AN EXTRAORDINARY EVENING

Saturday evening we took Eric and Hannah's music teacher and her husband and friends of Eric and Hannah with our family to see BYU's "Living Legends" perform at Skyline HS auditorium. We were very impressed with their dancing, singing, and the spirit of love and history from cultures representing Hawaii, the South Pacific, Mexico, South America and Native America. Our guests were truly excited to have the opportunity to join with us. Last night our family went to a fireside at our stake center to hear this group of about 40 BYU students sing and bear testimony of the gospel. I don't think I have ever experienced a spiritual lift of the magnitude this was . When the program was over we sat for a few moments to ponder what we were feeling. As we started walking back to have refreshments in the cultural hall, with the usual noise from socializing, our

Stake President announced the passing of our beloved prophet GORDON B. HINCKLEY. The crowd of about 300 of us stood stunned. There was total silence for about five minutes, the only sound was some weeping, and our family just held each other while we cried. The audience spontaneously broke out with "We Thank Thee Oh God For A Prophet" and we sat for another period of time while the director of the BYU group played several hymns softly. Hannah, who was in tears, remarked that she felt this was more to her than just an emotional experience. She said she felt the Spirit testifying to her that he truly was/is a prophet. We went home and turned on the BYU channel that was playing a biography of President Hinckley's life. We love him so much, and this experience brought our family closer together. We send you our love and appreciation as we know how important this man of God has been for all of us.

With much love to you all,

Dad/Mike