As we were walking up to the building, Matthew reminded me that he has never seen the prophet in person. We try to take every opportunity we can to take our children to see him, and our girls have seen him many times, but since Matthew is only 7, and they request that no one under 8 attend conferences, etc., it is true that this was Matthew's first time to see President Hinckley. The first, and the last......for a while.
It was an open casket viewing. President Hinckley looked wonderful, but you could tell that his spirit was gone. He looked so peaceful.
The Conference Center had many photos; several of him and his wife, Marjorie, and more with his children and grand-children. There was one of him visiting a Primary last year. I loved that and thought how wonderful that would be to have the prophet visit OUR Primary!
There were beautiful bouquets of flowers from his family. One in particular really touched me. It was from his great-grandchildren. It was a very large and beautiful bouquet of multi-colored roses. The tag hanging from it read:
Dear Grandpa,
We will always be grateful, be smart, be clean, be true, be humble, be prayerful....because we love you.
Love, your great-grandchildren
Haylie and Matthew in the Conference Center after seeing the prophet. They are looking out a window that has a waterfall on the outside.
The Conference Center where the viewing was held and where the funeral will be held tomorrow. We were lucky to get there when the wait was short. Brooke and Raegan went down later in the day after school and waited 5 1/2 hours to get in. Early estimates say that over 50,000 people went through in the past 2 days.The viewing was originally going to be in the Church Administration Offices. It seemed so appropriate that they changed it to the Conference Center. It was President Hinckley who received the inspiration for the Conference Center. It is because of him that this remarkable building is there. So it seemed fitting that not only his funeral should be held there, but his viewing as well.
It was the most gorgeous snowy day today. Here are a few pictures I took at Temple Square.
(this sign hung on a house across from the Conference Center)
....'til we meet again. 
5 comments:
Thanks so much for sharing. I loved the grandson's tribute. Thanks for being our eyes today.
What a beautiful memory you will have for your family. I wish I could have taken my kids as well. They are young, but my two oldest are old enough that they would have always remembered it. The funeral and the tributes were so well done and very touching.
I love the pictures you took, especially the one of your two kids looking through the window. My father is in town for the blessing of our new baby boy and we woke up and watch the funeral service this morning. Even over television, one could feel the outpouring of love and peaceful spirit present at the conference center. I tried to put my thoughts down on my blog, but it's difficult and seems like quite a feeble attempt, but I hope my children will look back and realize the greatness of this man who was as sharp as ever at 97 years old. Thank you for a very thoughtful post.
That was beautiful. I loved the sweet little note from President Hinckley's great grandchildren. I'm really glad that you were able to go there with your kids. The pictures on temple square are so pretty that you took. That's one of my favorite places to visit.
How lucky you were to experience that with your family! It will be something you will all remember for the rest of your lives.
The pictures are beautiful...
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