Miss you President

Every once in a while I wish I kept a better journal. If I had just opened my journal once since I stepped off the plane from Denmark it would be an improvement. I am grateful for my grandparents gentle encouragement to send in my contributions to the popular Emmett Family Quarterly. The newsletter certainly helps me and any interested posterity in the future to fill in the blanks. I look at this blog as an opportunity to fill in even more blanks.

I have had several opportunities to be in the same room or giant meeting hall with President Hinckley between temple dedications, conferences, and devotionals. I don't remember a lot of details of these events (can't find a journal) but I will never forget the feeling I had every time he entered the room. It's hard to describe and this isn't the most appropriate place to try but I'll leave it at I know he is a prophet.

My most recent memory came 2 years ago in Provo at the BYU-Utah football game. Before the game started I was inside walking up the stairs next to the President's box. I noticed as I got to the top step that the few people in the hallway were stopped and standing against the wall. This caused me to pause and look up to see what was going on. The first person I looked at, no more than three feet away, was President Hinckley's smiling face. I was so stoked! He had just waved his cane at me a few months earlier at the Newport Beach dedication. He saw me stop, get a goofy grin, and then looked at me and said "hello there" as he walked past me and into the President's box. I considered asking him who he was rooting for but quickly decided against it as it could possibly cause a crisis in faith. I know he is a UU alumnus but I like to think he was disappointed like the rest of us when BYU lost in an overtime thriller.

I will always remember how he encouraged me to stand a little taller and be a little better. I've used it for years as my hometeaching message and probably will for years to come.