Remembering
Marjorie Pay Hinckley, Part Four
A
Photograhic Essay
By
Maurine and Scot Proctor
Small and Simple Things
Celebrate
her life with us in these gentle, homespun comments of hers from
her book Small and Simple Things. These are as warm and
personal as if you were a dear friend invited in to share a moment.
“Who knows but that something wonderful may happen today. Have
faith that it will. After all, every morning is a chance at a
new day!”
|
Marjorie
Hinckley with daughter Kathleen. Nauvoo, Illinois. |
“When
our children were all at home and making bread was part of the
routine, a friend found an antique bread mixer for me. It was
a simple bucket with a hook attached to a handle. A clamp secured
it to the table and it was operated by the children who took turns
‘spelling each other off’ as we did away with the old method of
kneading. It is one of the objects that remains a family treasure
because of the part it played in our communal venture of bread
making. Even still, the smell of bread baking somehow slows down
the world and feeds my soul in a small and simple way.”
|
Sister Hinckley sat on the stand by her
husband in most all of his travels.
Accra, Ghana. |
“Just
be one more voice to say that God lives and that this is His work.
That will bring satisfaction.”
|
Sister Hinckley, though short in stature,
stood tall among the Saints. Accra, Ghana. |
“Some
years ago I had a friend who decided at the age of fifty that
she was going to learn to play the piano. She courageously started
out with Thompson’s Book I. Each morning she went to the
church at seven o’clock, where she would practice on the piano
and, later, on the organ. After about a year they asked her to
play a special number for one of the Relief Society lessons.
She said she didn’t feel ready, to give her another three months.
The three months passed, and she consented to play a special number
that she had memorized. This was her first public appearance
on the piano. She started out beautifully. It went well for
about three measures; then she lost it. Everything went blank.
Her music teacher, who was present, said, ‘Don’t be ruffled.
Just start over.’ She started over and made it all the way through
without a single mistake.
|
Sister Hinckley and daughter Kathleen arrive at the
stadium for the festivities of “A Day of Celebration” of
the coming of the temple in Ghana. Accra, Ghana. |
“We
have never loved my friend more than we did that morning. Perhaps
it was because she faltered a little in the beginning and we were
all pulling for her, saying to ourselves, ‘Come on, we know you
can do it.’ If her performance had been flawless from the start,
we might all have been defensive and said, ‘Oh well, she can learn
to play the piano because her husband is the kind who will get
his own breakfast while she practices and her children don’t make
demands on her’ and so on and so on and so on. As it was, she
faltered a little, and we loved her the more. That experience
has given me great comfort. I figure that if I fall a little
short of what is expected of me, perhaps my sisters in the gospel
will be compassionate and love me for trying.”
|
Scores of cameras (mainly from native
missionaries) were taking photo after photo of President
and Sister Hinckley. They never seem to tire of it. Accra,
Ghana. |
“You
should see my copy of the Book of Mormon! The pages from First
Nephi to the brass plates are dog-eared. The rest are reasonably
worn. I think I have started the Book of Mormon a few more times
than I have finished it!”
|
President and Sister Hinckley and Elder Russell M.
Nelson enjoy “a day of celebration” in Accra, Ghana. |
“It’s
a valuable exercise to close your eyes every once in a while and
think, ‘What is the most wonderful moment I have lived through
during the past year?’ It might be part of a grand event or a
very simple moment, perhaps a brief interaction with another person.
The grand or the simple, it doesn’t matter. Just the remembering
will lift your spirits, and warm feelings will fill your soul.”
|
Looking upon and loving the Saints in Ghana. Accra,
Ghana |
“I
decided that if I lived to be eighty-five, I would stop counting
calories and eat anything I wanted to eat. And I do! I would
make my mother’s lemon pie, but I have quit cooking too!”
|
Daughter Kathleen leads Sister Hinckley
outside for the cornerstone ceremony of the Accra, Ghana
Temple Dedication, January 11, 2004. |
“Fifty
was my favorite age. It takes about that long to learn to quit
competing—to be yourself and settle down to living. It is the
age I would like to be through all eternity!”
|
President
Hinckley always invited his wife to participate in the sealing
of the coverstone of the temples he dedicated. Here he
said, “Mother, Kathy, come and take a turn.” His advice
on the best way to use the trowel: “Just pretend you
are making a cake.” |
“I
love the word feast. We talk about pondering the
scriptures, but I like the phrase “feast upon the words.”
|
Sister Hinckley and daughter Kathleen
at the southeast corner of the Accra, Ghana Temple. This
would be 86 days before her passing. |
“Be
kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
“Each
of us can ask ourselves each morning, “What can I do to make life
happier for someone today?”
|
This is the last picture I ever took of Marjorie Pay
Hinckley, as she waved goodbye to the Saints in Accra, Ghana,
January 12, 2004. |
We
will miss you dear Marjorie Pay Hinckley. You made life happier
for us every day.
|
The rose that Sister Hinckley laid on
the grave of The Patriarch Hyrum Smith in Nauvoo, Illinois,
June 27, 2002. |
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