Teachings of the Living Prophets Robert Dean Hales

Born 24 August 1932 (New York City). Wife: Mary Crandall (Salt Lake) Two sons. Pilot in the U.S. Air Force. MBA from Harvard. He was the VP or President of: * Gillette Co. * Papermate * Max Factor * Hughes Television Network * Chesebrough-Pond’s

In Long Island, New York, Robert, a college sophomore, met Mary Crandall, whose family had recently moved to New York from Los Angeles. “After I met her, I never went out with anyone else,” says Elder Hales. At the end of the summer, they both went back to college in Utah—Robert to the University of Utah and Mary to B.Y.U. The following summer they were married in the Salt Lake Temple.

While involved in an intense and competitive masters degree program at Harvard, he was asked if he would accept a call to serve as elders quorum president. In his heart, Robert was willing to accept the call, but he knew that professors discouraged students from any outside activities because of the intensity of the graduate program. He also knew he needed to talk it over with his wife, Mary. The Hales family lived in an apartment with their two small children. As Robert and Mary discussed the call, they knew it would be extremely difficult for Robert to keep up with his master’s program and to serve as elders quorum president. However, after much prayer and discussion, Mary said, “I’d rather have an active priesthood holder than a man who holds a master’s degree from Harvard. We’ll do them both.”

When he was a child, everything about baseball fascinated him When he was a child, everything about baseball fascinated him. By the time he was a high school freshman, he was the starting pitcher for the school’s varsity baseball team. He pitched a no hitter in college.

Once in high school, Robert’s pitching slump caused the team to lose three games in a row by the score of one to zero. The headline in the school paper said “Hard Luck Hales Loses Again.” He took his uniform and went to tell his coach he was going to quit. When he got to the coach’s office, his coach said, “Do you know why you’re losing? Your pitching arm is tired at the end of the game because before the game when you’re supposed to be warming up, you’re out there impressing everybody with your fastball and curveball. Quit showing off and you won’t wear out your arm.”

Robert listened, and the next game he pitched a shutout Robert listened, and the next game he pitched a shutout. “That’s why you love a coach who will tell you what you need to hear,” says Elder Hales. “If you listen to your coach, you can avoid repeating your mistakes and have a better opportunity to achieve your goals. The Lord is like that too. I don’t get tired of the chastening of the Lord or the Lord’s anointed.”

Branch President (Seville, Spain). Bishop (3 times) Massachusetts, Chicago and Frankfurt, Germany. Mission President (London, England). General Sunday School Presidency. Asst. to the Quorum of the Twelve (1975-76). Seventy (1976-1985). Presiding Bishop (1985-1994). Apostle from April 1994 (Elder Marvin J. Ashton).

Who knows him? Met him? Associated with him?

First Conference Talk

“Every one of us is more beloved than we can possibly understand or imagine. Let us therefore be kinder to one another and kinder to ourselves.”

“Suffering is universal; how we react to suffering is individual “Suffering is universal; how we react to suffering is individual. Suffering can...be a strengthening and purifying experience combined with faith, or it can be a destructive force in our lives if we do not have the faith in the Lord’s atoning sacrifice. The purpose of suffering is to build and strengthen us.”

“We were not sent by Father in Heaven just to be born “We were not sent by Father in Heaven just to be born. We were sent to endure and return to Him with honor.”

“By choosing to be in His kingdom, we separate—not isolate—ourselves from the world. As Latter-day Saints, we need not look like the world. We need not entertain like the world. Our personal habits should be different. Our recreation should be different. Our concern for family will be different. As we establish this distinctiveness firmly in our life's pattern, the blessings of heaven await to assist us.”

Elder Hales https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INO0zl0g9sc https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages-for-youth/painted-into-a-corner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INO0zl0g9sc Elder Hales