build the fort at Cove Creek on the road from Salt Lake City to southern Utah, he explained.

And so the interview continued, with President Hinckley asking the questions and answering them. I took detailed notes, with hands so shaky I could barely read them five minutes later. Finally, President Hinckley said, "I think that ought to do it."

Within the hour, President and Sister Hinckley joined the wagon train. He then addressed 10,000 people, the largest crowd to ever gather at Cove Fort. I was struck, however, with the sense that President Hinckley — a man who led a then-almost 10 million-member church — also cared about the one, the reporter who couldn't gather her thoughts fast enough to ask a simple question.

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E-mail: sarah@desnews.com