From June 17 through June 23, President Gordon B. Hinckley walked where no president of the Church has trod.

In Alaska, he addressed 7,700 Church members at a regional conference in Anchorage's Sullivan Arena on Sunday, June 18; met that afternoon with missionaries of the Alaska Anchorage Mission; spoke to 850 members at a fireside that evening in Juneau; greeted most of the 18 members of the branch in tiny Gustavus on Monday morning, June 19, and delivered a fireside message to about 300 members in Ketchikan Thursday evening, June 22.President Hinckley was accompanied by his wife, Marjorie, and by Elder LeGrand R. Curtis of the Seventy and his wife, Patricia.

At the regional conference - which was attended by members from the Anchorage Alaska, Anchorage Alaska North, Soldotna Alaska and Wasilla Alaska stakes - President Hinckley said he had been told by researchers in the Church Historical Department that never before had a president of the Church attended a conference in Anchorage.

"One hundred years ago President Wilford Woodruff came to Sitka on a boat," President Hinckley said. "Evidently, there were no members of the Church in Sitka because on Sunday they held a service on the boat. If there had been members of the Church there, they would have gone to where they were. But President Woodruff indicated in his journal that they gathered on the boat and had a service. I suppose, therefore, that this is the first occasion in the history of the Church when a president of the Church has had the opportunity of speaking to a great body of Latter-day Saints such as we have here today."

He further said, "I hope you feel that you are here for a purpose - to build the kingdom of God in this part of the world."

As he encouraged members to increase their efforts in missionary work, he told of a family he had introduced to the gospel. He became acquainted with the family after having struck up a conversation with a fellow passenger on an airline flight from London to New York. Although the man he met on the plane never joined the Church, the man's wife and their three sons joined; the sons married in the temple. "You never can foretell the consequences of that which you do when you talk about the Church with another," President Hinckley said.

Speaking about temples, President Hinckley acknowledged that members in Alaska live a long way from the nearest temple, in Seattle, Wash. He encouraged them to always have a temple recommend, and to plan to attend the temple whenever they "go south to the lower 48."

President Hinckley said, "We are trying to make it possible for saints all over the world to get to a temple without having to travel too far."

President Hinckley noted that the members in Alaska have to sacrifice to attend the temple, "but not to the extent" that members in other areas of the Church have to sacrifice. He spoke of members who had traveled eight days from Bolivia on an old rickety bus to get to the temple in Lima, Peru.

It was Father's Day when President Hinckley addressed the regional conference. "It is a tremendous responsibility to be a father in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," he said. "It is a wonderful responsibility to be a man who stands at the head of his family as one who holds the priesthood of God with authority to speak in the name of God. Fathers, are you the kind of father you ought to be?"

President Hinckley quoted from a letter he received from a woman who wrote about her husband, whom she described as "a righteous priesthood holder." After mentioning many of her husband's positive characteristics, the woman concluded her letter: " `I feel it is a great honor to be married to such a man. We are happy and in love. Life is good.' "

President Hinckley added: "Could every wife here today write that kind of letter? I would hope so. What a different world this would be if that were the case."

Before concluding his address, President Hinckley directed comments to the children and youth. He spoke of one little girl who wrote that she wore a CTR ring on each hand so both can "tell me to choose the right." He spoke of choices, and the consequences that follow.

He described how large farm gates, when they are opened, have very little motion at the hinge, but there is great movement at the circumference or arc to which the gate moves. "Little things like smoking one cigarette, tasting beer, just trying just a little bit of drug, getting involved in telling dirty stories - things of that kind. They are ever so small, but the consequences can be so tremendous."

President Hinckley commented on having looked out of his hotel room window that morning at the railroad yard. He said the scene caused him to recall an experience he had many years ago when he worked for the railroad. He told of how a careless switchman in the St. Louis yards had moved a piece of steel about four inches, and a baggage car which should have gone to Newark, N.J., was sent 1,400 miles away to New Orleans, La. "Now that is what happens with our lives. The little decisions that we make can have such tremendous consequences," he said. "Think of what that means - choose the right."

President Hinckley concluded by bearing his testimony, and encouraging members "to never lose sight of the fact that the God of heaven brought forth this work in this, the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, that His true Church might be upon the earth."

President Hinckley's sense of humor was evident as he commented on the opening hymn performed by a 500-voice choir directed by Kerma Kenley. After the choir sang "Come, Come, Ye Saints," President Hinckley said Alaskans might appropriately sing " . . . far away in the North, Where none shall come or hurt or make afraid and the Saints can prove their worth," instead of the original " . . . far away in the West, Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid, There the Saints will be blessed."

Even though choirs are a traditional part of conferences, this choir was different because of the vast area its members came from. More than 45 members drove 225 miles along twisting mountainous roads to perform and another singer came from Kodiak Island, 250 air miles away, to be included.

As delighted as were the members in Alaska to see a prophet in their state, he was equally pleased to meet and be among the Alaskan Saints. Typical for just about any large gathering in Alaska, many traveled great distances to attend the regional conference in Anchorage.

Whether in Anchorage, Juneau or Ketchikan, members were happy to be among those who got a glimpse of the prophet. Members at Gustavus, about a 20-minute trip by small plane from Juneau, were surprised and delighted to learn on short notice that President Hinckley was stopping off at their little settlement, en route from Juneau by plane for a short stay in the Glacier Bay National Park area. Gustavus Branch Pres. Jim Kearns had been asked if he could meet President Hinckley and his traveling companions and provide transportation for them when they arrived on the plane. Not only was Pres. Kearns there to greet President Hinckley, but so were most of the other branch members.

Many of the members who attended the fireside in Ketchikan June 22 traveled eight to 10 hours by ferry to get there. The young men and young women had planned a youth conference, but they opted to cancel the conference and apply the funds for it toward transportation to Ketchikan to see President Hinckley.

At 6 a.m. on June 23, President Hinckley's birthday, a group of members - including many Primary children - gathered in heavy rain at the ferry boat dock at Ketchikan to sing "Happy Birthday" as he prepared to leave for the airport for his return flight to Utah.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Pres. Hinckley thanks Church members for birthday cards, notes

President Gordon B. Hinckley has asked the Church News to convey his gratitude to the many Church members who sent cards, letters and other greetings on the occasion of his 85th birthday, which was June 23.

The volume of greetings that poured in from throughout the Church was such that President Hinckley and his staff are unable to respond with a personal acknowledgment to each person who took the time to congratulate him and wish him happiness on his birthday.