The passing of a Prophet of God

Quoting an unnamed poet, President Monson said: “‘Here and there, and now and then, God makes a giant among men.’ President Hinckley was such a giant – a giant of knowledge, of faith, of testimony, of compassion, of vision.”



We were sad to hear of the passing of or wonderful prophet Gordon B. Hinckley. I find comfort in the fact that he is together again with his wife. I know he was a man of God. I know he did the Lord's work. I know that he lead our church in righteousness and built it up.
Olivia loved Gordon B. Hinckley. Everytime she saw him she would call him brother Hinckley. With the passing of our prophet, I know that another will be called in his place who was also pre-ordained to lead the church.

This is the release from the church website:

President Gordon B. Hinckley, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through twelve years of global expansion, has died at the age of 97.
President Hinckley was the 15th president in the 177-year history of the Church and had served as its president since 12 March 1995.
The Church president died at his apartment in downtown Salt Lake City at 7:00 p.m. Sunday night from causes incident to age. Members of his family were at his bedside. A successor is not expected to be formally chosen by the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles until after President Hinckley’s funeral within the next few days.
President Hinckley was known, even at the age of 97, as a tireless leader who always put in a full day at the office and traveled extensively around the world to mix with Church members, now numbering 13 million in 171 nations

President Gordon B. Hinckley's Testimony:

27 January 2008 "I hope that all of you will remember that on this Sabbath day you heard me bear my witness that this is God's holy work. The vision given the Prophet Joseph in the grove of Palmyra was not an imaginary thing. It was real. It occurred in the broad light of day. Both the Father and the Son spoke to the boy. He saw Them standing in the air above him. He heard Their voices. He gave heed to Their instruction.
"It was the resurrected Lord who was introduced by His Father, the great God of the universe. For the first time in recorded history, both the Father and the Son appeared together to part the curtains and open this, the last and final dispensation, the dispensation of the fullness of times.
"The Book of Mormon is all that it purports to be—a work recorded by prophets who lived anciently and whose words have come forth "to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations" (Book of Mormon title page).
"The priesthood has been restored under the hands of John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John. All the keys and authority pertaining to eternal life are exercised in this Church.
"Joseph Smith was and is a prophet, the great Prophet of this dispensation. This Church, which carries the name of the Redeemer, is true.
"I leave you my testimony, my witness, and my love for each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."
President Gordon B. Hinckley

Gramma and Grampa sent us some photos from Croatia. They are up on the 9th floor and the first picture is the sunset seen from their balcony. We miss them, but know they are doing the Lord's work. We talk to them alot on instant messenger.

Olivia got her cast off today. Yeah! She was so excited, but she still had a hard time moving her arm because the muscles and tendons were so tight. She was in a little bit of pain, but it finally relaxed after a couple of days. She saved her cast as a momento. I don't think there was one inch on her cast that wasn't taken up by signatures from her friends, teachers and family!

January started off with a bang- well actually a break. On January 4th, Livy Broke her arm at her friend's, Saddie Backus, house. She was playing on a gymnastics bar and fell straight down. She broke her ulna bone and fractured a bone in her elbow.

Dad & Mom go to MTC

Mike and I had the privledge of taking my mom and dad up to the Missionary Training Center up in Provo, Utah. They had to report December 31st. We picked them up that night to do some shopping and then went out for ice cream. I thought I would see them in the morning when we dropped some more stuff off to them before we left to go home, but they were in class so I had to leave it at the front desk. Luckily it wasn't a teary "goodbye" because we each thought we would see eachother again before we left and we didn't. They stay in the MTC for 10 days and then fly out to Slovenia.