SEOUL, Korea — Members of the Church here were rewarded for their patience by the arrival of President Gordon B. Hinckley at a regional conference Sunday morning, July 31.
The meeting opened shortly after word came that President Hinckley's plane had landed in Seoul.
The conference was part of a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the dedication of Korea for the preaching of the gospel, as well as the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith. President Joseph Fielding Smith, then president of the Quorum of the Twelve, dedicated the land on Aug. 2, 1955. He organized the first district of the Church there that same day. Much of the conference focused on that event and the 50 years of history of the Church in South Korea since then.
Also speaking at the conference were Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi of the Seventy, president of the Asia North Area and his counselor Elder Won Yong Ko, also of the Seventy.
When word spread that President Hinckley had arrived, the members greeted him singing "We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet."
"I am sorry that we are late getting here," President Hinckley told a congregation of nearly 10,000. "We were in Anchorage, Alaska, and had an accident which delayed us a day. It is a miracle, really, that we are here today."
With longtime friend and former General Authority Elder In Sang Han translating for him, President Hinckley reminisced about his experiences in Korea since his first visit in 1960, and several times expressed his love for the Korean saints.
At one point, he said, "Now my dear brothers and sisters, how much I love you. There is a special love in my heart for the saints of Korea. What a marvelous thing it is to look into your eyes and to see all of these old friends who have been so faithful and true through all of these years."
He also mentioned a stop he had made earlier in the day. "We have been to Vladivostok, Russia, and have seen the beginning of the work there," he said. "And that reminds me of the way the work began here. We had about 200 people there today. All of them are new in the Church. That mission has been open only for a short time and I told those people that if they will be faithful and true, the Lord will bless them and we will see in Russia what we have seen in Korea."
After recalling the difficulties in the country four decades earlier, following the Korean War and at a time of political instability, he said, "People were so poor. They lived under the worst of circumstances."
Then he said, "Now it's all changed. You all look prosperous. . . . The Lord has blessed you. He has blessed this land because of you. I believe that with all my heart. God has poured out His blessings upon this people, and the security and the peace and the well-being of this nation rests on the righteousness of the nation and I believe with all my heart that if the saints will live the gospel they will be spared from war and other afflictions."
Several times as he spoke, President Hinckley referred personally to his translator. He noted that Elder Han had translated the Book of Mormon into Korean. There were times when Elder Han was emotionally overcome as he translated for his friend, especially when President Hinckley spoke of his wife, Marjorie, who passed away last year, and commented that he may never return to Korea again.
President Hinckley bore his testimony and encouraged the members to live the gospel. As he was concluding, he said, "I feel in my heart a great emotional tug, just feeling the love of this great and vast congregation."
After sitting down, he stood again, returned to the podium and thanked Elder Ko, "for all he's done to organize this and the many who have been working with him. What a tremendous job he's done."
He stood a second time, after the closing hymn by the choir, and complimented them for their singing. "They are magnificent," he said.
The meeting continued with testimonies by Brother Don Powell, who arrived in April of 1956 as the first missionary in Korea, and Elder William R. Walker of the Seventy who is succeeding Elder Kikuchi as area president.
Among the members of the congregation were more than a thousand former mission presidents, missionaries and those who traveled with them, to join in the celebration.
Richard Herd of Kaysville, Utah, a former president of the Korea Pusan Mission, was uplifted following the meeting. "The growth in the Church is going to be absolutely terrific," he said.
Local member Sang Young Kee of the Gaebong Ward said that when he saw President Hinckley for the first time, he felt there was no doubt in his mind about the truthfulness of the gospel.
Ha Yang Kim, a high school student from the Ilsan Ward, said, "When President Hinckley was coming in, his face was shining. I don't have the words to express how happy I was to see him. I was crying at the time."
President Hinckley finished his stay in South Korea with a short tour Monday morning of the Church's first meetinghouse which has been restored in the Samchung Ward, the new Korea Seoul Mission Home and the Seoul Korea Temple.
E-mail to: ghill@desnews.com
