"I knew how the Church operated, I knew how the Church was organized, how it functioned, its history and background, its strengths and its tremendous capacity for accomplishing good in the world. Those things were not strange to me." — President Gordon B. Hinckley

Five years ago, on March 12, 1995, President Gordon B. Hinckley was ordained President of the Church.

During this half decade, the Church has experienced phenomenal growth, with membership nearing the 11-million mark. More missionaries are serving than ever before. Temples are being constructed and dedicated at a rate few could have imagined a decade or two ago. The Conference Center, which will seat 21,000 people, will be completed soon; the building, say some observers, is a visual symbol of the progress of the Church. (Please see other articles on subsequent pages pertaining to President Hinckley's administration.)

With the approach of this five-year anniversary, President Hinckley granted a news interview that was more than an exchange of questions and answers centering on facts, history, programs and principles. At the mention of a little orphan girl in Honduras, a sparkle seemed to come to his eyes. In her and her circumstances, President Hinckley said, can be found the fundamentals of the gospel.

The child's father died as he struggled to save her life during flooding in the wake of Hurricane Mitch; her mother had died earlier. President Hinckley met the 2-year-old child during a visit to the flood-stricken area in November 1998. At the First Presidency Christmas Devotional a couple of weeks later, he spoke of the child and said he hoped that she would receive a little candy or something for Christmas.

"We got more candy than we could handle," President Hinckley reflected. That outpouring of candy — along with toys, clothing, food, medical supplies and other goods contributed through the Church's Welfare Services — is fundamental to what the Church is all about: a Church with nearly 11 million members cares about a little girl.

"That's the fundamental," President Hinckley said. "That has never changed. If we ever lose sight of that, look out! We must look after the individual. Christ spoke to individuals. He healed the sick individually. He spoke in His parables of individuals. This Church is concerned with individuals, notwithstanding our numbers, whether it be 6 million or 10 million or 12 million or 50 million. We must never lose sight of the fact that the individual is the important thing.

"When I was in Honduras, after that tragedy, I was so tremendously impressed that every one of our people had a bishop. It didn't take days and days and weeks and weeks to get the work done. It began to happen immediately. When one of the bishops saw those floods coming, he got a truck and moved his people. When he couldn't move the truck, he got a boat and moved them. To see these bishops go to work with the people they knew and the people who knew them, and get the job done of extending relief was absolutely a remarkable thing. Now, that's the genius of the Church. You and I and every other member of this Church has a local bishop or branch president who is shepherd of the flock, who is accountable for his members, and they're accountable to him. I don't care whether you have 200 wards, 500 wards, 10,000 wards, or 50,000 wards; it's the same thing. And that's the genius of it — to bring the wonder and the majesty of this great big worldwide organization down into the lives of men and women and boys and girls."

Declaring an admiration of and gratitude for faithful members everywhere, President Hinckley expressed confidence for the future of the Church. He described Church members as people of "great faith," who want to do good, who want to see the Church go forward, who send their sons and daughters on missions, and who pay their tithes and offerings.

"The law of tithing is the Lord's law of finance," he said in response to a question about the growth and prosperity of the Church. "It is tithing that keeps the Church moving. That represents the faith of the people — their willingness, their desire to consecrate of their means to build His kingdom in the earth. They were faithful in the past and they're faithful today. I have every confidence that they will be faithful in the future. If we hold to that revered principle of the law of tithing, with its associated law of the fast offering, we will be all right and we will be able to take care of our needs."

President Hinckley swiveled his office chair around and picked up from the credenza a small picture frame in which is mounted a widow's mite, as spoken of in Mark 12:43 and Luke 21:3. He said that he keeps it in his office "as a constant reminder of the fact that the means we have come from the widow as well as the well-to-do. They become the purse of the Lord, and we have a great and terrible responsibility . . . in the administration of those funds because they are the Lord's funds and they are sacred to us. We want to be wise, prudent and careful in what we do and still take care of the needy."

He emphasized that the Church is not a business organization. "I think we're efficient operators, but we're not a business organization. We're in the business of saving souls. Every building that we build, and every program that we pursue is directed toward the accomplishment of increased spirituality in the lives of the members of the Church."

Perhaps the most visible accomplishment of President Hinckley's administration has been the increase in temple building. "By the end of this year we will have 100 working temples," he said. "I think we're going to make that goal, which I set in a conference. I don't know if I was aware of the complexity of achieving that goal. Through the efforts of many, many wonderful people, I think we're going to achieve that goal."

With the dedication of the Cuidad Juarez Mexico Temple and Hermosillo Sonora Mexico Temple Feb. 26 and 27, the number of working temples stands at 72. On Sunday, March 5, the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple is to be dedicated, bringing the number to 73.

President Hinckley has presided over 24 of the 25 temple dedications that have taken place during his administration as of Feb. 27.

"We've seen many tears as we have looked into the faces of those people," he said of the congregations assembled for the dedications. "They're extremely grateful."

He explained that the building of smaller temples, which he announced in the April 1998 general conference, makes possible the construction of more temples to bless more lives.

"There is a marked increase in temple activity," he said. "We have every reason to believe that will continue. We have [a] tremendous family history facility. One of the outcomes of the work that goes on in that facility is the carrying forward of vicarious work in the temples. It's just very interesting to me to see that under the inspiration of the Lord, as I believe, and, concomitant with the development of technological resources to expedite family history work, we're building temples to further that work."

The construction of new temples adds to President Hinckley's travel schedule. During a press conference in 1995 in which it was announced that he had been ordained president of the Church, he said that he did not like to travel. However, no president of the Church has traveled as widely and as often as he.

Asked about the urgency he feels to be out among members of the Church, President Hinckley commented that while he does not like to travel he does have a great desire to "get out with the people." He has been to every continent, except Antarctica. "I don't know how many nations I've been to, how many people I've spoken to. It's been a very substantial number. I'm determined to continue this for as long as I have the strength to do so. I'm getting old. I'll be 90 in June. That's getting up there. I can feel it in my feet sometimes. [But] that's my desire [to be among the members]. I think the people of the Church are entitled the opportunity to meet the president of the Church."

President Hinckley said it is "a humbling experience" to realize that people seek his counsel, attend conferences to hear his voice and listen to the words of a prophet. "It's a somewhat lonely experience at times," he added. "I want to sing a song of praise to my counselors and members of the Quorum of the Twelve and other General Authorities. They have been one hundred percent supportive of everything I've tried to do. No one could have asked for greater unity than we have today in the Church among the General Authorities. I think never in our history have we had a solid unity such as we have today. We're all united. We all work for the same purpose, and we work together. We communicate together and talk together and pray together."

President Hinckley said that he was fortunate in the fact that he had been serving in the First Presidency since 1981, so when he was ordained president in 1995 he "had years of coming to know the highest offices in the Church. When I became president, I knew the challenges, the responsibilities, because I had been exposed to those in a measure for some of those years when I served as counselor. Before that, for 20 years, I was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. I knew how the Church operated, I knew how the Church was organized, how it functioned, its history and background, its strengths and its tremendous capacity for accomplishing good in the world. Those things were not strange to me."

When asked about the coming years, President Hinckley said, "I see our young people in the Church. I see a lot of them. I see them all over. I'm absolutely enthusiastic about the quality of their lives, their strength, their goodness, their faithfulness. I haven't the slightest concern about the future of this Church, as I see our young people. They study the scriptures. They go to seminary and institute. They pray about their decisions. They socialize among themselves, in a wonderful atmosphere of faithfulness. They're on their way to becoming strong, faithful and able Latter-day Saints who will deliver when they are called upon to do so."

President Hinckley said he hopes that members of the Church "can be increasingly recognized as men and women of good will, who want to make of the world a better place for their presence. We need to work harder at this matter of good relationships with all around us, regardless of their religious affiliation. We are surrounded by good people, whom we ought to respect and honor and love. We would hope that they might respect, honor and love us as we reach out to them. I don't like bigotry. I don't like hate. They're so incompatible with the spirit of the gospel and the teachings of the Lord. I like peace. I like friendship. I like mutual respect. As we have these things, I don't think that's going to slow down the growth of the Church; it may enhance it. I believe that we can do much. I think we are doing much. I think we're making very substantial headway."

The interview concluded with President Hinckley offering counsel to members everywhere: "Live the gospel. Live the gospel. That's my counsel to the Church. Live the gospel. Look to God and live. That's the sum and substance."