Goodbye, Mr. President

Gordon B. Hinckley, the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (colloquially known as "The Mormons"), passed away earlier this evening.

Mormon church president dies at 97

President Hinckley has led the Church since March of 1995. He was a member of the First Presidency (the main leadership body of the Church) since 1981 and of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles since 1961.

I joined the LDS Church in 1982 at the age of 14. Four men have presided over the Church in that time: Spencer W. Kimball, Ezra Taft Benson, Howard W. Hunter, and President Hinckley. But the former three had serious health problems for much of their administrations. For most of my experience, President Hinckley has been the public face of the Church. It's hard to imagine him not being there any more.

I'll probably write more on this later. For now, though, I just wanted to record the event.

Godspeed, President Hinckley.