Mormon Newsroom released video interviews on Friday with President Henry B. Eyring, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Sister Ann M. Dibb regarding President Thomas S. Monson’s life and ministry. The interviews provide more insight into the life of President Monson from three people who knew him best.
“He lived what he preached, he was a man of the people and a man of God,” President Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency under President Monson, said. “And this combination was just wonderful for our time, it was just right.”
As members of the LDS Church prepare for President Monson’s funeral next Friday, President Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency under President Monson, recalled the many funerals President Monson attended for his friends.
“He was a consummate minister to individuals. The prominent and the obscure,” President Eyring said. “And he went to more funerals...In fact, there’d be weeks where he'd do two or three funerals and they’d be people that he knew only vaguely or just a little bit of but he went as if they were dear friends.”
Sister Dibb revealed that it was not until recently that she realized how much time her father spent caring for the widows he served as a bishop.
“It wasn’t until recently I learned...how much time that actually took with my father visiting all those widows. Because it’s not as if you just show up at the door and hand over the gift. ...My father would listen to recitations, he’d look at pictures and again, remember good memories so it wasn’t just a quick visit that my father would make.”