"Everywhere, the people are wonderful." — President Gordon B. Hinckley

President Gordon B. Hinckley continues to delight members by visiting them in distant corners of the globe.

After speaking at two regional meetings on Hawaii's island of Oahu on Jan. 22 and 23, and dedicating the Kona Hawaii Temple on Jan. 23, he continued on to Asia, where he met with members in several locations, including a dinner meeting in Jakarta with Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid. (See Church News, Feb. 5, for a report of this visit, and the Jan. 29 issue for a report of the regional meetings in Hawaii.)

En route from Hawaii to Jakarta, he stopped at Tarawa, Kiribati, and addressed members gathered at the airport, and at Cairns, Australia, where he spoke to members in a special fireside.

After leaving Jakarta, he stopped on the Indonesian island of Bali, where he met with the five members who live there. His next stop was Singapore for a special fireside, and on his return, he spoke to members in Guam in a member meeting. He returned to Salt Lake City Feb. 1, having been gone for 11 days, during which time he traveled more than 22,670 miles, dedicated a temple, and gave nine addresses to more than 26,600 people.

He was accompanied on the trip by his wife, Marjorie, and President Boyd K. Packer, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve, and his wife, Donna.

In Jakarta, he commented, "On this trip, we have met with people in Tarawa, Kiribati; we have met with the people of Cairns, Australia, now we are meeting with the people in Jakarta. Then we are going to meet with the people of Singapore. There will come and meet with us on that occasion the people from Kuala Lampur and Penang and [from] that area; and then we will meet with our saints in Guam; all of whom accept the same gospel; all of whom can stand and testify, 'I know that God our Eternal Father lives.' All who can stand and testify that Joseph is a prophet, that the Book of Mormon is true, that the priesthood is upon the earth."

In Guam, President Hinckley recounted the trip and commented, "We've had a wonderful time. It's been very tiring, but it's been wonderful." He said it was "marvelous to be with those people."

"I'm so glad to be here and shake your hands, look into your faces, have leis placed upon our necks as a token of love and appreciation, and feel of your great kindness. Tomorrow morning we'll fly to Honolulu then on home and start over on some other work of some kind for as long as we can keep going."

He noted that he has visited more than 60 countries since becoming president of the Church. "Everywhere, the people are wonderful," he said.

Following are highlights of President Hinckley's recent travels.

Tarawa, Kiribati

At a fueling stop at the Bonriki Airport in Tarawa, Kiribati, on Jan. 26, some 1,500 members gathered under a bright sun to welcome President Hinckley's party to the Mirconesian atoll near the equator in the mid-Pacific.

Among those who gathered was the honorable Kataotiki Teeke, minister of Environment and Social Development, who represented the president of Kiribati in welcoming the party. Minister Teeke, whose brother Timea Teeke was one of the first missionaries to serve in Kiribati, expressed appreciation for the Church's Moroni High School and for humanitarian aid the island chain nation has received from the Church.

President Hinckley thanked the people for coming out in such large numbers. "I've never been to Kiribati before — not many people have," he said. "But what a pleasure it is to look into your faces and to feel of your spirit — your great love for the Lord; your great love for the Prophet Joseph; your great love for the Church which you have joined in such large numbers.

"You are very fortunate here in this land out in the midst of the Pacific to have a high school which we have established for your blessing and good. I want to urge all of the young people — all of you young people — to take advantage of that school. Get all the education that you can. The Lord has told us that we have an obligation to educate ourselves in the things of the world and the things of His Church and Kingdom. This school will open up opportunities for you that you otherwise would not have. So, take advantage of it! If you have to sacrifice, do it, but go to school."

President Hinckley also thanked the missionaries serving on the island.

"These older couples who work among you, and you young men . . . thanks for the great work you are doing. You will never forget Kiribati. All of your lives you will remember your experiences here. Cherish them — cherish your memories and they will be fond recollections of this beautiful place where you served your missions."

Levita Lamese, president of the Tarawa Kiribati Stake and principal of Moroni High, said of President Hinckley's visit: "I was surprised to see many people crying and overwhelmed to be in the presence of the prophet of God. They just could not believe they were seeing the living prophet speaking to them face to face. Tears ran down their cheeks as they listened to the prophet's message."

Cairns, Australia

About 625 members and friends in the city of Cairns, located in the northeast corner of Australia, gathered to hear the Church president encourage them as "seed stock" and "the young roots which are springing and pioneering and building here" to help the Church "grow in this part of Australia — grow and grow and grow."

He remarked that the members from Cairns, Thursday Island and Townsville would have a shorter distance to a temple when one is completed in Brisbane, Australia. "Partake of the marvelous blessings that will be available to you in that sacred House of God."

For men, said President Hinckley, the Church offers "the blessing of governance in the Church, the power and authority and the gift to lead out in the affairs of the Church, and in so doing to develop leadership and strength of personality and rise above the ordinary things of life and walk as a son of God in the authority of His divine priesthood."

For every woman, he said, the Church "will add dignity to her life. It will add purpose to her life. It will add an outlook to her life that will not come in any other way." The Relief Society will add a new dimension to the lives of women as women participate in its work, he added.

Jakarta, Indonesia

More than 1,800 members, the largest congregation of Church members ever to assemble in Indonesia, met for a fireside on Jan. 28. President Hinckley acknowledged the effort some had made to travel to Jakarta.

"Some of you have traveled a very long distance to get here. You've been 18 hours on the bus — those old buses, 18 hours. I am surprised you are not all asleep." He paid tribute to President Subandriyo of the Indonesia Jakarta Mission, described as "a man with a big smile" who served as a missionary in 1977, and whose wife was also a missionary.

"We ought to marry within the Church," President Hinckley said. "Our lives will be richer and happier if we marry within the Church, because we will believe in the same things. We won't quarrel over doctrine or anything of that kind."

President Hinckley mentioned that he had dinner the previous evening with the president of the nation. "I believe he is a very good man. I believe he is trying with everything he has to make of this a wonderful nation. I hope, my brothers and sisters, that you will remember him in your prayers. As you get on your knees, pray for the Lord to bless him, that this great nation may come out of the difficulties of the past and move forward into a bright new day.

"We ought to pray for one another. We ought to lift and help one another, to remember one another when we petition the Lord. Those who are sick among us need our faith and prayers."

He reminisced about visiting Jakarta many years ago when the membership was small.

"Let's make it grow, my brothers and sisters. Let us live the gospel. Let it shine in our lives. Let it shine on our faces. Let it come out through our actions. Let us rear our children with a love for the Lord."

He encouraged members to carry a love for the Lord in their hearts, and share it at every opportunity.

Singapore

The visit to Singapore was especially meaningful to President Hinckley as he addressed 1,450 members. He recalled that in 1960, the First Presidency gave him responsibility for the work of the Church in Asia, and he later visited Singapore and found among the millions of residents only four Church members, all expatriates.

"Who would have ever dreamed that this theater would be largely filled tonight with Latter-day Saints who live in this great community; and those who have come down from Malaysia to this meeting. My brothers and sisters, you are an answer to prayer. . . . I have prayed over this part of the world. I have wept over this part of the world. I have talked to the Lord over this part of the world. I believe that the Lord has heard and answered my prayers. . . . The things I've seen, the experiences I've had, the miracles I've witnessed are absolutely wonderful, my brothers and sisters."

He commended the members for their efforts to travel to the Hong Kong Temple. "The Lord bless you for the fact that you have made that sacrifice and taken advantage of that great and marvelous opportunity of going to the temple in Hong Kong.

"I want to hold before you the challenge of promoting the growth of the Church in this area, and the faithfulness of the people to a point where some day we can have a Singapore Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

Agana, Guam

President Hinckley and his group were welcomed to Guam by Carl Gutierrez, governor of Guam, and some 684 members. An additional congregation assembled in a meetinghouse on the island of Saipan, where his address was also transmitted.

He recalled visiting the island some 35 years ago, accompanied by President Hugh B. Brown, then first counselor in the First Presidency, and meeting with some 15 people. "Now, to look at this gathering tonight is an inspiration," he said.

Among those gathered were U.S. military personnel, to whom President Hinckley said, "I want to say thanks to those service people, who are here in the service of the United States, for your faithfulness in coming here and remaining true to the Church and doing what you ought to do to move forward the work of the Lord. And to everyone else who is here, these wonderful people who come into the Church, what a strength you are."

He added, "May you live to see the work strengthen and grow in this part of the earth, that whereas we had a thousand, we will someday have 10,000 in this part of God's kingdom."