The incident of a "minor problem" that forced President Gordon B. Hinckley's plane to return to the airport in Manaus, Brazil, for repairs before continuing on to Ft. Lauderdale Sunday, Nov. 17, gave him a theme to the introduction of one of his messages at two firesides here. That theme was on the importance of little things.

President Hinckley, traveling with his wife, Marjorie, and Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve, attended two special firesides in Sunset, a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale. They were en route home from a six-nation tour in South America, during which President Hinckley spoke to an estimated 218,000 members. (Please see South American coverage in Nov. 23 Church News.)The firesides, held in Sunset Music Theater, had a combined attendance of about 6,000 members from southern Florida, principally from stakes in the Greater Miami and Ft. Lauderdale vicinity.

President Hinckley, as he stood to speak in the first fireside session after Elder Scott and Sister Hinckley had addressed the congregation, apologized for arriving late. He noted that Elder F. Burton Howard of the Seventy and president of the North America Southeast Area, who conducted the meeting, had kept the congregation occupied.

Explaining their late arrival, President Hinckley said: "We got up on time. We left the hotel on time. We went to the airport on time. We rose into the sky on time. But after we got up into the air - we were scheduled to fly at 43,000 feet at 600 miles an hour - the flight crew noticed that one of the windshield wipers [had not stowed correctly]. They said that if we flew that high and that fast, it might blow off and hit one of the engines. So, we circled over the rivers and forests around Manaus, Brazil, for two hours . . . [in order to burn the fuel] that the crew had to get rid of before they could land and take care of that blade. The result is that we were two and half hours late when we arrived here."

President Hinckley said he had been thinking about "that little wiper blade that . . . set us back two and a half hours. That's the way it is with our lives. We go along and think everything is going just right . . . and then we do some little thing, and it destroys us, it hurts us. It may be that we get lazy about going to sacrament meeting and don't go. Before long we're not going at all. Or we get into some moral problem, a small problem that leads to a great disaster. It isn't the big choices of our lives that destroy us. It's the small choices that we make from day to day; they are the things that cause us the real problems and lead to our downfall. . . .

"It's the little choices, . . . [such as], `This cup of coffee won't hurt me.' You've heard the story of the woman who went to the bishop get her temple recommend renewed and he asked her if she drank coffee and she said, `Yes, occasionally. . . . You're not going to let a little cup of coffee keep me out of the temple, are you?' And the bishop said, `You're not going to let a little cup of coffee keep you out of the temple, are you?' . . .

"That's the [way of the] story. A little fooling around with this; a little fooling around with that are the things that get us in trouble."

In both sessions, President Hinckley gave counsel to help members live better and happier lives. He encouraged every adult to qualify for and have a current temple recommend, which is a constant reminder to be in line with gospel principles and "with the things we ought to do and know as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

He spoke of the growth of the Church, that it is now in 150 nations, with more members outside the United States than inside, and some of the challenges that come with growth, such as having enough meetinghouses and temples and the training of local leadership.

President Hinckley commended the members for "trying to do what is right." He said: "I want to express my love for you. You are wonderful people. You do good things. You pray, for instance. There aren't very many people in America who pray anymore. You pray. You get on your knees and thank the Lord for His blessings and ask Him for His blessings. You pray in private. You have family prayer. You bless the food at the table. You are a praying people. May the Lord bless you for this.

"You're trying to rear your children in truth and righteousness. You hold family home evening, and that's a wonderful thing. Isaiah said, `All thy children shall be taught of the Lord.' And then he gives this promise of reward: `And great shall be the peace of thy children.' " (Isa. 54:13.)

He counseled husbands and wives to treat each other with kindness and love and to be supportive of each other. "I hope you parents . . . are kind to your children," he said. "You rear them in love and they will love and respect and honor you all the days of your lives."

President Hinckley bore his testimony, saying: "The gospel is true. God our Eternal Father lives. I know that. You know that. Jesus is the Christ. I know that. You know that. They appeared to the boy Joseph Smith in the grove. I know that. And you know that. We shouldn't have any question about that. . . . The Book of Mormon is true. I know that, and you know that. We have the priesthood on the earth, for which we are grateful. And every man here who holds that priesthood ought to live worthy of that priesthood at all times and in all circumstances."

President and Sister Hinckley returned to Salt Lake City on Monday, Nov. 18. The two firesides they attended in Florida after touring South America Nov. 7-17 brought the number of meetings he addressed in 10 days to a total of 23.