Insiders at the Church say that as the new leader of 13 million members, President Monson will hit the ground running. The man who can quote a scripture on any topic, pull out an applicable poem or remember details and names from his personal history, while ours has blurred away, uses that same intellect and incisive memory to accomplish a mountain of work every day and still leave, according to Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “an astonishingly clean desk.”He’s comfortable with anyone conversing on any subject, and his leadership was recognized while he was still, like Nephi, exceedingly young. He was called as a bishop at 22 in a ward that had the largest welfare load in the Church, including 85 widows. He was called as a counselor in a stake presidency at 27, a mission president at 31, an apostle at 36, and a member of the First Presidency at 58 (the youngest in this century).
Yet, for all this remarkable capacity, the hallmark of President Monson is his pure love of Christ, and his uncanny ability to hear the voice of the Spirit and respond instantly. He said, “In my patriarchal blessing as a boy, I was promised that I would have the gift of discernment. I have to acknowledge that such a declaration has been abundantly fulfilled in my life.”
His has been a ministry to the lost battalions of the faltering, the lonely, the sick, the struggling, the forgotten, the widow, the uncared for, those who fall by the wayside. His has been a call captured in this scripture: “Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.” (D&C 81:5).
In Monday’s press conference, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf noted, “President Monson has such a feeling for the needs of individuals and the needs of all the world.” In this article we want to give you a story representing both — one when President Monson reached out to a single heart as he has so many thousands of times (this one a member of our own family) — and one when he opened the door to a nation.
This is a moving article. Click HERE for the rest of the story "touching one life". It will move you to tears.
(Meredian Magazine)
