The Huntsman Jet that President Monson uses

Place: Safford Regional Airport, Arizona
Purpose: Gila Valley Temple Dedication and Celebration

A family had the chance to go to the airport on Saturday to see President Monson’s jet fly in to Arizona.  While they were there they had the chance to chat with him and the other General Authorities with him.  One of them writes:

At the airport, we were told by the bodyguards (there were about 10 of them) that we were allowed to take pictures, but that we couldn’t yell or make a huge fuss. There were about 10 adults and 10 children in our party. Elders Walker and Costa of the 70, Elder Holland of the 12, and President Eyring and Monson were all there. I wanted to enjoy the moment, so I didn’t get very many pictures. Only Presidents Monson and Eyring came over to say “hello,” and all of the other guys and ladies got into the awaiting cars, so I didn’t get any pics of them. President Monson was so funny and acted like a typical grandparent, “Let’s see these kids,” he said as he walked over. He gave the kids high 5 and shook hands with them. To Joy, who didn’t say a word and was acting bashful, he said, “A shy one! That’ll be a good trait to have in 10 years!” If only he knew! Joy is a very outgoing, boycrazy kindergartener.

After about 5 minutes or so, President Eyring started tugging on President Monson’s suitcoat and said, “We need to go. You’re going to get hot out here.” Motioning to the terminal, President Monson replied, “Why don’t we go in there where it is cool and visit then!” The exasperated, but patient Elder Eyring said, “Because we have things we need to do.” After visiting, mostly with the kids, a few moments longer, they left. Wow! To stand just 3 feet from the prophet and be with him for 5 minutes! What a privilege! Joy was thrilled…and so were Dale and I!

Read more details, and see more pictures, at the link below:
Way exciting weekend!

The Huntsman Jet President Monson Flies In is a post from: Follow The Prophet - The Activities of God's Living Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson

President Monson greets some members on the side of the road in Arizona

Place: Thatcher, Arizona
Purpose: Gila Valley Temple Celebration and Dedication

Shortly after President Monson arrived at the Safford Regional Airport in Arizona, yesterday, his traveling party made it’s way towards the town of Thatcher, a few miles away.  Some members had gathered on the road along the route to wave as he drove by.  Instead, all the cars stopped on the road, and President Monson, President Eyring, and Elder Holland stepped out to meet and greet the people.

Here is how one of the members describes the experience:

Here the 6-7 car entourage comes over the hill and we are all so excited we start waving early just to make sure our hands are up when He drives by. Then we see which car he is in and keep waiving…….and the car stops and pulls over! Then all the other cars pull over and once all cars stopped and security personnel got out and blocked traffic the Prophet, President Henry B Eyring and Elder Jeffrey R Holland got out of their cars and came over and started talking to us and shaking hands. When the Prophet saw Talley He gave her a Hi-Five and put both his hands on her shoulders and started telling her that he liked her yellow shirt because that is his favorite color, and proceeded to tell her at length why yellow is his favorite color for it seemed like 5 minutes. Then he said one more time “give me five” and they slapped hands! We all were able to shake hands with all three. He made sure he talked to everyone and shook their hands. More and more people started trying to stop and before we knew it there was like 30+ people there. The Spirit flows through every handshake and everyone there had tears in their eyes. Then we started singing “We Thank The O God For a Prophet” while he was walking away and He stopped and turned and faced us and sang with Gusto with us! It was amazing to hear this man sing. Then when it was over he waved and walked away…..not without making us all laugh first! When he got to the yellow center line of the road he put both hands out like a tight rope walker and “walked the line” for us all then got to his car waved one more time and left. I don’t think any person in the world could have any doubt in their mind that the Church is true if they had the opportunity to see and meet and feel the spirit that radiates from the Prophet of the Church, it penetrates the soul! AMAZING!

To read more about the experience, and see more photos, see the link below:
We Got to Meet President Monson!

An Unexpected Meeting with President Monson on the Road in Arizona is a post from: Follow The Prophet - The Activities of God's Living Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson

The first story is about a woman who is not a member of the Church, but who has a coworker who is, and who she speaks with often about the Church.  While the women is traveling on one occasion she meets a nice older gentleman, and they have a conversation:

…she finds out the gentleman is also a member of the church. She tells him about her co-worker [the member]. They talk and have a friendly conversation. As their meeting is coming to a close he asks her to tell her friend hello. Puzzled, she asks, “Will she know you?” He answers, “Yes, she probably will. Tell her Tommy Monson says hello.”

The second story is Elder Lansing’s account of President Monson’s visits to Elder Marion D. Hanks, who is in the hospital with Alzheimer’s disease.  The things that President Monson did for his friend is touching.

Read the stories and the additional anecdotes in the comments at Segullah:
I’m Trying to Be Like…

Stories of President Monson’s Interactions with People is a post from: Follow The Prophet - The Activities of God's Living Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson

Place: Ensign Stake Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Purpose: William Robert McConkie’s Funeral

Last Saturday, March 13th, President Monson attended and spoke at the funeral of Br. William Robert McConkie, who passed away earlier this month, the youngest brother of Bruce, Briton, James, Margaret (Bill J. Pope), and Oscar W. McConkie Jr.  A grandchild describes the service:

We went to Grandfather McConkie’s funeral, at his funeral the Prophet came. The front row was reserved for the immediate family so we went to go sit on the front row. One of our relatives told us that we shouldn’t sit on the front row, in case our children are too noisy for the prophet, because they will be distracting. Seth told her that the Prophet loves children and that we are going to sit on the front row. We listened to the program and at the end Pres. Monson stood up to speak. He mostly spoke about Bruce R. but the stories he told were pretty funny. In his speech he mentioned the beautiful children on the front row, which was Jordan and Atticus. Then half way through his speech he looked down at Jordan, because she was pointing at him. Pres. Monson said, “little girl, look up here, watch my ears.” Then Pres. Monson wiggled his ears for Jordan. After the program was over, everyone stood up after Pres. Monson stood up and Jordan ran up on the stand right to him. They held both hands together and Grandpa was right their ready with the camera and took their picture. Then Jordan led him off the stage holding his hand, he met me at the bottom of the stairs to hand over Jordan and then he touched Atticus on the cheek and told me how cute he was. It was such a neat experience.

William Robert McConkie’s obituary

President Monson Speaks at William Robert McConkie’s Funeral is a post from: Follow The Prophet - The Activities of God's Living Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson

Place: Holladay, UT
Purpose: Going to church at his home ward

Occasionally President Monson has the opportunity to attend his home ward in Holladay, Utah.  This past Sunday, Valentine’s Day, he did just that, and met with several young church members who were happy to get to speak with him for a few minutes.

As the presiding authority, President Monson sat on the stand for the sacrament meeting, and even spoke some at the end.  Sister Kirsten Nicole recalls:

I was surprised at how casual he was… It was really cute actually! He spoke about missionary work around the world. At one point he was talking about being in Mexico. He mentioned how he sang to 95,000 Mexican saints at an event there. And then he began to sing the song to us… in Spanish… over the pulpit, with hand motions and everything. It was fantastic!!

He thanked the members of his ward and said that he always likes to attend his home ward when he can:  “When I got in the car this morning, my driver asked me where I wanted to go. I said… ‘I dunno… I hadn’t thought about it’. Then I said ‘I’ll go to my home ward. I like it there… yeah… I’ll go there’. So I came, and here I am.” He kind of looked around lightheartedly and shook his head up and down, as if affirming that he’d made the right choice in visiting the ward that day.

I definitely think he made the right choice.

He talked jokingly about how he liked having his records in the ward. He said “ya know, the thing about bein’ the president of the church is… you don’t really have to ask anyone permission for that sort of thing”. It was a hoot.

President Monson at his home ward in Holladay, Utah (click to see larger)

After the meeting, President Monson shook the hands of some of the members and talked with them.  He told them a lot about his wife, Frances, who was home sick.  He told them how he met her, and pursued her, and a few other anecdotes.

One interesting detail from those who met him was the impression he left with them:

There was SO MUCH light in his eyes. I found myself thinking about the apparent contradiction that I was in… Here’s this man, who is God’s prophet on this earth… who is revered and reverenced around the world. He’s respected and loved by millions and millions of people. When he goes to foreign places, he’s given the best of the best. He meets with world leaders. He talks to God.

And at the same time, he’s just a grandpa. He’s funny. He rambles, and repeats himself. He’s really goofy and jokes a lot. He laughs at himself.  His body is weak and feeble- he’s a human. He didn’t make anyone there feel intimidated. He didn’t boast, even in the slightest, about who he is. In some ways it was just like talking to my own grandfather.

He’s growing so old, and yet he does SO much. It was such a testimony to me of how much the Lord lifts His servants to do His work. There’s no way this man before me could do everything he does on his own.

One of the members asked him if he could give them one piece of advice:

“I’ll give you the same advice I give myself- I’m on my knees every morning and every night.”

To read more about the visit of President Monson to his home ward, and see more pictures, see the link below:

Doing Something Different… – “My Experience with the Prophet…”

President Monson Attends Home Ward on Valentine’s Day is a post from: Follow The Prophet - The Activities of God's Living Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson

Place: West Jordan Sunset Ridge Stake Center, UT
Purpose: The viewing of Br. William David Miller

A couple weeks ago (Jan 14, 2010) President Monson attended the viewing of one of the missionaries who served under him when he was mission president in the Canadian Mission from 1959-1962.  The brother was William David Miller from West Jordan, Utah.

A member from the stake, Julie Weiss, tells of a special experience that happened that evening:

Today was ward conference and our stake president, President Murphy spoke in our Relief Society meeting. He told us what had happened to him this past week. Early on in the week, a Brother Miller from our stake died and his viewing was to be held at our ward building (the stake center) this past Thursday. The day before, the stake presidency conducts their temple recommend interviews. One of the questions asked is if you sustain the prophet and one sister admitted that she was having difficulty sustaining the prophet. The stake president decided that she should not have her recommend renewed yet, but made an appointment to talk to her again on the next night, which was Thursday.

William David Miller

Thursday night came and President Murphy was in the Relief Society room with Brother Miller’s family and friends for the viewing. He looked down the hall and whom should he see coming down it, but President Monson! It turned out that President Monson was Brother Miller’s mission president in Canada and had come to pay his respects to one of his missionaries. President Monson talked to everyone in the room individually and shook their hands. He then gathered with the family in the back corner of the room and told them stories about Brother Miller when he was a missionary.

President Murphy then recalled that the sister that was having trouble sustaining the prophet, was arriving at that time. He went down the hall to his office and she had just walked in the door. He told her that President Monson was in the building and she looked at him as if he were crazy. He told her, “Come with me and I will make sure that he shakes your hand.” She followed him down the hall and saw President Monson inside the room. He eventually came over to talk to her and shook her hand and President Murphy thanked him for coming. President Murphy then took this sister back to his office to talk to her. He said it was a very humble conversation, with the sister in tears. The sister’s husband had also had trouble sustaining the prophet, and she would no doubt go home with a wonderful story to tell him. I gather that all was well with sister from that point on.

President Murphy then told us that it was a miracle and he had no doubt the Lord had a hand in making it so that the Prophet was there in our chapel at the exact time that this sister would be there. What an amazing story! I couldn’t help but look back in the corner of the Relief Society room as he was telling this story and imagine President Monson standing there or walking down the hall of the chapel. I told Brayden and Daniel this experience and said that it makes our chapel even more special to me, since the Prophet had been there.

See the links below for more information:

Julie Weiss – “Wonderful story told to us by our Stake President during Relief Society”
Obituary – William Miller
Remembering William David Miller 1937-2010

President Monson Attends the Viewing of One of His Missionaries is a post from: Follow The Prophet - The Activities of God's Living Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson

President Monson made mention of one particularly interesting detail:

“…a new temple south of Salt Lake, location still secret, but land is ready…”

I wonder where the new temple would go?  Any ideas?  Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

See more information at the links below:

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President Monson Mentions Another Temple in Utah Will Be Built is a post from: Follow The Prophet - The Activities of God's Living Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson

Location: Salt Lake City, UT (Administration Building)
Purpose: Meeting with the prophet

What if you got to meet President Monson, in his office?  A very lucky couple got to do just that yesterday!  I guess they know the right people, because they were fortunate enough to get a tour of his office, and afterwards were blessed to visit with President Monson for about an hour.  What an opportunity! He showed them some of his memorabilia in his office, including a walking stick with all of the Boy Scout merit badges carved and painted in it, which President Monson looks very proud of. I’d like to hear the story of how he got that. Very cool!

They took some photos of their once in a lifetime opportunity, and of all of the interesting things President Monson has in his office. One of the pictures is linked below.

(Update 11/25/09): One of his friends still has a photo from the visit on Flickr. You can see it here.

The Prophet’s Office is a post from: Follow The Prophet - The Activities of God's Living Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson