Late Mormon leader Boyd K. Packer wanted gospel at his funeral, not anecdotes — or else

To the late LDS leader Boyd K. Packer, Mormon funerals should be "spiritually impressive" rather than laced with personal anecdotes and amusing stories about the deceased.

The Holy Spirit "is repulsed by humorous experiences or jokes," Packer said in a 1996 devotional speech at Brigham Young University, "when the time could be devoted to teaching the things of the Spirit, even the sacred things."

The senior Mormon apostle then threatened dire actions if his instructions were not followed at his own funeral, which is scheduled at 11 a.m. Friday in the Mormon Tabernacle on Temple Square.

"In that day," Packer said in the BYU devotional, "if any of [the Brethren] who speak talk about me, I will raise up and correct them. The gospel is to be preached."

Oldest son Allan F. Packer, who has been chosen to represent the family at the apostle's funeral, could be worried.

His 90-year-old father, who died July 3 of natural causes, also didn't want the service to run longer than an average Mormon worship service, about an hour and 10 minutes.

"We joked yesterday," Allan Packer said Tuesday in an interview at the LDS Relief Society Building in downtown Salt Lake City, "if we went too long, he might come back and get after us."

As to whether he would risk offending his well-known father by sharing firsthand family experiences and impressions, the son would only say, "We'll have to see."

On Friday, the Temple Square gates and the Tabernacle doors will open at 9:30 a.m. Overflow seating will be available in the Assembly Hall and the North Visitors' Center on Temple Square.

The funeral services will be broadcast live via LDS.org and KSL-Ch. 5, BYU channels and the church's satellite system. Audio of the service will also be available on KSL and BYU radio stations. The church campus buildings will be closed at 10:30 a.m. and will reopen following the funeral at 1 p.m.

A private burial service will take place at the Brigham City Cemetery following the funeral, according to officials of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There will be no public viewing,

In lieu of flowers, the apostle's family has asked contributions be made to the LDS Family History Center.

The younger Packer, himself a general authority in the First Quorum of Seventy, on Tuesday remembered his father as a quick-witted story-teller, full of humor and with a love for nature.

"He would rather be outdoors," Allan Packer said, "than in a meeting any day."

The senior Packer would be embarrassed by all the attention his life has received this past week, his son said. "He always minimized his role."

The apostle quickly corrected anyone who dubbed the recently constructed Mormon temple in Brigham City, Packer's hometown, as "President Packer's temple."

The man who rose to become the president of the Utah-based faith's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles would say, according to his son, the temple was not his, but "the Savior's home."

Packer would want to be remembered as a "husband and father," Allan Packer said. "He viewed himself as a normal, ordinary person ...[amazed] at how the Lord could take an ordinary man and accomplish [God's] work."

The son, though, sees an additional role in that legacy – master teacher

"He studied and learned so he could teach doctrine," Allan Packer said, "truths that would help people be better than they might otherwise ... He wanted to teach clearly so the messages and teachings he tried to give his students would not be misunderstood."

What the many people who knew Packer should remember, his son said, was that his father loved them, loved LDS teachings and the gospel of Jesus Christ.