From Deseret News archives:
Unwavering faith and a desire to bless
In the days since President Hinckley's passing, "I have remembered his voice," said President Eyring. Often that voice came quietly at the end of serious discussions about real difficulties facing the church, and the message was consistent: "Oh, things will work out."
Such optimism often grew out of President Hinckley's "great personal capacities" to deal with challenges, said President Eyring. Determined to bring temple blessings to church members throughout the world, President Hinckley often gave credit to others when the dream succeeded. "But he was the one who sketched, as he returned from Colonia Juarez, Mexico, to El Paso, Texas, the design for those smaller temples which now bless people across the world," President Eyring said.
But personal abilities aside, the optimism also was founded in "his unwavering faith in Jesus Christ and the power of his atonement," President Eyring said.
It was President Hinckley who conceived of a way to help young people in many countries to "walk out of poverty" through the benefits of the Perpetual Education Fund, said President Eyring. And "he is the one who conceived of this lovely Conference Center where thousands unite their faith to hear the word of God."
At the core of all of President Hinckley's innovations for the church was the desire to "bless individuals with opportunity," President Eyring said. "And always he thought of those with the least opportunity, the ordinary person struggling to cope with the difficulties of everyday life and the challenge of living the gospel of Jesus Christ."
President Eyring proclaimed that President Hinckley now is "in the spirit world among the noble prophets who have lived on the Earth."
As a nonagenarian, the prophet experienced his own painful loss when his beloved wife, Marjorie, preceded him in death. If told of the grief being experienced by the many he has left behind, he would "listen carefully, and then I think he would say something like this, with sympathy in his voice, but with a sound in it that would bring a smile to our lips, 'Oh, it will all work out."'
President Hinckley was looking forward to the dedication of a temple in Rexburg, Idaho, which had been scheduled for the day after the funeral. The dedication has been delayed by his death and funeral. "He thrilled at the dedication of temples. He knew what they could mean for someone who yearned to be reunited forever with a loved one from whom they had been separated by death," said President Eyring.
"President Hinckley's best may be so much more than we can offer the Master. But all God asks of us is that we do our best."
President Hinckley had his own moments of feeling inadequate in his calling, said President Eyring, recounting a time when President Hinckley was looking at pictures of those church leaders who went before him. "In that moment, he began to weep, I think not out of fear but out of gratitude. ... Faith in his heart left no room for doubt or fear."
President Eyring challenged all to follow the example of President Hinckley and "take the gospel down into our hearts."
E-mail: tvanleer@desnews.com
