President Marion G. Romney's testimony of the gospel was the life he lived. Loved and revered by all who knew him, he showed by what he did that he truly believed what he taught.
"His mind is one of those rare ones that is saturated with a consciousness of God," wrote President Spencer W. Kimball of President Romney. "The name of Christ and his gospel is not merely mentioned but is plowed deep in President Romney's consciousness."President Romney's patriarchal blessing, given to him by his grandfather, L.H. Redd, said he had longed and looked for the privilege of performing a great and mighty work. He was warned that he would need to seek wisdom and knowledge.
Describing President Romney's character, President Kimball wrote:
"Take a spirit of God; give to him mortality through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Ephraim. . . . Take this man-child and let him inherit from Abraham his great faith, from Isaac his integrity, from Jacob his influence with 12 stalwart leaders of tribes and from Joseph his great foresight and inspiration and revelation and leadership. Give this child Artemesia Redd for a mother and George S. Romney for a father . . . and you have Marion G. Romney."
Born and reared a farm boy, President Romney learned to work building the family's home and caring for the family garden, orchard and livestock. A lesson that lasted him a lifetime - and was exemplified in the life he lived - was one from his father: "You don't quit till you have hoed to the very end of the row."
And he testified of the results of such work.
"The gospel is the program to interpret our lives and make our decisions in light of what the Lord has told us to do. I bear testimony as strongly as I can because, to me, that is of prime importance. If a person has a testimony of the gospel and practices day after day, he can't help but do right."