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Chocolates and Prophetic Succession

Posted on Jul 9, 2012 by Trevor in Religion

People unfamiliar with LDS leadership succession practices might be disappointed to discover just how, well, boring it is. No large scale voting masses of congregants. No top-secret colored smoke meetings. Just a “last man standing” policy. I think this has led LDS presidents to engage humor when addressing the topic. I have a couple of anecdotes from two presidents, Spencer Kimball and President Hinckley. Behold:

While general and area conferences were tightly scripted, Spencer was more relaxed in meetings with General Authorities.
…
The serious business of the weekly meetings of the First Presidency and the [Quorum of the] Twelve did not bar a spirit of camaraderie, a little gentle teasing. The group usually lunched together in the temple after the meeting, and for dessert they passed around a box of Cummings chocolates–beginning with the First Presidency. As one of these meetings ended, President Kimball asked, “Is there any further business?”
David B. Haight, then the junior apostle, queried, in fun, “Is there any chance to reverse the usual order of choosing chocolates? I don’t care for dark chocolate, and by the time the box gets to me, that’s all there is left.”
Spencer joked, “If you live long enough, you’ll move up into the light chocolates.”

– Lengthen Your Stride, pg. 30

The humorous chocolate episode reminds me of a television interview in the 90s that Larry King did with President Hinckley. King asked Hinckley, “How do you get to be president?”

Hinckley responded, “You’re appointed a member of the counsel of 12”, after which he half-jokingly added, “and you out live everybody else.”

Tags: Gordon B. Hinckley, Spencer W. Kimball