437. Pres. Henry B. Eyring, Educator, Artist, and his advice about marriage.

LDS Living did a series of 3 blogs about President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor to President Thomas S. Monson.  This is those 3 combined, and gives a great understanding of this great man who dedicated the Payson, Utah, Temple this week.  It was first posted there in 2013.  His mother was a sister to Camilla Eyring Kimball, wife of Pres. Spencer W. Kimball, so he was a nephew to Pres. Kimball.

The Artwork of President Eyring

LDS LIVING STAFF - NOVEMBER 05, 2013

Everybody knows that Elder Nelson is a heart surgeon, Elder Oaks is a lawyer, and President Eyring is a great educator. What you probably didn’t know is that President Eyring has an artistic side, too.

The impressive professional resume of President Henry B. Eyring, his degree in the rigorous field of physics and time spent as president of Rick’s College, sometimes pigeonholes our perception of him to thinking of him only as a logical and deliberate sort of person. But as a new biographyreveals, President Eyring is also an artist.

“Hal particularly enjoyed drawing and painting as he traveled,” the book, I Will Lead You Along, explains. “He took postcard-sized art paper and, while waiting in an airport or taking a private moment in the home of a generous host, would capture a scene of an intriguing place or person. On a long trip, Kathy and the children might receive one of these original postcards in the mail. Upon his return home, Hal would send a similar custom-made thank-you note to his host.”

We might not ever personally receive one of these treasured, hand-crafted notes, but we can enjoy President Eyring’s artistic style in these featured pieces of his artwork:

Speaking of airports, this sketch of a plane at the gate must have been one President Eyring completed while waiting in an airport terminal.

This watercolor of the Hawaiian surf captures the motion of the waves near a small beachfront structure. Of President Eyring's paintings, President Uchtdorf has said, "By painting these things, [President Eyring] showed me that he related to other parts of the world in a very deep, spiritual, emotional way." 

If you’ve never sat in the front at a Stake Conference, take a look: this sketch depicts Elder Eyring’s view of the congregation from the stand. It was drawn after his call to apostleship.  

This painting of the garden tomb is simply beautiful. President Eyring has said, “When you get a watercolor working right, the feeling of illumination is like a deeply spiritual thing.”

Many of President Eyring’s sketches simply reveal his everyday life from his perspective, like this doodle of the view from his workroom.

We know how much President Eyring loves his wife, Kathy. She and their three sons are often the subjects of President Eyring’s doodles.

While taking out the trash at home one day, Elder Eyring received a phone call from President Gordon B. Hinckley, then prophet. Surely he had the wrong number.

Uncertainty shaped Hal’s response to a phone call that came to the Eyring home on the Thursday evening before general conference. He had left the office a bit before five o’clock and driven home. After parking the car, he walked down the Eyrings’ steep driveway to retrieve an empty garbage can. He was wheeling the can up the driveway when Kathy stepped into the open garage with a portable phone.

“Hal,” she called, “it’s the phone for you.”

“Can you take a message?” he replied.

“It’s the office of the First Presidency,” Kathy said with a note of urgency. “I think you’d better take it.”

Hal grasped the phone in one hand, still holding the garbage can in the other. He heard the secretary to the First Presidency, Michael Watson, say, “President Hinckley would like to talk to you.” After an uncomfortable silence on Hal’s end, President Hinckley came on and declared, without introduction, “I’d like to ask you to join President Monson and me in the First Presidency.”

At what otherwise might have been a moment of profound thoughts and feelings, Hal faced an analytical dilemma. President Hinckley hadn’t spoken his name, either first or last. Given the improbability of his being called to the First Presidency, he had to wonder whether Brother Watson had connected President Hinckley to the wrong man. It had happened before. Each member of the Twelve has his own speed-dial key on the main phones in the office of the First Presidency. More than once, Hal had taken a call for someone else due to an inadvertent mistake in dialing. This, he thought, could be one of those times. It was a chance he couldn’t take.

“President Hinckley,” Hal blurted out, “are you sure you’re talking to the right person? This is Hal Eyring.”

“I know who this is!” President Hinckley replied. The ensuing conversation was short. Hall accepted the call, saying he would do anything President Hinckley asked and that it would be an honor to serve with him and President Monson. President Hinckley bade Hal good-bye with no more explanation or expression of emotion than he had offered in calling him into the Twelve. Hal put the garbage can away and shared the news with Kathy.

With nearly half of all marriages in the U.S. now ending in divorce, we looked to one of the most successful husbands we know for advice: President Henry B. Eyring.

We’ve all heard the statistic: somewhere between 40-50% of marriages in the U.S. will end in divorce. It’s not a pretty figure. While Latter-day Saints generally have a lower instance of separation and divorce, we aren’t exactly immune, though some of us have definitely done a better job mastering marriage than others. To learn from the example of one of the best of us, we searched the life of President Henry B. Eyring to find an apostle’s secrets to a successful marriage. After meticulously combing through the detailed and insightful new biography, I Will Lead You Along, we bring you seven marriage lessons his life exemplifies:

1.  Make your spouse and family your top priorities.

In a journal entry dated May 22, 1971, Elder Eyring wrote:

“I felt impressed with my obligations first to Kathy and our boys, and with the critical need to have the peace of the gospel in my heart to be effective at home and in my Ricks College service.”

While a career is important to help provide, putting your spouse and family first leads to happiness in the home.

2.  Trust your spouse

This was a theme repeated in Elder Eyring’s life over and over again, as was the case in this instance:

“For one night, the matter seemed clear to Hal. He didn’t have a clear spiritual feeling, but the balance of evidence, particularly Kathy’s impression and his father’s counsel, suggested that he should stay. President Peterson’s blessing cleared the way for him to make that choice, even without an answer to his prayers.”

Later that weekend, Elder Eyring’s own confirmation came, but trusting his wife in the interim allowed him to move forward until he could receive his own witness.

3.  Share hobbies

The Eyrings shared a number of hobbies throughout their marriage, both as a couple, and as a family.

“They took up skiing and golf in Rexburg, involving the boys in both (mostly just driving the golf cart, in the latter case). And they continued to play tennis occasionally. In fact, Hal and Kathy perennially advanced to the final rounds of the college’s doubles tournament. In 1975, they won, defeating the city champions, two male members of the Ricks faculty.”

Throughout the years, the Eyrings have continued to spend time together, and their shared hobbies have helped to strengthen their relationship.

4.  Continue courtship

Little things, like flowers and love notes, matter. Elder Eyring, in addition to such gestures, gives us a perfect example of keeping love alive:

“After dinner we watched the movie ‘Forever Young,’ with Mel Gibson. The romantic ending is of young love reunited. The music at the end of the film, as it was in the beginning, was Billie Holiday singing, ‘The Very Thought of You.’ We, Kathleen in tennis shoes and I without shoes, danced on the basement carpet until the last note.”

5.  Serve together

Serving others builds a strong foundation in the gospel and helps to develop charity, as Elder Eyring related:

“I told Kathy I wanted to be with her for eternity. In her special spiritual and practical way, she said, ‘Well, then let’s take some of the people from the Golden Living Center for drives on Sunday. They’d like that.’”

Make sure to serve one another, as well. While President Eyring was serving 12-hour days in the presiding bishopric, he still helped his wife fixed pancakes, eggs, and bacon for breakfast. Then, in his words,

“I drove John and Matt to school, and then took Elizabeth to the library. We drove home for her to change. Then I drove around Bountiful to pick up her classmates and dropped them at Linda’s Little Learners.”

6.  Never take your spouse for granted

Sometimes it is easy to be blinded by our own troubles, and forget the hard work of others on our behalf. After a particularly trying day, Elder Eyring wrote warmly,

“This long day at the office was warmed by Kathy. She missed me while I was gone, needed me with the boys, and blessed me with feelings of being loved and important to her.”

Whether Sister Eyring spoke her affection or simply showed it, feeling loved and needed is a blessing to both spouses.

7.  Be understanding and forgiving

Surely, no marriage is perfect, and being married to a busy scholar and later apostle requires much understanding and patience, as Elder Eyring noted of his wife:

“Kathy seemed content to let me go back to the office for another computer run, even when I called at after eight. She’s genuinely happy when I do something useful for the kingdom.”

It is easy to be frustrated and disappointed when life takes a turn for the unexpected. Understanding your spouse, what is important to them and why, and forgiving any misunderstandings is critical a long and happy marriage.

BONUS: Stick around in the hard times

Of his wife, President Eyring has said, “I found out when the game gets tough, she gets better.” Every marriage has its ups and downs. There are easy days, and there are hard days. But sticking with it, for better and for worse, will lead to eternal blessings.