SALT LAKE CITY — Danielle Cahoon brought her entire family to the public viewing Thursday for the Mormon church’s deceased president to pay their respects and recapture a warm feeling she experienced at a previous viewing for another prophet of the faith.
“It was such a special spirit. We remembered that spirit, and I wanted all of my children to experience that and get a chance to say goodbye,” said Cahoon, 39, of Saratoga Springs, Utah. “Even though we are sad that he is gone, we know and believe in eternal families, so it’s more about paying our respects and saying, ‘Until we meet again.'”
The Cahoons were among 10,000 people who had come to Salt Lake City by mid-afternoon to pay tribute to Thomas S. Monson, who died Jan. 2 at age 90 after nearly 10 years leading The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As head of the nearly 16 million-member faith, Monson was considered a prophet who led the church through revelation from God.
Boys and their fathers wearing suits and ties and girls and their mothers wearing their Sunday-best dresses solemnly stood in line inside the church conference center in a hallway lined with paintings of church leaders, waiting their turn to say goodbye.
