Henry Dinwoodey Moyle was born April 22, 1889 at
Salt Lake City to James H. Moyle and Alice E. Dinwoodey Moyle.
Raised in the Church and baptized as a child, Elder
Moyle married Clara Alberta Wright on October 16, 1919 at Salt Lake City,
Utah. The union was blessed with the birth of eight children, one of whom
died as a baby.
Elder Moyle was called to preside over the Cottonwood
Stake by 1929. He served until 1937. He was ordained an Apostle April 10,
1947 by President George Albert Smith
and assumed his place in the Quorum of the Twelve. After announcing the
call, President Smith said, "The brethren whose names we added to the list
of the General Authorities by your vote today have not had an opportunity,
perhaps, to get their breath, but we would be glad to have them tell us
whether they are willing to serve, or not, and they may say anything else
they have in their hearts. We shall ask Brother Henry D. Moyle to come
to the stand."
Elder Moyle's comments follow: "It goes without saying
that we do in this Church what we are told. I have never understood that
it was my privilege as a member of this Church, holding the priesthood,
to say no. I have never had a desire in my heart to do anything other than
that which the brethren direct. While I may feel as if some of the things
that they have most recently asked me to do are beyond my power, nevertheless
so far as my Heavenly Father will give me the power to act I shall do so,
and all that I have and am belongs to my Heavenly Father. I had a grandfather
who met with a very great disaster. All that he had was swept away by fire.
His thoughts and his actions at the moment he was told of his loss have
been on my mind for the past several minutes, and I must say I feel rather
as he then felt:
. . . the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name
of the Lord. (Job 1:21.)
I know that the Lord can take that away which he
giveth, if we give him cause so to do; that we may be the recipients of
his blessings today but to continue to be such recipients, we must be obedient
to his laws and his commandments."
Elder Moyle served the Quorum honorably until June
12, 1959, when President David O. McKay
called him to be his Second Counselor. He was sustained as First Counselor
to President McKay October 12, 1961 a position in which he served until
his death.
In an address to the Missionaries of the California
Mission, he stated: "I shall go to my grave saying that missionaries...
never rise in their entire life above the stature they carve out for themselves
in the mission field. I ask the missionaries all over the world to write
that in their book, and then read the book ten years from now. If perchance,
they have not risen in that first ten years after they come home from the
mission field, above that status of mediocrity that they [may have] maintained
in the mission field, [they should] get down on their knees, pray, and
work a little harder and seek to overcome that tremendous handicap they
placed upon themselves by their lack of application, lack of appreciation,
and lack of dedication in the mission field. (Address to California Mission
June 2, 1962)
President Moyle died September 18, 1963 at Deer Park,
Florida. His widow, Clara Alberta Wright Moyle, followed him in death in 1980.
