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standard furniture employment
once you were his friend,you never lost him, nor he lost you. he has never forgottenhis boyhood chums or family members. our neighborhood on fifth south,we pretty well played in the streets. he was a bit of an athlete whenhe was a young fellow. he played basketball.
but he was a self-starter,he didn't have to be told everything. he was 100% when he decidedto do something. when he was going to get mybottle ready, he would put the milk in a little old pan onthe stove that wobbled and keep putting his finger in itto see that it was warm yet. he'd pray an awful lot, andthat was one thing that we were aware of. he'd pray for the food, he'dpray for things that happened.
and i noticed him, many times,he would take a hat off and say a prayer, even when he wasout on the stream fishing. when president monson wasa very young bishop -- i think one of the youngestin the church, he was 22 years old -- he obtained a heinrich kaufmannportrait of the savior, and he has had thatpicture of the savior with him everywhere he hasever gone since. and it's still in hisoffice today.
he loves the masterand he follows the path of the master. he walks the pathof the master. one of his favorite scripturesprobably says it best, he is always "on the lord's errand." thomas spencer monson was bornon a sunday morning, august 21, 1927, at the old saintmark's hospital on second west, in salt lake city. his parents, g. spencer andgladys condie monson, were of
hardy swedish, english, andscottish ancestry, and made a loving home for tom, his twobrothers, and three sisters. in 1927, there were just over600,000 latter day saints, most of them living in theamerican west. heber j. grant was president of the church, andin three years the church would celebrate its100th anniversary. tom grew up on salt lake city'swest side, in the midst of a close family of grandparents, aunts, and uncles.
his grandfather, thomas sharpcondie, had purchased property on the southwest corner of fifthsouth and second west, built his own home there, andprovided homes for each of his four daughters andtheir husbands. tom was always welcome andtotally at ease in any of their homes, never feelingthe need to knock. my father did have an idyllicsetting as he grew up. he loved his relativesand everything that they did for him.
his aunts and uncles. it was as though he wastheir son as well. his mother and father werevery good people. we loved them both. they loved the gospeland they have taught it to their children. my mother was a friendly,outgoing person. she would talk to peopleon the bus. she made friends instantly.
being around gladys, youknow, it was what you call a hoot, i guess. people say, gladys, howdid you raise a son to become an apostle? and she'd smile and, with herown sense of humor, say, well it wasn't easy, buti persevered. my father was a hard worker, heworked 12 hours a day, six days a week. he was the provider.
he put the money aside so thatwe could have an education. sunday was my father'sonly day off. i'm sure he would've enjoyedrelaxing at home, but invariably he would say, comealong tommy, let's take uncle elias for a drive. bored in the old 1928oldsmobile, we would proceed to eighth west, to the homeof uncle elias and aunt 'tine, i would be waiting in the carwhile dad went inside.
soon he would emerge from thehouse, carrying his crippled uncle in his arms likea little china doll. i would open the door and watchhow tenderly my father would place uncle eliasin the front seat. then we'd take him for aride around the city. dad never wanted any thanksfor this service, but his lesson was not lost on me. for generations, tom's familyhad spent each summer at a small cabin in vivian park,in provo canyon.
there, along the banks of theprovo river, tom first gained from his uncles whatwould become a lifelong love for fishing. "i would sit on the bank forhours, " tom recalled, "and look at the mountainsideacross the river. those were happy years. dream-filled years." one summer afternoon,12-year-old tom was floating on a tractor-tire inner tubedown the river, towards its
swiftest part, when he heard thefrantic cries of a greek immigrant familyfrom the bank. just ahead in the whirlpools,a young lady swimmer was disappearing under the waterfor the third time. and the girl's head emerged,and i grabbed her by the hair -- she would be about 14, i suppose-- and pulled her across my lap, inthat inner tube. and while she cried and wasspitting water, i took the
other hand and paddled herthrough the whirlpool and into the little eddy and up to thebank, and then handed her to her parents. they threw their arms aroundher, weeping and kissing. then they grabbed me, theyhugged and kissed me. i was embarrassed. you know, no boy wants tobe kissed by a lot of older men and women. so i quickly returnedto my tube and
continued down the river. as he thought about what hadhappened, "i realized," he said, "i have participatedin saving a human life. heavenly father had permittedme, a deacon, to float at precisely the timei was needed. that day, i learned that god,our heavenly father, knows each one of us and permits usto share his divine power to save." at age 16, tom was expected toforego swimming and fishing in
the provo river and workfull-time during the summer. he got a job at burton lumberand hardware company, unloading boxcars of cutlumber in 100-degree temperatures. at this time, america hadentered world war ii and us combat efforts were notgoing well overseas. it was during this bleak timethat stake patriarch frank woodbury placed his hands on16-year-old tom monson's head and conferred a truly
prophetic patriarchal blessing. "you shall be indeed a leaderamong your fellows," the patriarch said. "seek the lord in humility toguide and direct you in the high and holy callings untowhich you shall be called." in 1944, tom enrolledas a freshman at the university of utah. shortly after, at a universitydance, tom first saw the young lady who would becomehis wife.
tom had taken a girl from westhigh and they were dancing to the popular song "kentucky,"when frances johnson and another young man danced by. "i caught a glimpse of her,"tom said, but he didn't see her again that evening. about a month later, whilewaiting for the street car at 13th east and second south, hesaw frances and another girl standing together. they were with a grade schoolacquaintance of tom's named
paul wilkinson. tom walked up to paul and said,"hello, old friend, how are you?" it worked. "as i said goodbye," tomrecalls, "i quickly took out my student directory andunderlined the name frances beverly johnson." that evening,tom called her and arranged their first date. as my mother was contemplating,is this really the man that i want to marry?
it was cute as my mother sharedwith me how her mother said, you look at the way tomtakes care of his grandfather. because my father did love hisgrandfather, and he would shave him and he would gethis clothes ready. any man that takes care of hisgrandfather the way tom takes care of his grandfather willbe a wonderful husband. and that became a big sellingpoint in my father's favor. tom and frances' first datewas to a dance at the pioneer stake gym.
more dates followed. but as spring turned to summerin 1945, tom realized his days as a civilian were numbered. on october 6, 1945 tom went tothe train depot in salt lake city to ship out for basictraining in san diego as a member of the united statesnaval reserve. among those saying goodbye wasjohn burt, a member of the bishopric who handedtom a copy of the missionary handbook.
"i'm not going to mission,"tom protested. "take it along, " brotherburt said. "it may come in handy." upon arriving in san diego,tom had his first taste of military life. "the naval base seemedto stretch for miles," tom recalled. "i'm convinced the training wasdesigned to toughen us, as well as humble us.
it succeeded." one night, before returning homefor christmas leave, tom and his fellow sailorswere lying on their bunks, nearly asleep. suddenly a man in a nearbybunk, leland merrill from murray, utah, said, "i'm sick. i'm sicker than i've ever been."tom suggested he go to the dispensary and havea doctor look at him. merrill said he would be keptfor observation and not
allowed home for christmas. the moans increased. finally, merrill said, "monson,aren't you an elder?" the time was 2:00 am. tom had indeed been ordainedan elder prior to enlisting in the navy. merrill said, "will yougive me a blessing?" i thought to myself, i'venever given a blessing. i've never receiveda blessing.
i don't know thati've ever seen anyone receive a blessing. and then i remembered, i've gotsomething in that sea bag that might help me. and i dumped the gear on thedeck and took out that missionary handbook. and i went into the cubiclewhere the night light was shining and i read how youadminister to the sick. and then i went back thereand gave him a blessing.
and when i said amen, hewas purring like a kitten, sound asleep. the next morning, as weassembled to the march off to get on the buses to go home forhome leave, leland merrill said, "monson, i'm glad you holdthe priesthood." and i said, "i'm glad i do, too." i was just very grateful forthe priesthood and to have friends that were watchingout for me. i guess it must have made quitean impression on tom
because he's remembered it allthese years, and so have i. in 1946, the war had endedand tom returned home. two years later, he graduatedwith honors from the university of utah, witha degree in business. turning down job offers fromstandard oil of california and procter & gamble on the eastcoast, he chose to work for the deseret news as assistant classified advertising manager. in the meantime, tom andfrances' relationship had
grown and deepened. finally, tom went to davisjewelry and selected a the diamond engagement ringto surprise frances. after hiding it at home,he carefully planned a special evening. on the night he determined tobecome engaged, tom brought frances to the house. as soon as she entered, tom'syoungest brother scott blurted out, "tommy has a ring for you,frances." "i was very
irritated to have my surpriseexposed," tom remembers. tom and frances were marriedin the salt lake temple for time and eternity onoctober 7, 1948. thus began one of thetruly exemplary marriages in the church. my mother is the other part ofmy father's success story, because she's been supportiveof him in everything that he has done. since the first day of ourmarriage, it was just a
wonderful experience. we didn't question whether wefeel unhappy that he was gone all the time or workingso hard. so we just sort of grewup with that. we still do. the wife of a member ofa bishopric or a stake presidency has a littledifferent life than others. you're away from thema lot to meetings. and some social events have tobe foregone because of a
meeting here or a blessingto be given there. but i have never, in our entiremarriage, have heard her complain. anything i had to doin the church, she always sustained me. at the time of their marriage,tom was serving as the sixth-seventh ward clerk. one morning, he sat silentlytaking minutes while the bishopric discussed the lackof success with the young
people in their ward. presently, the young clerk said,"excuse me brethren, but may i say something about themia and the youth challenges in this ward?" he then delivered a profoundsummary of not only what was wrong with the youth program,but what could quickly make it right. then realizing he may have beenpresumptuous, he said, "forgive me, i think i've saidtoo much," and excused himself
to take role in theelders quorum. he was no sooner out the doorthan the bishopric looked at each other and said, whatare we waiting for? they immediately called himback, released him as ward clerk, and called him to be thesuperintendent of the mia. within months, the sixth-seventhward youth program, with its committedyoung superintendent, was drawing more people to miathan sacrament meeting. the lord prepares his leaderswhen they're young.
and if there was ever a goodexample of that, it's with thomas s. monson. he was always differentfrom the rest of us. i believe he wasa born leader. he had energy that is beyondbelief, and enthusiasm that was just contagious. he has a presence, when hewalks into the room, that people look up to him -- becausehe is a big man, and they do look up to him --
but they look to him forguidance in every situation. it wasn't long before the newmia superintendent was called by bishop john burt toserve as his second counselor in the bishopric. when bishop burt was called afew weeks later to serve in the temple view stakepresidency, tom was certain that a ward member serving onthe high council would be bishop burt's successor. "to my amazement," tom said,"the call came to me."
here he was, 22 and 1/2 yearsold, serving a ward which had more than 1,000 members,including 85 widows, and one of the largest welfare loadsin the entire church. bishop monson chose men muchsenior to himself as counselors. "we were installed on sunday,may 7, 1950, a fast day," tom remembers, "and immediatelyset to work." the old sixth-seventh ward chapel hadbegun refurbishment under the previous bishopric with thepainting of its exterior.
bishop monson followed thiswith extensive interior renovation, including theinstallation of new benches. ward members gladly providedthe labor. tom remembers, "with theredecoration of the building and the rejuvenation of spirit,the ward literally came alive. sacrament meeting attendancedoubled, then quadrupled, completely fillingthe building. a large part of the congregationwas elderly.
"i had a love for the olderpeople," tom said. "these were good people wholoved the lord and kept his commandments." even after hisrelease as bishop, thomas monson continued to take a giftand visit every one of the 85 widows of the ward, everychristmas, for as long as each lived. it's interesting that he hasbeen able to speak in every funeral for those 85 widows. that's an almost impossiblefeat, given our travel, given
our committee assignments, theother things that come in the life of a general authority. but with the hand of the lordupon him, he was able to do that for each of those widowswho had so requested it. on a winter night in 1951, youngbishop monson responded to a knock at his door. a german church member fromogden announced his family was coming from germany andwould live in the sixth-seventh ward.
he asked if the bishop wouldgo with him to survey the apartment he had rentedfor them. on their way, the visitor, karlguertler, told bishop monson that he had notseen his brother hans for many years. arriving at the corner of fourthsouth and second west, the two ascended a staircase. "it isn't much," brotherguertler said, "but it's more than they've had in germany." asbishop monson surveyed the
cold, uninviting apartment, herecalls, "i was heartsick. i thought, what a dismal welcomefor a family that has endured so much." tom did notsleep well that night. the next morning, in wardwelfare committee meeting, one of his counselors asked,"bishop, is something wrong?" and i told the committee membersof my experience. it was as though the spirit ofthe lord just enveloped us. and they said, what can wedo about that, bishop? edward eardley, the group leaderof the high priests,
spoke up and said, i'm a masterelectrician and i have three helpers. we'd like to rewirethat place. and i have contacts with thosewho sell refrigerators and those who sell stoves, andi'll get one donated. a new one of eachone of those. and then another person spokeup, namely a painter, contractor, brother bowden. he said, i'm a contractor forpainting and i can get my
paint less than wholesale. and my crew and i willpaint the house. and then that wonderful reliefsociety president said, relief society women do not likeempty cupboard shelves. we will fill them. and we went about doing that,we had two weeks to do it. the night the guertlers came,they showed the appearance of someone who'd shed many tears. and all the way up the staircaseto the second floor,
i remember brother guertlersaying, now it isn't much, hans, it isn't much. but it's the best we could do,it's the best we could do. and then they opened the door. talk about a vision. there was a nice carpet, laidby my counselor who was a contractor for carpet laying. and then there was thewallpaper, all nice and new, and the painting nice.
there was the christmastree, all decorated. absolutely everythinganyone would need. i was 15. i was a very insecureteenager. we had not had a real home sincebefore the war, when our apartment building was bombed. so we always had to doubleup with other families. and to walk into an apartmentand to know it would be ours was just beyond comprehensionto us.
it was like a shock. i couldn't believe it. he put the key in frontof me and said, you are in your own apartment. as we left and our little bandwho'd done all this work came out onto the street,they were silent. and they said, why is it thatthis will be the best christmas we've everexperienced? i said, do you remember thefinal verse of "little town of
bethlehem?" "no ear may hear hiscoming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls willreceive him yet, the dear christ enters in." he enteredinto the apartment, he entered into the lives of all who werepart of that experience. as bishop monson matured inhis responsibilities, he learned many lessons. among them, the importance offollowing the spirit and trusting in the lord. one night, during a statepriesthood leadership meeting,
he had the distinct impressionthat he should leave the meeting immediately and drive tothe veterans hospital, high on the avenues ofsalt lake city. before leaving home that night,he had received a phone call informing him that an oldermember of his ward was ill and had been admitted tothe hospital for care. could the bishop, the callerasked, find a moment to go by the hospital and givea blessing? the busy young bishop explainedhe was just on his
way to a meeting, but he wouldcertainly go by the hospital afterwards. now the prompting wasstronger than ever. leave the meeting and proceedto the hospital at once. bishop monson lookedat the pulpit. the stake presidentwas speaking. he didn't see how he could standin the middle of his talk and make his way overan entire row of men. painfully, he waited out thefinal moments of the stake
president's message, then boltedfor the door, even before the benedictionwas announced. running the full length of thecorridor on the fourth floor of the hospital, the youngbishop saw a flurry of activity outside thedesignated room. a nurse stopped and said,"are you bishop monson?" "yes," he replied. "i'm sorry," she said. "the patient was calling yourname just before he died."
fighting back tears, bishopmonson walked back into the night. he vowed at that moment thathe would never fail to act upon a promptingfrom the lord. he would immediately follow theimpressions of the spirit, wherever they led him. no one can understand presidentthomas s. monson who does not understand thefrequency, the repetition, of those kinds of spiritualpromptings in his life, and
his absolute loyalty inresponding to them. when i was called as a bishop,i recognized i was the president under the priestcorps and i wanted to get every boy out. there's one boy thatnever came. and i thought to myself, i'msitting here with the priests, they've got an adviser. i'll leave them to get thelesson from the adviser. i'm going to go findrichard casto.
and i went over to his home. mother and dad were home andthey said he was working over at the west temple garage. so i went over to fifth southand west temple, and the door was open but nobody there. and so i started lookingaround, you know? nobody. so i went around the back andthere was one of these old-fashioned grease pits.
and i looked down into thedarkness and i could see two eyes looking at me. he said, you got me, bishop. i'll come up. and he came up out of the greasepit and we had a nice little visit there together. and i said, richard,we need you. you have a way with people and iwant to have every priest in attendance.
will you come? he said, i'll come. and he came. after that, i serveda mission. i was sealed to my wifein the temple. we have five greatchildren, two of them have served missions. i've served as a bishop twice. my children have a great lovefor him and my wife has a
great love for him, becauseof what he did for me. it's probably one of thegreatest blessings that i've ever received in my life. during his service as bishop,two children were born to the monson family. tom, in 1951, andann, in 1954. tom recalls, "we felt as thoughlife was very good to us, which it was." about this time, presidentjoseph fielding smith came to
reorganize the temple viewstake presidency. on sunday june 16, 1955, thegeneral session of stake conference was heldin the assembly hall on temple square. the aaronic priesthoodand bishoprics were providing the music. joseph fielding smith steppedto the pulpit and announced the new stake presidency. percy k. fetzer, president, johnr. burt, first counselor,
and thomas s. monson,second counselor. he then said, "bishop monsonknows nothing of this calling, but if he will accept it, wewill be pleased to hear from him now." so i had to make the long walkfrom the choir seats down to the pulpit, thinking, whatam i going to say? the song we had just sungconcerned the word of wisdom. "have courage, myboy, to say no. have courage, my boy to sayno." and i said, "my theme
today is, have courage,my boy, to say yes. and i do so with myheart and soul." along with increasing churchresponsibilities, tom was progressing in hiscareer as well. in 1953, he was named assistantgeneral manager of deseret news press. i don't know of anybody thattom monson dealt with that didn't love him. all of us in the automobilebusiness and in the real
estate business came to knowand to love this good man. he just had the ability to reachout and touch hearts. in 1957, tom and francis built anew home for their family on a one acre lot in the suburbsnear salt lake. the move to a full acre on theoutskirts of the city seemed like paradise to theyoung family. then on february 21, 1959, tomwas summoned to the office of stephen l. richards ofthe first presidency. thinking this meeting concernedthe general handbook
of instructions currentlybeing printed, tom was unprepared for what followed. president richards called himto serve as president of the canadian mission. he indicated he should take aleave of absence from his employment and be preparedto depart in three weeks. when tom returned home, he foundfrances lying down, ill from the pregnancy oftheir third child. when i told her, therewas no question about
what she would accept. when we told our children,our son tommy said, oh boy, when do we go? we said, in about three weeks. he said, great, whendo we come back? we said, in about three years. the reality of what washappening became clear. i can still remember the cold,snow-filled day that i rented a truck and we took ourfurniture from our dream home
and prepared to leavesalt lake city. it was an emotional day forfrances and for all of us. i noted that she stroked thedoorjamb and there were tears in her eyes. we withdrew the children fromschool and then took the train to toronto. the young family arrived atthe mission home at 133 lyndhurst avenue and immediatelyembarked on a tour of the very large mission.
"then we realized," tom said,"that all the responsibility of presiding over the entirecanadian mission now was squarely upon our shoulders." he looked younger than half themissionaries in the field. he was thin and very athletic. he played basketball,he had played basketball with the elders. and we sensed in him a kindof a green missionary. someone who --
not that we'd ever think oftaking advantage of him -- but we thought, well we have hadsix months on this mission, president, and there aresome here that have been out two years. and we thought we couldmaybe teach him. we were dead wrong. on october 1, 1959, francesgave birth to their third child, clark spencer monson. president monson recalls, "itwas nice for the missionaries
to have a new baby inthe mission home. it seemed to bring a touch oftheir own families closer to them." 133 lyndhurst avenuewas a busy place to raise a growing family. with missionaries coming andgoing, the monson family rarely had dinner alone. each night, when it was about mybedtime, he would invite me into his office, or i wouldknock on the door and go into
his office. and he would pull out acheckerboard that he kept in one drawer and lay itout on his desk. and i would sit by his desk andwe would play checkers for 10 or 15 minutes. and that was something thatwas my time only with him, that i appreciated very much. spurred on by their youngmission president, the missionaries began tobe more productive.
convert baptisms increased. the building programgained momentum. "i was pleased withour progress," president monson said. "an attitude of successpermeated the mission." in august 1960, elder mark e.peterson of the quorum of the twelve came to toronto toorganize the toronto stake, the 300th stake of the church. the general sessions of thisspecial stake conference were
held in toronto's odeoncarlton theatre. every one of the 2,249seats were filled. it was the largest percentage ofmembers in attendance at a stake conference anywherein the church. i remember there was lots ofexcitement in the mission because it was the firststake that was organized in eastern canada. and he announced thatday who were to be the different leaders.
and when he got up and announcedthat i was to be the i'd never heard about it. stake primary president, i wasa little bit shocked, because so when we met after, he said,i knew you'd say yes. and it was just thrilling for usas missionaries to be there and to know that we're finallya stake of the church. after three years of labor,president monson received a letter of honorable releasefrom the first presidency. as we departed toronto, we lefta little of our hearts in
this beautiful city. the memories, ever dear,have been retained. shortly after returning to saltlake city, tom was named general manager of thedeseret press. he was now responsible for thelargest printing plant west of the mississippi. on thursday afternoon, october3, 1963, tom was working at his office when a call camefrom clare middlemiss, secretary to presidentdavid o. mckay.
after coming on the line andexchanging pleasantries, president mckay said, "brothermonson, could you visit with me some time?" after a positiveresponse, president mckay said, "could you cometo the office now?" placing everything aside, tomdrove to church headquarters, where he was ushered into theoffice of president mckay. he had me sit next to him on achair at the side of his desk. then with a great emotion hesaid, "brother monson, with the passing of president henryd. moyle, i'm named elder
nathan eldon tanner to be mysecond counselor in the first presidency. and the lord has called you tofill his place in the council of the twelve apostles. could you acceptthat calling?" i was overcome, but finallyassured him i could. he then welcomed me to theranks of the general authorities and indicated thiswould be a most rewarding experience, and one where mytalents and energies would be
used to the maximum. and then he instructed me that ishould tell no one except my wife, and informed me that iwould be sustained at the friday morning session atconference the very next day. returning home, tom felt littlelike eating dinner. he told francis he had someprinting proofs to deliver and asked if she would liketo come with him. they drove to the east bench ofsalt lake city and parked adjacent to this is theplace monument.
together they walked aroundthe monument, reading the inscriptions and pondering thepioneers and their heritage. as they returned to the car,frances said, "what's wrong? you have something on yourmind." he then revealed to her the sacred nature of his call. "that night, neither of us sleptvery well," tom said. "my feet were like ice." the next morning at generalconference, tom made his way toward members ofthe priesthood
home teaching committee. as he was about to sit next tohugh smith, hugh said, "you don't want to sit there. twice before, the men sittingnext to me were called to be general authorities." tom tookhis seat, regardless. it is now proposed that wesustain the following as members of the quorum ofthe twelve apostles. joseph fielding smith, howard w.hunter, gordon b. hinckley, and thomas s. monson.
an astonished hugh smithwhispered, "lightning has struck a third time." i pledge my life, all that i mayhave. i will strive to the utmost of my ability to be whatyou would want me to be. i'm grateful for the words ofjesus christ, our savior, when he said, "i stand atthe door and knock. if any man hear my voice andopen the door, i will come into him." i earnestly pray, mybrothers and sisters, that my life might merit this promisefrom our savior.
in the name of jesuschrist, amen. the following week, at a specialmeeting of the first presidency and council of thetwelve in the salt lake temple, thomas s. monson wasordained an apostle and set apart as a member of thecouncil of the twelve. elder monson said, "it was oneof the most dramatic days of my life." major responsibilities camealmost immediately. he was named as chairman ofthe adult correlation
committee, as adviser to theyoung men and young women's organizations, chairman of thechurch leadership committee and area supervisor formissionary work in the western united states. in 1965, assignments among thetwelve were rotated and elder monson was assigned to supervisethe missions of the south pacific, includingaustralia, new zealand, and the islands of polynesia. during his first visit to samoa,he visited the small
village of sauniatu and spokeat the church school to a large gathering ofsmall children. as the closing hymn wasannounced, elder monson suddenly felt compelled topersonally greet each of the 247 children. checking the clock, he saw thattime was too short and discounted the impression. then, just prior to the closingprayer, he again felt a strong impression to shakethe hand of each child.
upon communicating this desire,both the instructor and children were overcomewith joy. the instructor then revealed thereason for their elation. he said, when they learned amember of the twelve was coming, he told the children ifeach would earnestly pray and exert great faith, theapostle would be impressed to greet each child with apersonal hand clasp. "tears could not be restrained,"elder monson said, "as each of these preciouschildren walked past
and whispered a sweet'talofa lava.'" the people of the pacificislands have such great faith. on one occasion i had come tothe president hugh b. brown on an assignment to samoa. we were met by local memberswho told us of the extreme drought that plagued the area. the members said they had beenfasting and asked president brown and me to join them in asupplication to our heavenly father that moisturewould come.
this we did. during the general meeting atthe church school, we heard the clap of thunder. and soon the heavens opened andthe rain descended, making such a noise that one couldscarcely hear as the rain pounded upon the tin roofof the building. president brown turned to me andsaid, smiling, "now that we got it turned on, howdo we turn it off?" as we concluded the meeting, wewent to the small airport.
we overheard a new zealand pilotwho just landed speaking to one of the airlinepersonnel. he said, "i don'tunderstand it. not a cloud in the sky,except over the mormon school at mapusaga. president brown turned to me andsaid, "go tell him why." i gladly did. during his years as a memberof the twelve, elder monson made weekly visits to thestakes of the church.
these assignments were alwaysmade by the president of the twelve, who announced theconclusion of their weekly temple meeting. "i like this approach, eldermonson said, "for i could then feel that the assignmentsi received came from inspiration." such was the key case inshreveport, louisiana, where he experienced one of the mostsacred events of his life. the weekend of august 24, 1974,elder monson had been
assigned to el paso, texas. several days prior, presidentezra taft benson called elder monson to his office. he asked if he would mind beingassigned elsewhere. then president benson said,"brother monson, i feel impressed to have you visitthe shreveport, louisiana stake." on the evening of friday, august23rd, elder monson arrived in shreveport.
the next day was filled withmeetings at the stake center. during a break, stake presidentcharles cagle apologetically asked if eldermonson would have time to give a blessing to a 10-year-old girlafflicted with cancer. her name was christal methvin. elder monson asked if she wouldbe at the conference or if she were in a shreveporthospital. president cagle barely whisperedthat christal was confined to her home some 80miles from shreveport.
elder monson examinedthe schedule, even his return flight. there was simply no time. an alternative plan was made toremember the young girl in the public prayers atstake conference. on that basis, the scheduleof meetings resumed. when we were informed that eldermonson could not come, we were deeply disappointed. when the tumor had spread tothe lungs and the brain, we
had decided that we wanted totake christal to salt lake and have her given a blessingby a general authority. we looked at a picture of thegeneral authorities and we looked at a picture of elderthomas s. monson and we showed crystal this picture. and she looked at it andshe said, he looks like a very nice man. i think he's the right one. we never made that flightto salt lake due
to her health situation. we knew that she couldnot make the flight. we informed her that it wasn'tgoing to happen. her response was, well if ican't go to elder monson, then surely he can come to me. when we learned elder monson wasgoing to come to our stake conference, we were elatedbecause we thought our prayers were answered. but when we heard that hecouldn't make the trip on
further south to see us and givechristal a blessing, we didn't know what to think. but we did the only thing thatwe knew to do, and that was to place it in the handsof the lord. and so, as a family,we knelt in prayer. as the methvin family prayed,the clock in the stake center showed 7:45 pm. elder monson was sorting hisnotes, preparing to step to the pulpit during a leadershipmeeting, when he heard a voice
speak to his spirit. the message was brief. "suffer the little children tocome unto me and forbid them not, for of such is thekingdom of god." elder monson made a decision. the meeting schedulewas changed. he turned to bishop james serraand asked him to leave the meeting and advisethe methvins. and while we were praying, thephone rang and bishop serra, a
bishop in one of the wards inshreveport, informed us that elder monson would be in ourhome the next morning. and that he asked us if we wouldfast with him and he would be there to give christalthe blessing. i've been in hallowed places,even holy houses, but never have i felt more strongly thepresence of the lord than in the methvin home. christal looked so tiny,lying peacefully on such a large bed.
i gazed down on a child that wasto ill to rise, almost too weak to speak. so strong was the spirit thati fell to my knees, took her hand in mine, and said simply,"christal, i'm here." she whispered, "brother monson, ijust knew you would come." i looked around the room. no one was standing. each was on bended knee. a blessing was given, a faintsmile crossed christal's face.
her whispered "thank you"provided an appropriate benediction. quietly, we each filedfrom the room. four days later, as christal'sname was remembered in the prayer circle of the firstpresidency and council of the twelve, the pure spirit ofchristal methvin left its disease-ravaged body and enteredthe paradise of god. i bear witness thatjesus of nazareth does love little children.
he listens to their prayersand responds to them. the master did indeed utterthose words, "suffer the little children to come unto me,and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of god."i know these are the words he spoke to the thronggathered on the coast of judea, for i've read them. i know these are the wordshe spoke to an apostle on assignment in shreveport,louisiana, for i heard them. he and i we're leaving to goto a large meeting and
suddenly he saw a woman, a younggirl, and her family in need, and felt immediately toattend to that and let the meeting start withoutus, if necessary. the people of europe and thepeople of the world are grateful to have a leader withthese wonderful talents. a man who focuses on theone but has a heart for the whole world. i remember standing with fouror five german saints in the cold and rain on a hilltop,overlooking the city of
dresden, and rededicatingthe land. as i offered the prayer andspoke the words, "may this be the dawning of a new day for thechurch in this land," we heard a rooster crow inthe valley below. the church bell begin to chimeand suddenly i felt warmth on my hands and face. i opened my eyes to see thatthe clouds had parted and a ray of sunshine engulfed thetiny point where our small band stood.
we knew it was a confirmationfrom our heavenly father that the prayer was heard andwould be answered. one of the wonderful blessingsand pronouncements he made was that the members in east germanywill have all the privileges of all the membershiparound the world, including the temples. and through his efforts,following through with meeting with political leaders, thefreiberg temple came and blessed the people in amarvelous and wonderful way.
if it weren't for brothermonson, there would be little for our saints in thispart of europe. the president has giveneverything to those people, including the shirtoff his back. i mean it, i've seen him giveaway his shirts and his suits to those destitute saintsin eastern europe. he says they're used, old onesthat he's going to throw away anyway, but all those lookedbrand new to me. during his years in the twelve,one of his most
important assignments wasserving as chairman of the scripture publicationcommittee. over many years, elder monsonsupervised an exhaustive process involving hundredsof scholars, designers, technicians, and printers, whicheventually resulted in new editions of all fourstandard works of the church. thomas s. monson had a uniquequalification for that. he was a printer and he knewpaper, texture, binding. he was the one that went backand forth to england to check
the publications and so we hadbruce mcconkie and myself and him that worked through thoseyears to accomplish that. really a great endeavor, equalto almost anything i know of that's happened inmy lifetime. in 1979, as president monsonwas touring the cambridge plant, he looked at one of thepress lines and pulled a sheet from the end of the press andsaw what was a mistake, an important column rulehad been omitted. cambridge was amazed that theyhadn't found it, but he did.
and he was there to correctwhat could have been an omission of some significance. in addition to his apostoliclabor, elder monson has been called upon to rendersignificant civic duties as well. he served as a member of theutah board of regents, the governing body for highereducation in the state. he has also served for decadeson the national executive board of the boy scouts ofamerica, and as a member of
president ronald reagan's taskforce for private sector initiatives. individuals are served not6,000 at a time or not 13 million at a time. they're served one by one. i was at breakfast this morningwith three brothers who had lost their father. one of them mentionedbrother monson. he said, he's my favorite,he just inspires me.
this is a 16-year-old boy. he always considers himselfour really good friend. i think something that alwaysmakes me laugh is a quote by elder faust. he once said thatif he could kind of start over, he'd like to come back asone of president monson's grandchildren. i had overheard my grandpasaying coming to my grandma like, we need to make morememories for the children. and my grandma would alwaysjust roll her eyes and be
like, oh no, what has hegot up his sleeve now? in june 1985, elder and sistermonson traveled to the german democratic republic for the longawaited dedication of the freiberg temple. for me, the dedication markedthe completion of 17 years of service to the membership ofthe church and the german democratic republic. the completion of the house ofthe lord in that setting is a latter-day miracle.
the tremendous faith of themembers, coupled with the wish of god's prophet, causedthe barriers of man and governments to collapse beforethe mighty will of a divine providence. following the dedication, elderand sister monson flew to frankfurt and participated ingroundbreaking services for the frankfurt, germany temple. next stop was stockholm, sweden,where elder monson hosted the king and queen ofsweden at the open house of
the new stockholm temple. president hinckley describedthis week, which witnessed two temple dedications and agroundbreaking for a third, as the most significant weekin the history of the church in europe. it was indeed such, as well asone of the most significant periods of my lifeand ministry. on november 10, 1985, after22 years of service in the council of the twelve apostles,thomas s. monson was
called by president ezra taftbenson to serve as second counselor in the firstpresidency. nine years later, he was calledas second counselor to president howard w. hunter,and in 1995, as first counselor to presidentgordon b. hinckley. president monson has made atremendous contribution to the presidents of the churchthat he has served. he's a wise counselor,he knows the church. he knows the organization, heknows the needs of the people.
and so when he would givecounsel, it was always very, very much on target. on february 3, 2008, thomas s.monson was ordained and set apart as the 16th president ofthe church of jesus christ of latter-day saints. his impact can be seen now thatthe mantle of the prophet has fallen on him ineven a greater and more marvelous way. i've seen it, i cantestify of that.
i have seen how he has changedfrom a marvelous man to the prophet of god. he has been guided, he's beenled, he's been prompted, he's been refined. he's had all those experiencesthat a prophet has to prepare one to speak in the name of thelord, to be the president of this church and to guide thedestiny of the kingdom of god on earth. he's all he should be, to bepresident of the church.
particularly, he isn't some ofthe things you shouldn't be to be president of the church. he's absolutely without guile. he came from an ordinaryfamily. he's an ordinary man that'sdone extraordinary things. i've time and time againseen the spirit of god come upon him. both in the capacity to beartestimony of the savior and to know what god wouldhave him do.
and he has a complete commitmentto do whatever he's inspired to do for the lord. i have a testimony ofthis great work in which we are engaged. i don't know when ifirst obtained it. i think it came step by step,from goodly parents. i've always had a testimony. the sweetest experience i knowin life is to feel a prompting and act upon it and laterfind out that it was the
fulfillment of someone's prayeror someone's need. i always want the lord to knowthat if he needs an errand run, tom monson will runthat errand for him. i'm so grateful forhis example, and that's who we serve. this is the church of jesuschrist of latter-day saints. i honor that name, ihonor this church. the work is true. that i testify of that truthfrom the depths of my soul and
would say, may god bless us,every one, in the name of jesus christ. amen.