Missionary work was a theme that ran throughout the visit of President Gordon B. Hinckley to England and Ireland, and nowhere was that any more evident than during his stop in Liverpool, jumping off port for most of the early European converts to the Church.

A fireside here Aug. 31 was attended by 1,000 people, including 23 Saints from the far-removed Douglas Ward on the Isle of Man, nearly all converts to the Church who made the trip via half-day ferry ride or by airplane.President Hinckley made special note of their sacrifice to be in attendance during his address that evening and shook hands with them and others following the meeting.

Sister Hinckley expressed exceptional pleasure at being in Liverpool, the place where her great-grandfather heard and accepted the gospel, and the place from which he set sail for Zion.

"Some of you may know that my great-grandfather

William Minshall EvansT was born in Liverpool," she said. "All of my life I have loved the name of Liverpool because of him, and because he was one of the first to come into the Church, which made it possible for me to be born under the covenant. I'm so thankful for Liverpool."

She briefly told his story: "When my great-grandfather was growing up, he belonged to a very religious family. They were Christians. They belonged to the Baptist Church. One Sunday morning, he was walking to church, where he sang in the choir, and he heard what he said was the most beautiful singing he had ever heard. He followed the sound up an alley and up a stairway, and there he found Mormon missionaries singing a hymn. He said it was so beautiful that he stayed to hear the sermon. When he returned home, his brother said, `Where were you this morning? You were not in your place in the choir.'

"He said, `I was where you should have been, and I will never be satisfied until you hear the beautiful truth that I heard this morning.'

"They joined the Church. I think the whole family joined the Church. I'm grateful for the experience that they had in Liverpool. It has been a beloved thing for me because of that. I have no desire tonight except to bear my testimony. I just feel it's one of the greatest privileges of my life to stand at this pulpit in Liverpool where my great-grandfather lived and bear testimony of this work. I know that this is the work of the Lord. I know it with every fiber of my being. Every day of my life I am more certain than ever that this is truly the work of the Lord. And I thank my Father in Heaven for the heritage that I have, for the testimony that I have in my heart that this work is truly the work of our Father in Heaven.

"I am grateful to all of you. I'm so glad you came tonight. I can't explain to you what it means to me to look into your faces, and I think of what my great-grandfather would have felt if he could have seen what's happening here tonight and what's happening in his beloved city. I'm so thankful for the gospel and all it means in my life. My life, indeed, would be very bleak without it."

During the day's drive to Liverpool from Nottingham, where another large fireside had been conducted the previous evening, President Hinckley had traveled through Preston, Nelson and Lancastershire, where he first served on his mission. The day's events had obviously pleased him and were on his mind as he spoke to the Saints in Liverpool.

He spoke of having visited in 1987 the house in Preston where he had lodged as a young missionary in 1933. Upon visiting the home, he had asked the woman who lived there for permission to go upstairs to the room he had occupied.

"I almost wept when I thought of that bedroom," President Hinckley told the Liverpool congregation. "It was in that bedroom that I made the most important decision of my life. I was called to England in 1933. It was the bottom of the Depression. Poverty was everywhere. In Lancastershire . . . people were struggling. They had nothing. They were on the dole. Those were very, very difficult times.

"We didn't get anywhere. To get people to listen to us was like knocking on a brick wall. They didn't want to hear; they were disillusioned; they were bitter. I had been there about a week or two. I wrote home to my father and said, `I'm not doing any good here. I'm just wasting my time.' In about two weeks, I received an answer. He said, `Dear Gordon, I have your letter. . . . I have only one suggestion: Forget yourself and go to work.'

"The day I received that letter, I also read in the Gospels we were studying this great statement of the Lord: `For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.' (Matt. 16:25.) I got on my knees in that little bedroom . . . and made a pledge that I would try to give myself unto the Lord.

"The whole world changed. The fog lifted. The sun began to shine in my life. I had a new interest. I saw the beauty of this land. I saw the greatness of the people. I began to feel at home in this wonderful land. Everything that has happened to me since that's been good I can trace to that decision made in that little house . . . in Preston, Lancastershire.

"Forget yourself," he said. " `For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.' . . .

"You want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause, and bend your efforts to helping people. Cultivate a spirit of forgiveness in your heart against any who might have offended you. Look to the Lord and live, and work to lift and serve His sons and daughters. You will come to know happiness like you've never known it before. I don't care how old you are, how young you are. You can lift people and help them. Heaven knows there are so very, very many people in this world who need help. . . .

"Let's get the cankering, selfish attitude out of our lives. . . and stand a little taller and reach a little higher in the service of others. It has been said that a man's reach should exceed his grasp. Stand tall. Stand high. Lift those of the feeble knees; hold up the arms of those that hang down. (See D&C 81:5.) Live the gospel of Jesus Christ. Forget yourself. `Whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.'

"This is as true as the sun rises over Liverpool in the morning. I learned that very lesson in Lancastershire, for which I am so deeply, deeply grateful."

At the end of the meeting, President Hinckley asked everyone to stand and sing together all verses of "God Be With You." It was his last meeting with the Saints in England before departing for Dublin the next day (see article on page 3). Following the song, he went into the choir area to shake hands, then down into the congregation and to the group from the Isle of Man, seated together on two pews. He wished them his love and blessings as he and Sister Hinckley departed.

The next morning, Sept. 1, the Hinckleys and others toured the Albert Docks and Merseyside Maritime Museum, which originally opened to ships in 1846. Museum director Mike Stammers lead the group through the complex, which includes extensive exhibits, artifacts and models relative to early sea travel and the inland Liverpool port on the Mersey River.

A log for the early Mormon immigrant ship "Jersey," bound for New Orleans, was shown the group in the museum's reading room. Hands-on displays included a realistic walk through a ship's cramped living quarters, complete with sound effects, and an example of what the rough, noisy streets of Liverpool were like during the period of Latter-day Saint emigration.

"I'm intrigued with this building," President Hinckley told Mr. Stammers. "it's a most remarkable facility. You've done a marvelous job with it."

He and Sister Hinckley commented on the many sizeable ship models on display, some of them upwards of 15 feet long. The president would read bits and pieces from the displays to the group and ask questions as they went through.

After the tour the Hinckley's paused outside for photographs overlooking the water (see cover photo) and to visit with a reporter from a Liverpool newspaper.

The group then stopped by the building wherein it is believed Sister Hinckley's great-grandfather was introduced to the gospel.

Pres. Ray Turner of the Liverpool Stake commented on the significant sacrifices made by many members in the stake to attend the Liverpool fireside, and on the impact of his visit to their city.

"With overnight stays, the Isle of Man in our stake is a two- or three-day journey, depending on which route they come," he explained. "It is expensive and it's time consuming. Since we only heard three weeks ago that the prophet was coming, other people in the stake had holidays booked abroad and down south. They canceled their holidays in order to be there to listen to the prophet. For many Saints over here this was the first time in their lives, and for many the only time, that they will see and hear the prophet in person. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"They have made the sacrifice, and to me it's like the sacrifice that people lmade when asked to immigrate and cross the ocean. People just said, 'We'll go.' In that same spirit, people heard that the prophet was coming and canceled their holidays. Some of them lost money on it, but they wanted to be where the prophet was.