For 1,176 Latter-day Saints, the most uplifting experience on Sunday, July 16, came not from looking upon the awe-inspiring Grand Tetons but through hearing inspiring counsel of a prophet.

President Gordon B. Hinckley met with members in a combined sacrament meeting of the Jackson 1st, 2nd and 3rd wards in the Driggs Idaho Stake at 9 a.m. Sunday. President Hinckley, accompanied by his wife, Marjorie Hinckley, visited Jackson in conjunction with the Beneficial Life Insurance Company's convention here. He addressed the convention on Friday evening, July 14, and stayed in the area over the weekend. (President Thomas S. Monson addressed the first part of the Beneficial Life convention at Grand Targhee near Driggs, Idaho, July 8, and on Sunday, July 9, met with members in a combined sacrament meeting of the Driggs 1st, 2nd, and 3rd wards. Please see July 15 Church News.)President Hinckley spoke of the physical surroundings of the convention at Jackson, located on the eastern slope of the Grand Tetons. "We took occasion this afternoon to take the back road that leads to the Teton Village up to Moose," he said. "There is something wonderful about getting into that beautiful back country. What a magnificent area this is. I reflect on the fact that it was humble "Uncle Nick" Wilson, as he was known, who led the first company of finders over the pass that now we follow from Idaho Falls into this valley. Mormon pioneers settled in Wilson and in Jackson. Our people had a very prominent part in this magnificent area. What a pleasure to come here and feel of this great spirit."

President Hinckley spoke of his first visit to the area with his parents and brother in 1917. "We made that trip in a 1916 automobile. We came here yesterday in a 1995 car," he said. "We traveled the highways in this air-conditioned car representative of the marvelous age in which we live. What a great time to be alive, in this time in the world's history."

Yet, he observed, there is so much of negativism being expressed. He spoke of having watched a television program in which seven of the top media reporters and columnists of the Washington, D.C., area constituted a panel. "For nearly the entire hour that they occupied, I did not hear a single positive thing," he said. "Everything was negative. People spend so much of their time grousing and complaining in a negative spirit."

At the combined sacrament meeting Sunday morning, President Hinckley made note of the growth of the Church in the area. A ward was organized in Jackson in 1914. In 1921, it went back to branch status; it became a ward again in 1934. There are now three wards in Jackson.

Speaking of the growth of the Church, President Hinckley pointed out that 50 years ago, 55 percent of the membership of the Church resided in Utah; today 17 percent reside there, reflective of the remarkable growth of the Church throughout the world. Only 6 percent resided in the international areas, outside the United States and Canada, 50 years ago. Today, he said, 45 percent reside in the international areas, and before long half the membership of the Church will reside outside the United States and Canada. At the end of last year there were 2,008 stakes in the Church, 709 districts, 303 missions, 21,774 wards and branches scattered in 156 different nations and territories.

President Hinckley spoke of the Prophet Joseph Smith who, when incarcerated in Liberty Jail, cried out, "Oh, God, where art Thou?" (D&C 121:1.) "Among the words that came in response were these: `The ends of the earth shall inquire after thy name, and fools shall have thee in derision, and hell shall rage against thee; While the pure in heart, and the wise, and the noble, and the virtuous, shall seek counsel, and authority, and blessings constantly from under thy hand. And thy people shall never be turned against thee by the testimony of traitors.' (D&C 122:1-3.)

"That promise was given when there were only a handful of Latter-day Saints," President Hinckley explained. "Today, every man and woman in this hall who belongs to this Church, I am satisfied, could stand on his or her feet and bear testimony of the divine calling of the Prophet Joseph Smith. And I have heard men and women bearing such testimonies in scores of languages around this world. God knew whereof He spoke when He spoke concerning this boy who went into the woods on a spring day in 1820 and inquired of the Lord for the light and truth and knowledge and understanding.

" `If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith.' (James 1:5.)

"That's the word that prompted the boy to go into the woods and the experience there was tremendous and has run down through all of these generations since then, with force to every generation concerning its truth and its validity. God be thanked for the introduction of this the greatest dispensation in the history of the world when the Almighty has brought together the gospel truths of all previous dispensations into one, in this last and most glorious, final dispensation, the dispensation of the fulness of times."

President Hinckley said that as he and Sister Hinckley rode on back country roads in the Grand Tetons and as he saw water cascading from mountain peaks, he thought of D&C 121:33: " `How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river

He might have said the Snake RiverT in its decreed course, or to turn it upstream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.'

"How true that is. No force on earth can stop the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints if we will live in righteousness, obey the principles of the gospel, do what we ought to do as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and walk in obedience to the commandments of God. We will then receive enlightenment and knowledge and understanding and faith, and our lives will be enriched and be made more happy and more fruitful. There is no question in my mind concerning this, no question at all."

President Hinckley quoted Brigham Young: " `Every principle God has revealed carries its own convictions of its truth to the human mind, and there is no calling of God to man on earth but what brings with it the evidences of its authenticity.' (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 9, Jan. 12, 1862.)

"That's a remarkable statement, really. . . . Desire leads to belief. Belief leads to faith. Faith leads to knowledge of things spiritual and eternal, the things of God. Everyone who observes the Word of Wisdom has had come into his or her heart a conviction that has come of God."

President Hinckley continued: " `Every principle God has revealed carries its own convictions of its truth.' I've never found a man who paid tithing who had any doubt that it represented a commandment from the Lord. As we observe, we grow in faith until we have knowledge by which we live. And so I might go on with every principle of the gospel. Each one, as we observe it, brings the convictions of its divine source."

President Hinckley concluded, saying, "I would like to give you my testimony. This is God's holy work. I haven't the slightest doubt of that. This is the little stone which was cut out of the mountain without hands which should roll forth to fill the whole world. It's on its way. It's happening. It's wonderful and it's tremendous.

"God, our Eternal Father, lives. He is the Creator and Ruler of the universe and yet He is our Father. He is the Almighty and is above all. He can be reached in prayer. . . . Does He hear a child's prayer? Of course He does. Does He answer it? Of course, He does. Not always as we might wish, but He answers. He hears and answers.

"I know that He lives. I know that Jesus is the Redeemer of the world, the Savior of mankind. Without His divine sacrifice all of this through which we go would be in vain, but it is not in vain because of that atonement which ensures for all of us the resurrection and for all who walk in obedience to His commandments, growth and progress and eternal glory beyond bounds.

"I know that the conversation which took place in the grove was as real and as personal and as intimate as is my conversation with you this morning. The priesthood is upon the earth. The Book of Mormon stands as a witness to the world of the reality and divinity of the Son of God. We are partakers of these marvelous blessings."

Driggs Idaho Stake Pres. John A. McKellar said the meeting July 16 was the largest ever convened in the meetinghouse in Jackson. "We literally had an overflow crowd," he said. "People were standing outside, looking in the doors and windows.

"We were blessed to hear not only President Hinckley but also Sister Hinckley," he said. "She delighted the congregation with her bright words. She has a wonderful sense of humor.

"She spoke about the great treasures in her life - her family and the gospel. And she spoke of her husband and his great dedication."

Bishops of the three wards in Jackson - Bishop Larry Wilde of the Jackson 1st Ward, Bishop John Love of the Jackson 2nd Ward, and Bishop Thayne O'Brien of the Jackson 3rd Ward - shared responsibilities in arranging for such necessary details as providing ushers and Aaronic Priesthood youth to administer and pass the sacrament at the combined sacrament meeting. Bishop Love conducted. The Cameron and Vicki Garrick family provided special music.

"It has been a remarkable experience to have President Hinckley visit us in Jackson," said Pres. McKellar, "and to have had President Monson visit us the week before in Driggs. We feel very blessed."