President Spencer Woolley Kimball

by Margaret Blair Young

Personal Memories Elder Marion G. Romney, Jennie and Delbert Groberg, and President Spencer W. Kimball. In 1975, when I was twenty years old, my family went to Idaho Falls, Idaho, for “something special.” We were not told what it was. We knew that Grandma and Grandpa Groberg were being called to some kind of service in the Church, but that’s all we knew. We cousins gathered in the Groberg basement, and were told moments before we went upstairs that a special guest was present: President Spencer W. Kimball. Grandpa had been called to be the president of the Idaho Falls Temple, and Grandma was called as the matron. There was only one person who could convey the keys of sealing: the prophet of the Church. We went upstairs and President Kimball—a short, mostly bald man—greeted us. Somebody suggested we sing “I Am A Child of God” with President Kimball accompanying. He graciously agreed and sat at the piano. He started—and hit a wrong note. “I can do better than that,” he said in the voice we knew so well—a voice which had been stripped of one and a half of its vocal cords during cancer surgery, a voice that was deep and gravelly. He had a tiny microphone attached to his glasses so what voice he had could be magnified. He began playing the song again, and we sang. A few years earlier, I had learned the song with the words, “Teach me all that I must know . . .” President Kimball had requested that the composer, Naomi Randall, change the lyrics to “Teach me all that I must DO . . .” explaining, "To know isn't enough. The devils know and tremble; the devils know everything. We have to do something." Years afterwards, he joked that he had helped write the song. President Kimball loved a good joke. Because of health issues, he had to take many pills, and claimed with a smile that he was “the pillar of the Church.” And, joking about his short stature, he expressed gratitude that the building at BYU that would carry his name was “a tall building.” But it was solemn business he was about in Idaho Falls that weekend, and Grandma and Grandpa were set apart. At that time, no person of African descent could be endowed in the temple. President Kimball and the Genesis Group The Genesis Branch had been organized on October 19, 1971. Two months later, each member of the newly sustained Genesis presidency received a Christmas package—hand-delivered. Darius Gray remembers it this way: “There was a ringing of the doorbell. I answered, and who was there but the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Spencer W. Kimball himself. There was no fanfare. No film crew, simply humble Spencer Kimball, delivering a gift of welcome and brotherhood to this newest presidency, this unique presidency that had been called to serve.” President Kimball knew and loved Genesis members, and even attended a Genesis picnic. He was an Apostle at the time, and brought his wife, Camilla, with him. Both of them held the babies of Genesis members and chatted with Presidents Ruffin Bridgeforth, Darius Gray, and Eugene Orr. As Apostle and Camilla Kimball were leaving and were halfway across the park, he suddenly turned back, saying, “I forgot to kiss the children.” He then took them one by one and planted a kiss on each forehead. Spencer W. Kimball had been aware of race issues early in his ministry, when he saw the mistreatment of Native Americans—a population he loved. When he received a letter from an anonymous person complaining that a “squaw” had been in the temple, and a “buck” had been permitted to speak in the tabernacle, the Apostle responded publicly in April Conference of 1954 (when his voice was still young and unscarred): A young Apostle Kimball, called in 1943 “And now, Mrs. Anonymous, when the Lord has made of all flesh equal; when he has accepted both the Gentiles and Israel; when he finds no difference between them, who are we to find a difference and to exclude? Have you read the scriptures? Have you felt the magnanimity of the Savior? What a monster is prejudice! How many of us are guilty of it? Our expressions, our voice tones, our movements, our thoughts betray us. Why will we hiss? When will we cease to spurn? When will we who think we are free of bias purge from our souls the prejudice we possess? Mr. and Mrs. Anonymous: I give you nations who have gone through the deep waters of sorrow and anguish and pain. I bring to you a multitude who have asked for bread and have received a stone, and who have asked for fish and have been given a serpent. This people ask not for your distant, faraway sympathy, your haughty disdain, your despicable contempt, your supercilious scorn, your arrogant scoffing, nor your cold, calculating tolerance. It is a good folk who ask for fraternity, a handclasp of friendship, a word of encouragement.” Elder Kimball was clearly being prepared for something remarkable, and he was ready to answer the call. He Never Expected to Head the Church Given the many health issues Spencer Kimball faced throughout his life, he never expected to be the prophet. He was certain that when seventy-three-year-old Harold B. Lee was sustained, the presidency was covered for another two decades. Such was not to be. President Lee died only eighteen months after becoming president. Now it was Spencer W. Kimball who headed the Church, and who faced the huge issues before him. He wrote to his son, Ed, about his need to feel the sustaining vote of Latter-day Saints—even in the face of the priesthood restriction. In one letter, which Ed shared with me, President Kimball wrote: “Perhaps what the prophet needs is not pressure, not goading, not demands. He needs in every city and place defenders—a million men and women to encourage patience, understanding and faith . . . saying: ‘President, we realize we do not know all there is to be known about this problem.'” Meanwhile, President Kimball began earnestly seeking an answer, praying in the upper rooms of the Salt Lake Temple after patrons and workers had gone home. The Revelation On Thursday, June 1, the general authorities were holding their regular temple meeting. When dismissal time came, the members of the Seventy and the Presiding Bishopric were excused, but President Kimball asked the Apostles to stay with him. All had been previously asked to research the priesthood issue. He then asked each to report on what he had learned and what he felt. They talked for more than two hours. Finally, they surrounded the altar, and the prophet requested to be the voice. President Spencer W. Kimball knelt and begged God to make His mind and will known. He pleaded for direction. “The Lord made it very clear,” President Kimball later said, “that the time had come.” President Kimball, Hinckley, and Benson. Several Apostles present that day described it as “a day of Pentecost.” Yes, the priesthood was to be made available to all worthy men. Temple privileges were to be offered to all worthy members. Spencer Kimball rose from the altar and turned to his right, where Elder David B. Haight was standing. The prophet hugged him, then continued around the circle, embracing each Apostle. No one spoke. Spencer Wooley Kimball was a humble man from Thatcher, Arizona. There was nothing about him which would have drawn the world’s attention had he not been the president of the LDS Church. He was a simple businessman who honored a divine mantle. As we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Priesthood Revelation, I hope he has a sense of what has come of the little group he met with years ago, remembering to kiss each child. The world changed on June 8, 1978. I thank God for a Prophet. Sources The account of the Pentecostal events of June 1, 1978, when the Twelve (except Mark E. Peterson, who was in South America, and Delbert L. Stapley, who was in the hospital) surrounded the temple altar with President Kimball as voice, are largely extracted from E. Dale Lebaron’s well-documented Revelation on the Priesthood, p. 199-200. In the Church News, January 6, 1979, p. 15, President Kimball is quoted as saying, “I offered the final prayer and I told the Lord if it wasn't right, if He didn't want this change to come in the Church, that I would be true to it all the rest of my life, and I'd fight the world against it if that's what He wanted. We had this special prayer circle, then I knew that the time had come. . . . But this revelation and assurance came to me so clearly that there was no question about it. This matter had been on my mind all these years.”