Praise to the Man...

Tonight I am very saddened and shocked at the passing of our dear prophet Gordan B. Hinckley, but I know he is in a better place with his sweet wife who he missed dearly as well as our Savior and Heavenly Father. I have a testimony that he was a true prophet of God. I could never deny the spirit that I felt as I have been able to be in his presense at the conference center on a few occasions and sing, We Thank Thee oh God For a Prophet. I have such a great love for this man who has been the prophet for most of my life. I often referred to him as Grandpa Hinckley. I could not help but get a huge smile on my face whenever I would see him or hear his voice and want to absorb everything that he would say. I loved hearing my children as they would say their prayers at night and say they were thankful for President Hinckley. I will always stive to be more grateful, be smart, be clean, be true, be prayerful and humble thanks to President Hinckley's Be Attitudes. I believe it was in 2000 when he gave his conference talk about the sacredness of our bodies and treating them as temples and advised that girls have one set of earrings. My roommates and I had just pierced our ears a few times a few weeks before that (the peer pressure of working at an ear piercing shop). My mom asked me if I would take them out. I jokingly said that I would if the prophet said I should. Well sure enough that is what he spoke on in conference a few weeks later, I immediately took them out put them in an envelope and sent them to my mom with a note that said, "Anything for Grandpa Hinckley." I can truely say that President Hinkley has influenced me more then he'll ever know. I will truely miss him, and hope that I can someday wrap my arms around him and thank him for helping me to Stand A Little Taller.