“While on board the ship, Elder Hinckley pulled out the patriarchal
blessing he had received at age eleven from Patriarch Thomas E. Callister.
He couldn’t remember having read it since the day the patriarch had come
to the Hinckley home and pronounced blessings upon him and several of his
brothers and sisters, but now he was interested in reviewing those
promises made a dozen years earlier. “Thou shalt grow to the full stature
of manhood and shall become a mighty and valiant leader in the midst of
Israel” the patriarch had promised. “The Holy Priesthood shall be thine to
enjoy and thou shalt minister in the midst of Israel as only those can who
are called of God. Thou shalt ever be a messenger of peace; the nations
of the earth shall hear thy voice and be brought to a knowledge of the
truth by the wonderful testimony which thou shalt bear.” Perhaps he
thought the mission to England would fulfill at least one part of his
blessing – that he would bear testimony to the nations of the earth.”