President Hinckley calls on King and Queen of Spain

A personalized, leatherbound copy of the Book of Mormon is now in the royal palace in Spain.

While in Europe for a regional Church conference, President Gordon B. Hinckley, First Counselor in the First Presidency, made a courtesy call on the country’s king and queen. During the visit, which took place in the residential palace north of Madrid, President Hinckley gave King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia the gift.

During the brief visit, President Hinckley and the king talked of their previous meeting several years ago. President Hinckley also mentioned his son, Clark, who, in 1969, served as one of the first four LDS missionaries to Spain.

Accompanying President Hinckley during the courtesy call were Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, Elder Spencer J. Condie of the Quorum of the Seventy and president of the Church’s Europe/Mediterranean Area, and President Faustino Lopez of the Madrid Spain Stake.

King Carlos invited President Lopez to contact his office and arrange a future appointment when they could discuss the Church in Spain in greater detail.

Also during his European trip, President Hinckley and his wife, Marjorie, called on the Rev. Leonard Boyle, prefect of the Vatican Library, and presented a set of the five-volume Encyclopedia of Mormonism.

The Rev. Boyle gave the group a tour of the Vatican Library, including a look at rare biblical parchment manuscripts dating from A.D. 818.

Elder Condie and Italy Rome Mission President Richard Favero and his wife accompanied the Hinckleys during the Vatican visit.