When Spencer W. Kimball had been President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for five years, he said of his heavy responsibility, “It helps . . . if can see the fun in things and not take [them] too seriously.” Good spirits were the norm for Spencer Kimball. Though he had a few morose periods in his life, he also had the capacity to will them away. He reports several instances of having made a conscious decision to change. For example, when his beloved sister Ruth died while he was on his mission, he had to make a conscious effort to stop grieving and turn back to his work. During hard times early in marriage, when Camilla was ill, he felt somewhat depressed but again he decided that he needed to take control of his feelings. And during the economic depression of the 1930s, the young businessman wrote to friends, “I’m still trying to be cheerful but it is not so easy.”
