Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Tribute Tuesday: President Hinckley..one year ago


This very day last year, I was playing with my Boise families as we had a family night together at the Knudsen's when my Mom called my cell phone and told me of President Hinckley's passing. At first I was devastated and wanted it not to be true... then I was peaceful knowing that he was back with the woman that he loved more than life his sweet eternal companion Marjorie. Somehow I was asked to tell the kids that he died. (still don't know why Jolyn!) But this sweet spirit came in the room as they all shared thoughts and feeling about him. I was so thankful to be with sweet children to take this news to heart.
Since I wasn't a blogger last year at that time I really wanted to remember his passing a year to the day of his death. I can't even BELIEVE it has been a year! And how fresh it still is in all our hearts. How we love him. I am so thankful to know there is an order to all things and to fully trust his predecessor,President Thomas S. Monson.

Although this is lengthy.. I read this the morning after his death last year and have kept it ever since. I was amazed at how a man his age, did everything that he did in his time as Prophet, seer and revelator. This is the timeline(recorded) of his service.. this is just the BIG thing that he did for the church not even the day to day interactions. I stand amazed at the way the mantle buoyed him up!
1995

12 March - Set apart as 15th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
1 April - Sustained by Church members as 15th president of the Church
8 April - Dedicated the Tuacahn arts center and amphitheater in Ivins, Utah
13 May - Broke ground for Vernal Utah Temple, the 10th temple in Utah
17–23 June - Held meetings with members in Alaska, the first time a president of the Church has done so
23 September - Read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" at general Relief Society meeting
13 November - Met with president of the United States at White House to discuss importance of families
20 December - Announced new logo design for the name of the Church


1996

6 April - Announced construction of a new meeting hall in Salt Lake City that would hold three to four times more people than Salt Lake Tabernacle
7 April - Interviewed by Mike Wallace of CBS’s 60 Minutes
22 April - Dedicated David O. McKay Events Center at Utah Valley State College in Provo, Utah "
26 May - Dedicated Hong Kong China Temple
11 June - Broke ground for Madrid Spain Temple
29 June - Rededicated refurbished This Is the Place Monument and State Park in Salt Lake City
13 October - Dedicated Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple
10 November - Broke ground for Cochabamba Bolivia Temple


1997

8–17 May - Toured New Zealand and Australia and spoke to a total of more than 55,000 people
28 May - Dedicated new nine-story headquarters building for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City
1 June - Dedicated St. Louis Missouri Temple
5 June - Spoke at graduation ceremonies for 100-year-old Juárez Academy in the Church colonies of Juárez, Mexico
22 July - Addressed 50,000 people at This Is the Place Monument and State Park after commemorative Mormon Trail Wagon Train entered Salt Lake City
24 July - Broke ground for new assembly building in Salt Lake City
24–25 July - Participated in Pioneer Sesquicentennial Spectacular at BYU's Cougar Stadium in Provo, Utah, for 130,000 people
9–10 August - Addressed 56,000 people in four nations in South America: Paraguay, Ecuador, Venezuela and Uruguay
4–5 October - Announced plans to begin building smaller temples around the world
2 November - Dedicated Vernal Utah Temple


1998

14–22 February - Toured five nations in Africa — Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa — speaking to more than 30,000 people; he became first Church president to ever visit West Africa
16 February - Announced plans for temple in Ghana, the first in West Africa
4–5 April - Announced plans to construct an additional 30 smaller temples
25 April - Announced plans in member meeting to build temple in Columbus, Ohio
26 April - Addressed 20,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York City
7–10 June - Dedicated Preston England Temple
31 July–8 August - Addressed more than 50,000 members during eight-day, 12-city tour of Canada; announced plans for two more temples in Canada
8 September - Appeared on CNN's Larry King Live
6 November - Received International Executive of the Year award from BYU’s Marriott School of Business
1 December - Participated with Salt Lake Mayor Deedee Corradini in joint announcement of a proposal for the Church to purchase part of Main Street


1999

9–10 January - Dedicated Anchorage Alaska Temple
20 February - Announced plans to build temple at Palmyra, New York
6–7 March - Dedicated Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico Temple
19–21 March - Dedicated Madrid Spain Temple
1 April - Helped open 50-year-old Sunday School time capsule
4 April - Made surprise announcement to rebuild Nauvoo Temple
24 April - Dedicated Bogotá Colombia Temple
25 April - Addressed 57,500 Church members and friends in soccer stadium in Santiago, Chile
13 May - Addressed Los Angeles World Affairs Council, speaking of the worldwide operations of the Church
24 May - Linked by satellite broadcast between Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C., officially launched FamilySearch™ Internet Genealogy Service
1–2 August - Dedicated Guayaquil Ecuador Temple
19 August - Officially announced that new assembly building in Salt Lake City would be called the Conference Center
21 August - Dedicated Spokane Washington Temple
4–5 September - Dedicated Columbus Ohio Temple
11 September - Dedicated monument honoring memory of 120 people killed in Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857 in southern Utah
16–17 October - Dedicated Columbia South Carolina Temple
23–24 October - Dedicated Detroit Michigan Temple
24 October - Broke ground for reconstruction of Nauvoo Illinois Temple
14 November - Dedicated Halifax Nova Scotia Temple the same day the Regina Saskatchewan Temple was dedicated by President Boyd K. Packer, the first time in Church history two temples were dedicated on the same day
20–21 November - Dedicated Billings Montana Temple
8 December - Presided over sealing of time capsule to be opened in 50 years for Sunday School bicentennial
11–12 December - Dedicated Edmonton Alberta Temple
18–19 December - Dedicated Raleigh North Carolina Temple
24 December - Interviewed on Larry King Live


2000

9 January - Dedicated St. Paul Minnesota Temple
22 January - Addressed more than 15,000 members in Laie, Hawaii, to commemorate sesquicentennial year of establishment of the Church on the Hawaiian Islands
23–24 January - Dedicated Kona Hawaii Temple
27 January - Met with Abdurrahman Wahid, president of Indonesia, in Jakarta, Indonesia
1 February - Completed an 11-day tour of Pacific Rim where he traveled 22,670 miles and spoke to over 26,600 people
22 February - His book Standing for Something: Ten Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes went on sale
26 February - Dedicated Ciudad Juárez Mexico Temple
27 February - Dedicated Hermosillo Sonora Mexico Temple, the 50th temple he had dedicated or rededicated
5 March - Dedicated Albuquerque New Mexico Temple
8 March - Spoke to National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
1–2 April - Presided over first general conference held in new Conference Center
1–2 April - "Special Witnesses of Christ”, a video production of the testimonies of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, was shown between sessions of general conference
6 April - Dedicated Palmyra New York Temple; an estimated 1.3 million members participated in the dedication in stake centers in six time zones
9 April - Dedicated Fresno California Temple
30 April - Dedicated Cochabamba Bolivia Temple
4-Jun - Dedicated Montreal Quebec Temple
11–18 June - Dedicated Fukuoka Japan Temple (June 11), Adelaide Australia Temple (June 15), Melbourne Australia Temple (June 16) and Suva Fiji Temple (June 18), the first time in Church history a president has ever dedicated four overseas temples in one trip
21 June - Announced that the two-year Ricks College will begin phasing into a four-year institution to be known as Brigham Young University–Idaho
23 June - Celebrated 90th birthday at Conference Center with 21,000 guests and many prominent Latter-day Saint musicians, including Gladys Knight
16 July - Dedicated Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple
20 August - Dedicated Caracas Venezuela Temple
26–27 August - Dedicated Houston Texas Temple
3 September - Dedicated Birmingham Alabama Temple
17 September - Dedicated Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple
1 October - Dedicated Boston Massachusetts Temple, marking the fulfillment of President Hinckley’s goal to have 100 operating temples by the end of the 20th century
8-Oct - During Sunday morning session of general conference, dedicated 21,000-seat Conference Center as a gathering place for members
5 November - Presided over cornerstone ceremony for Nauvoo Illinois Temple
12 November - Spoke to more than 21,000 young adults at newly dedicated Conference Center and thousands more around the world via satellite -- the first meeting of its kind
15 November - Rededicated BYU's newly expanded Harold B. Lee Library
13 December - Visited San Juan, Puerto Rico, for the first time and spoke to thousands of members who gathered at a fireside
15 December - Dedicated Recife Brazil Temple
17 December - Dedicated Pôrto Alegre Brazil Temple


2001

13 January - Named one of the most admired men in the world for the second consecutive year by an annual survey of Americans -- included on the list were Pope John Paul II, President Bill Clinton, Gen. Colin Powell and President-elect George W. Bush
3-Mar - Honored by the Association for Mormon Letters for his book Standing for Something
18-Mar - Dedicated Montevideo Uruguay Temple
31-Mar - Announced Perpetual Education Fund during priesthood session of general conference
22-Apr - Dedicated Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple
27-Apr - Received honorary doctorate degree from Utah Valley State College
29-Apr - Dedicated Guadalajara Mexico Temple
20-May - Dedicated Perth Australia Temple
1-Jun - Hosted and spoke at Brigham Young's 200th birthday celebration, held in the Tabernacle
14 September - Appeared on CNN's Larry King Live and delivered message of hope and comfort to citizens of the United States in the wake of the September 11 attacks
21-Sep - Along with 27 other religious leaders, attended a private prayer meeting for President George W. Bush at the White House


2002

7-Feb - Participated in Olympic torch relay
7-Feb - Olympic interview with NBC’s Today aired
8-Feb - Met with President Bush and first lady Laura Bush during their visit to Salt Lake City for Olympics
9-Feb - Met with Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations, during his visit to Salt Lake City for Olympics
13-Feb - Met with Susanne Riess-Passer, vice chancellor of Austria, during her visit to Salt Lake City for Olympics
22-Feb - Olympic interview with Tom Brokaw aired on NBC
22-Feb - Met with German President Johannes Rau during his visit to Salt Lake City for Olympics
8–24 February - Interviewed by NHK, ORF, ARD, NOS and numerous other international and national media organizations
3-Mar - Dedicated Snowflake Arizona Temple
7-Mar - Participated in Paralympic torch relay
21-Apr - Dedicated Lubbock Texas Temple
29-Apr - With Elder Henry B. Eyring, met with Vicente Fox, president of Mexico
17-May - Dedicated Campinas Brazil Temple
19 May - Dedicated Asunción Paraguay Temple
20-May - With President James E. Faust, met with Patrick Manning, prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago
12-Jun - Spoke at Los Angeles World Affairs Council for the third time
27-Jun - Dedicated rebuilt Nauvoo Illinois Temple
1-Jul - Dedicated new Hill Cumorah Visitors’ Center
7-Sep - Dedicated Freiberg Germany Temple
8-Sep - Dedicated The Hague Netherlands Temple
9–10 September - Visited Kiev, Ukraine, and Moscow, Russia, becoming the first Church president to visit those nations
17-Nov - Rededicated Monticello Utah Temple


2003

11-Jan - Addressed Church leaders worldwide during historic priesthood leadership training satellite broadcast from the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City
7-Feb - Addressed 40,000 full-time and volunteer Church Educational System instructors worldwide via the Church satellite system from the Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City
8-Feb - On the 125th anniversary of the Primary, addressed nearly one million Latter-day Saint children around the world during historic satellite broadcast from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah
12-Feb - Met with Bulgarian Ambassador Elena Borislava Poptodorova in Salt Lake City, Utah
18 March - Announced a new president for Brigham Young University during a regularly scheduled BYU devotional held in the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah
6?? May - Received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Salt Lake Community College
18 May - Dedicated Historic Kirtland
15-Jun - Dedicated Brisbane Australia Temple
9-Sep - Installed Cecil O. Samuelson as the 12th president of Brigham Young University
14-Sep - Dedicated Redlands California Temple


2004

11-Jan - Dedicated Accra Ghana Temple
11-Jan - Met with Ghana president John Agyekum Kufuor following the dedication of the Accra Ghana Temple
22-Feb - Rededicated São Paulo Brazil Temple
6-Apr - President Hinckley's wife, Marjorie Pay Hinckley, passed away at age 92
23-May - Dedicated Copenhagen Denmark Temple
13-Jun - Dedicated Manhattan New York Temple
23-Jun - Was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in the White House


2005

12-Mar - The First Presidency observes ten years together
2-3 April - President Hinckley delivers a powerful message on gambling during the 175th Annual General Conference
22-May - President Hinckley dedicates the Church's 120th temple in San Antonio, Texas
23-Jun - President Hinckley celebrates his 95th birthday
22 July - Honored on his 95th birthday in a “Celebration of Life” at the Conference Center with guests performers and 21,000 guests
31 July - 9 August - Traveled nearly 25,000 miles on a seven-nation tour to Taiwan, Russia, South Korea, China, India, and Africa
7 August - Dedicated the Aba Nigeria Temple
28 August - Dedicated the Newport Beach California Temple
20 September - Dedicated the Joseph F. Smith Building on the BYU campus. It houses the College of Family, Home and Social Sciences and the College of Humanities.
8 October - The First Presidency broke ground for a state-of-the-art Church History Library across the street from Temple Square
23 December - Conducted and spoke at a Church wide meeting from the Joseph Smith birthplace in Sharon, Vermont. It culminated a year of activities celebrating the prophet’s 100th birthday


2006

11 March - Rededicated the Santiago Chile Temple
29 April - Announced the Cebu Philippines Temple
2 June - Announced the Vancouver British Columbia Temple in Canada
9 June - Announced the Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple
11 June - Spoke at a meeting honoring handcart pioneers of 150 years ago. It originated in Iowa City, Iowa and was broadcast over the Church satellite system
23 June - Broke ground, on his 96th birthday, for the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center on the BYU campus
5 August - Broke ground for the Draper Utah Temple
31 August - President George W. Bush visited the First Presidency
3 September - Dedicated the Sacramento California Temple
13 September - Dedicated new home for the 120-year-old LDS Business College at the Triad Center in Salt Lake City
22 October - Dedicated the Helsinki Finland Temple, 124th temple
16 December - Broke ground for the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple
16 December - Announced the Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple
31 December - Spoke to the youth in a New Years Eve meeting in the Conference Center


2007

31 March - Salt Lake Tabernacle opened after a two-year renovation and seismic upgrade
31 March - Saturday afternoon session of the 177th Annual General Conference is held in the newly renovated Tabernacle
31 March - Announced new Relief Society presidency, the world’s largest women’s organization
7 June - Announced the Manaus Brazil Temple
23 June - Dedicated the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center on the Brigham Young University campus on his 97th birthday
26 June - Announced Church membership has surpassed 13-million
26 June - Announced one-millionth missionary since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized in 1830
10 August - President James E. Faust, Second Counselor in the First Presidency passed away
12 September - Awarded the Municipal Citizen of the Century by the Utah League of Cities and towns
6 October - Announced Elder Henry B. Eyring as Second Counselor in the First Presidency and Elder Quentin L. Cook as new apostle
6-7 October - Conducted and spoke at the Church’s 177th Semi-Annual World General Conference

His Testimony will always be engraved in my heart... I love him. I love what he stood for. I love that I got to follow his words and take them to heart. I love that he was without a doubt a prophet of the Lord.




5 comments:

Shane's Angie said...

Tears overflowing. What an amazing man. Thank you for highlighting his life for us. Your testimony is always sunshine on a cloudy day for me!

P.S. Good luck on that interview! You're in my prayers!

Jolyn Buhrley said...

It's hard to believe it's been a year! I remember that night so well.

I wish you were here! It's your b-day soon-it must be time for a visit!!!

Thank you for this tribute of such a beautiful man. I love you, call after your #2 interview!!!!!

Monica said...

What a coincidence. Two minutes before I saw your blog I was thinking of President Hinkley. I was thinking of a story that Laurisa told me of him today...It's a funny story I'll have to share with you sometime---I think it is my favorite. Anyway the story represented what an amazing hard worker and doer he is and then I read your blog and the writing is on the wall. It is so awesome to see all that he has accomplished! Wow what an example of doing more that anyone would ever think is possible. He really makes me want to stretch myself!

Aren't we lucky to live in this dispensation to have him for our prophet!

I love your new background paper---totally YOU!!! Love ya girl!

Amber said...

What a nice tribute. I'm glad you are blogging! We are praying for you and your 2nd interview! I'm waiting for the phone call. Love you!

Kylee Rowe said...

Very cool post! I loved it!