I would like to say a few words about our prophet, Thomas S. Monson.
We are a uniquely blessed people to have access to a prophet of God. We live in a time of mass communication crowded by many voices. It can be hard to discern truth. To the honest truth-seeker the words of a living prophet are a welcome fountain of revealed knowledge and wisdom.
President Wilford Woodruff tells of an interesting incident that occurred in the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith:
“I will refer to a certain meeting I attended in the town of Kirtland in my early days. At that meeting some remarks were made that have been made here today, with regard to the living prophets and with regard to the written word of God. The same principle was presented, although not as extensively as it has been here, when a leading man in the Church got up and talked upon the subject, and said: ‘You have got the word of God before you here in the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants; you have the written word of God, and you who give revelations should give revelations according to those books, as what is written in those books is the word of God. We should confine ourselves to them.’
“When he concluded, Brother Joseph turned to Brother Brigham Young and said, ‘Brother Brigham I want you to go to the podium and tell us your views with regard to the living oracles and the written word of God.’ Brother Brigham took the stand, and he took the Bible, and laid it down; he took the Book of Mormon, and laid it down; and he took the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and laid it down before him, and he said: ‘There is the written word of God to us, concerning the work of God from the beginning of the world, almost, to our day. And now,’ said he, ‘when compared with the living oracles those books are nothing to me; those books do not convey the word of God direct to us now, as do the words of a Prophet or a man bearing the Holy Priesthood in our day and generation. I would rather have the living oracles than all the writing in the books.’ That was the course he pursued. When he was through, Brother Joseph said to the congregation; ‘Brother Brigham has told you the word of the Lord, and he has told you the truth.’ ” (Conference Report, October 1897, pp. 18–19.)
I believe that Thomas S. Monson was prepared and foreordained according to to foreknowledge of God to be the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
I believe that he was chosen and ordained to this holy calling by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. I believe he was prepared and called by the Savior himself. We all remember the loss we felt at the passing of President Gordon B. Hinckley. He was the prophet that my children grew up with and we all loved him.
The Lord calls and releases these great men. The release comes with their passing. When President Hinckley passed away it was as though the Lord by his own voice was saying: “My servant President Gordon B. Hinckley was true and faithful in all things that I appointed him to do; his ministry among you is completed; and I have called him to other and greater labors in my eternal vineyard. And I, the Lord, now call my servant President Thomas S. Monson to lead my people and to continue the work of preparing them for that great day when I shall come to reign personally upon the earth. And I now say of him as I said of my servant Joseph Smith: ‘… thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me;
“ ‘For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.
“ ‘For thus saith the Lord God: Him have I inspired to move the cause of Zion in mighty power for good, and his diligence I know, and his prayers I have heard.’ ” (D&C 21:4–5, 7
Elder Bruce R. McConkie said,
“It seems easy to believe in the prophets who have passed on and to suppose that we believe and follow the counsel they gave under different circumstances and to other people. But the great test that confronts us, as in every age when the Lord has a people on earth, is whether we will give heed to the words of his living oracles and follow the counsel and direction they give for our day and time.”As we prepare our hearts and minds to be taught and instructed by the living oracles of God we should remember that these humble men who preside over us in our day are very much like the living prophets and apostles of old and are the ones whom God has chosen to lead his Church. Presidents Thomas S. Monson, Henry B. Eyring, and Dieter F. Uchdorf of the First Presidency are men of extraordinary wisdom, judgement, capacity and faith and should be recognized as preachers of righteousness of the same stature as Peter, James, and John who were the First Presidency in their day.
President Monson, like all prophets, was born in the household of faith for a reason, and it was not just the experiences of this life only that prepared him for his calling. The fact is, he is a spirit son of God who was called and chosen and foreordained before the foundations of the earth were laid, and he is now fulfilling the destiny designed for him from the preexistence, and promised him, in our presence, as we sat with him in the grand council when God himself was there.
Joseph Smith said,
“Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the grand council of heaven before this world was.” Then the Prophet said of himself, “I suppose that I was ordained to this very office in that grand council.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 365.)
Abraham, our father, saw in vision this grand council of preexistent spirits. “Among all these,” he said, “… were many of the noble and great ones,” whom he described as being “good.” (Abr. 3:22.) Abraham saw that God the Eternal Father “stood in the midst” of those mighty ones and said, “These I will make my rulers; … and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.” (Abr. 3:23.)
Just as Abraham, so it was with all the prophets, and for that matter, so it is for all the house of Israel and with all the members of the Lord’s Church - all are participants of the blessings of foreordination or “foredesignation”.
The Lord said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” (Jer. 1:5.).
Over the years, President Monson has moved from one office to another, from one location to another. With every move he has taken with him a painting that first hung in his office as a bishop back in the 1950’s. It hung in his office in Toronto, Canada while serving as mission president. It now hangs in his office as president of the Church. The painting is an image of the Lord Jesus Christ by artist Heinrich Hofmann.
Of this painting, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said,
“The painting is more than a decoration for the office wall. It is more than a reminder of who is the “chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:20) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is more than a declaration that the man called to be President of the Church is expected to be chief among the living witnesses of the Savior. The painting represents an ideal—the Master after whom Thomas Monson has modeled his life. “I love that painting,” President Monson said as he gazed at it yet again. “I feel strength in having it near me. Look at the kindness in those eyes. Look at the warmth of expression. When facing difficult situations, I often look at it and ask myself, ‘What would He do?’ Then I have tried to respond accordingly.”
With those who are President Monson’s friends—and almost everyone he meets becomes a friend—a bond of loyalty develops that is never broken. Friends of his youth remain friends to this day.
Another loyalty that President Monson has developed is a loyalty to the impressions of the Spirit.
Elder Holland shares an experience that young Bishop Thomas S. Monson had that would shape his life and service forever:
“As a young bishop, he received a call one evening informing him that an older member of his ward had been taken to the veterans’ hospital in Salt Lake City for treatment. Could he come to give the man a blessing? he was asked. Bishop Monson explained that he was just on his way to a stake meeting, but he would stop by the hospital as soon as the meeting was over. At that leadership meeting, he felt unsettled, ill at ease. A prompting came strongly: leave the meeting at once, and go directly to the hospital. But surely it would be discourteous to walk out while the stake president was speaking, wouldn’t it? He waited until the end of the stake president’s address and then made his way to the door even before the closing prayer. At the hospital he found himself running down the corridor. There seemed to be a flurry of activity outside the man’s room, and a nurse stopped the new arrival. “Are you Bishop Monson?” she asked. “Yes,” was his anxious reply. “I’m sorry,” the nurse replied. “The patient was calling your name just before he passed away.”
“As the young bishop walked out of the hospital that night, he vowed he would never again fail to act on an impression from the Lord. No man could have been more true to that vow. Indeed, his life has been one miracle after another in response to his faithful adherence to promptings of the Spirit.”4
Perhaps that experience at the hospital was in the back of his mind years later as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles when what should have been an ordinary visit to a stake conference became something he would never forget. He had originally been assigned to visit another stake that weekend, but there was a need to change the assignment. Elder Monson knew of no special significance to the place when President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994), then President of the Quorum of the Twelve, said, “Brother Monson, I feel impressed to have you visit the Shreveport Louisiana Stake.”
Upon his arrival in Shreveport, Elder Monson learned of 10-year-old Christal Methvin. Christal was suffering from terminal cancer and had a desire to receive a blessing from one partdicular General Authority, Thomas S. Monson. He reviews his schedule of conference meetings and found there was no time for the 80-mile trip to Christal’s home so he asked the stake president to have Christal remembered in the public prayers during the stake conference. The Methvin family understood that travel and time might be a problem but prayed, nevertheless, that their daughter’s desire might be realized. Elder Monson was preparing to speak in the Saturday evening leadership meeting when, as he recalls, “I heard a voice speak to my spirit. The message was brief, the words familiar: ‘Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God’ (Mark 10:14).” With the help of the stake president, a visit to the Methvin home was quickly arranged for the following morning. It was a solemn and sacred experience for those who were present. Only four days after receiving the desired blessing, Christal passed away.
I testify that President Thomas S. Monson is no ordinary man. He is God’s prophet. By obedience, by faith, by personal righteousness, because he elected to follow in the path of the Chosen and Beloved Son, he was noble and great in the preexistence. Above all his other talents, he developed the talent for spirituality—the talent to believe and accept the truth, the talent to desire righteousness, the talent to serve after the example of the Master.
He knew and worshiped the Lord Jehovah, who was “like unto God.” (Abr. 3:24.) He was, I believe, a friend of Adam and Enoch. He was taught at the feet of Moses and Abraham. He sat in meetings with Nephi and Alma. He served in the heavenly kingdom with Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.
Brothers and Sisters, if we love and desire to serve God, we will give heed to the words of His apostles and prophets whom he sends to reveal and teach his word among us.
Following Lord’s prophets and apostles is one of the foundations upon which we have been counseled to build our homes of faith. I wonder sometimes why people think they can remove these foundations, or fail to establish them in the first place, and then wonder why things crumble around them. As Elder Maxwell one said, “You can't remove the foundation of a building while standing inside and not be hit with falling plaster.”
Elder Bruce R. McConkie made this observation,
“The great need in the world today is not for the Lord to send a prophet to reveal his mind and will. He has done that; we have a prophet; we are guided by many men who have the spirit of inspiration. The great need today is for men to have a listening ear and to give heed to the words that fall from the lips of those who wear the prophetic mantle.”
On October 4, 1963, Thomas S.Monson was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Speaking in the Tabernacle for the first time as a General Authority, he said:
“My sincere prayer today, President McKay, is that I might always obey you and these, my brethren. I pledge my life, all that I may have. I will strive to the utmost of my ability to be what you would want me to be. I am grateful for the words of Jesus Christ, our Savior, when he said:
“ ‘I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him. …’ (Rev. 3:20.)
I hope that my life might merit this promise from our Savior.”
I believe the day will come when the veil will removed from our eyes and we will witness for ourselves the spiritual intimacy that exists between the Lord and his prophets. I testify that there is a prophet in Israel.
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