President Hinckley

I, like so many others, have reflected this week on my thoughts and feelings about President Hinckley. So much has been said about this great leader in the past week, and I thought I'd put in my two cents here.

Perhaps the talk that I remember him best for was a CES fireside he gave on September 9, 2001. It was at the Conference Center, and I was able to get a ticket through my institute class to attend in person. He spoke on many topics, but the one that stands out best in my mind was that he spoke about 'accentuating the positive' - looking for the best and finding the positive in a situation, and go forward with faith. Just two days later, 9-11 occurred, and it definitely was a depressing time. Even though I had no personal connections with the situation or victims of the attacks, it was awful (and unavoidable), watching again and again the attacks on the news and listening to so many people's take on the events. It was a relief to come back to this talk when it was posted online the next week and read it and remember President Hinckley's words of wisdom. Looking back, I know that he knew we'd need to hear the message he gave. He knew something was coming, and we'd need his words of guidance to get us all through with faith and optimism.

I will miss President Hinckley, but am grateful for his leadership and example to us and the world. I look forward to the new leaders that will come forth, and am excited to see how they fill President Hinckley's shoes.