This morning we were
excited to hear that our 21-year-old granddaughter, Ryann, (our oldest) is now engaged to be married. No date has been set, yet, and we haven't met her intended, but we're happy for her.
Today was our
first day to meet as the new Ensign Peak Missionary Branch and we had great
meetings. Since we are studying the teachings of President Gordon B. Hinckley
this year, our special guest for a joint Priesthood/Relief Society meeting, was
someone who knew President Hinckley, personally. And, it was awesome to hear
some of his experiences. The guest was Brother Herbert Klopfer, whom I mentioned in a previous post. He was the stake president to several prophets,
including President Hinckley.
He also served
on the Church music committee with President Hinckley back in the 1980's, while the committee was
selecting hymns for our current hymnbook.
Hymn #135 – My
Redeemer Lives – is interesting because it’s the only hymn in our hymnal
that is entirely written by general authorities. Gordon B. Hinckley wrote the
words and G. Homer Durham, who was a Seventy, wrote the music. Brother Klopfer
said that when the decision was made to put Pres. Hinckley’s words to music, there
were 17 different submissions for possible tunes. When they told Pres. Hinckley
they had chosen the music by Elder Durham, Pres. Hinckley said, “That’s
wonderful! He was a boyhood friend of mine. We played sports together and even
wore the same size shoe. So, in high school, we would play tricks on each other
by taking the other’s shoes.” Plus, they served in the same mission together in
England.
Bro. Klopfer
also related stories about Pres. Hinckley’s warmth, and his kindness to others.
We enjoyed hearing these stories in preparation for our Priesthood
and Relief Society study this year.
As this New
Year begins, we are feeling blessed to be in this mission, at this time, and
look forward to many opportunities to serve others throughout this year.
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