In Memoriam

[Graphic omitted. See source document.]
Photograph by Spencer G. Lewis.

“A giant redwood has fallen and left a great space in the forest.”

President Spencer W. Kimball
29 December 1973

Humility before God, and fearlessness before men, was the essence of his character. His ministry has been characterized by an uncommon originality and daring. He was neither circumscribed, nor restricted, by the learning of the world, or by the wisdom of men. We who sat with him daily were frequently amazed at his vision, at the breadth of his vision and the depth of his understanding.

President Marion G. Romney
Funeral Sermon for Pres. Harold B. Lee
29 December 1973

•

There has come to me in these last few days a deepening and reassuring faith. I can’t leave this conference without saying to you that I have a conviction that the Master hasn’t been absent from us on these occasions. This is his church. Where else would he be than right here at the headquarters of this church? He isn’t an absentee master; he is concerned about us. He wants us to follow where he leads. I know that he is a living reality, as is our Heavenly Father. I know it. I only hope that I can qualify for the high place to which he has called me and in which you have sustained me.

I know with all my soul that these sayings are true, and as a special witness I want you to know from the bottom of my heart that there is no shadow of doubt as to the genuineness of the work of the Lord in which we are engaged, the only name under heaven by which mankind can be saved.

My love goes out to my own family, to my associates, to all within the sound of my voice, even the sinners; I would wish that we would reach out to them, and those who are inactive, and bring them into the fold before it is too late.

God be with you. I have the same feeling as perhaps the Master had when he bid goodbye to the Nephites. He said he perceived that they were weak, but if they would go to their homes and ponder what he said, he would come again and instruct them on other occasions. So likewise, you cannot absorb all that you have heard and that we have talked about, but go to your homes now and remember what has been done and said, and when you come again, or we come to you, we will try to help you further with your problems.

I bear you my witness to these things and leave you my blessing in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Pres. Harold B. Lee
8 October 1972

[Graphic omitted. See source document.]

Now I stood alone with my thoughts. Somehow the impressions that came to me were, simply, that the only true record that will ever be made of my service in my new calling will be the record that I may have written in the hearts and lives of those whom I have served and labored, within and without the Church.

Pres. Harold B. Lee
6 October 1972

. . . . I have been moved as I think I have never been moved before in my life. If it were not for the assurance that I have that the Lord is near to us, guiding, directing, the burden would be almost beyond my strength, but because I know that he is there, and that he can be appealed to, and if we have ears to hear attuned to him, we will never be left alone. . . .

Follow the Brethren, listen to the Brethren. I bear you my witness as one whom the Lord has brought to this place . . . . I thank the Lord that I may have passed some of the tests, but maybe there will have to be more before I have been polished to do all that the Lord would have me do.

Sometimes when the veil has been very thin, I have thought that if the struggle had been still greater that maybe then there would have been no veil. I stand by, not asking for anything more than the Lord wants to give me, but I know that he is up there and he is guiding and directing. . . .

Peace be with you, not the peace that comes from the legislation in the halls of congress, but the peace that comes in the way that the Master said, by overcoming all the things of the world. That God may help us so to understand and may you know that I know with a certainty that defies all doubt that this is his work, that he is guiding us and directing us today, as he has done in every dispensation of the gospel, and I say that with all the humility of my soul, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The closing words of Pres. Harold B. Lee’s 
last General Conference address to the Church, 
7 October 1973