Spencer W. Kimball

Spencer W. Kimball was the Prophet and Church President of my formative teenage years. He was wonderful. Although he was an old man (78 years old) when he became the Prophet, I felt as though he really understood young people and the problems they (I!) faced. He encouraged Church members to be better people and offered practical advice to us to help us improve. Our most recently deceased Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, was the same kind of leader.

For years I've known that President Kimball lived in Thatcher, Arizona. I always wondered about it, and this past weekend I finally got to go there. After a new LDS temple is built and before it is dedicated to God, it is open for public tours. For three weeks the new Gila Valley Arizona Temple is open and we decided to take the girls to see it.

We had also promised to take them camping in our pop up trailer and combined the two into one Friday/Saturday trip.

The temple tour was wonderful and the temple was beautiful and peaceful. The place we stayed over left a lot to be desired, but it was close to the temple and easy to find. If we'd remembered to bring the key to the trailer door, it would have been easier to get in and out of the trailer. We did find that putting an ice chest on the ground outside got us up high enough to heft ourselves over the half door that remained firmly locked all weekend. :-D

On Saturday we searched out a local historical museum and had a personally guided tour of the place. The guide told us where to find President Kimball's childhood home and since it was only about three blocks away, we drove by.

I'm unsure who owns the house today, but I assume it is just a normal family because I could see a pickup truck parked at the side, but the house was kept up very nicely, as befitting a historical landmark such as this.

We arrived home about dinner time on Saturday and we are ready to go again!