A Ride to the Airport with Thomas S. Monson
The following article was written by Jason F. Wright for Deseret News and is an excerpt from the upcoming biography of James Edward Yates III.
On May 4, 1989, serving as second counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Thomas S. Monson was invited to attend the National Prayer Breakfast at the White House. At the time, Jim Yates was second counselor to President John L. Ward in the Washington D.C. South Mission presidency.
Ward knew of Yates’ background and experience as a longtime cab driver in the area and assigned him the task of escorting President Monson from the Marriott Hotel on 14th and Pennsylvania Avenue to the East Gate of the White House. After the breakfast, Yates would drive President Monson back to what was then called Washington National Airport.
Understandably, Yates was both excited and nervous about the assignment. Though he was serving in the mission presidency, he was still a fairly new convert.
Read Wright’s full article at DeseretNews.com.
