5 Things You May Not Have Known About Thomas S. Monson
You may know about his role in the LDS Church, but did you know he repeatedly gave away the clothes off his back when he saw a person in need?
While Thomas S. Monson was best known for his role as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he lived a rich and varied life. Below are some lesser-known facts and stories from his nine decades, which were drawn chiefly from To the Rescue: The Biography of Thomas S. Monson, by Heidi S. Swinton.
#1: After becoming a bishop at twenty-two years old, he hung the same painting of Christ in every Church office he had.
“Whenever I have had a difficult decision to make, I have always looked at that picture and asked myself, ‘What would He do?’ Then I try to do it,” he said about his copy of the work by Heinrich Hofmann.
#2: He had a professional career for only 12 years due to his Church callings.
Between his three-year call to serve as a mission president of the Canadian Mission and the life-long call to the Quorum of the Twelve that came at age 36, President Monson had a relatively short professional career. He spent all of it at Deseret News and its sister companies, where he held various positions.
#3: He was a life-long pigeon enthusiast.
President Monson first became interested in pigeons when he was a young boy. As an adult, he had a loft in his backyard in Salt Lake City housing dozens of the birds, and he won several state-wide competitions for his Birmingham rollers and other breeds. According to a former chief executive of the Boy Scouts of America who worked with President Monson, he was disappointed when the organization discontinued the pigeon-raising merit badge.
#4: He regularly gave away his personal clothing when he saw someone in need.
Moved by the poverty he saw as he visited with Church members across the world, President Monson often literally offered the clothes off his back. Lynne Cannegieter, President Monson’s secretary, estimates that he gave away as many as ten suits per year over forty years, along with other clothing and personal items.
#5: He was once assigned to memorize the entire Church handbook.
During a discussion with Elder Spencer W. Kimball, they talked about the need for a copy of the Church’s General Handbook of Instructions to reach Church members in East Germany. When Elder Monson explained that the communist country forbid such books to enter the country, Elder Kimball responded, “Why don’t you… memorize it; and then we’ll put you across the border!” While he didn’t memorize the book verbatim, he thoroughly familiarized himself with the contents and structure and traveled to the German Democratic Republic. While typing it up in a local Church office, he was about thirty pages in when he stood up to stretch — and found a copy of the Handbook, in German, on a shelf.
This article was updated on January 4, 2017.
