Prophetic Instructions

This weekend, I was afforded a rare opportunity of spending several hours in Stake Conference meetings with Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  While I recognize that Stake Conference visits are just visits to specific stakes of Zion, and not messages to the whole world, I wanted to share a couple of things that I learned from this special opportunity, which I believe have value across the board.

First, I was reminded of the importance of the messages we receive from the leaders of the Church.  Of all of the meetings that I was excited to attend, Saturday's two-hour leadership meetings was the most intriguing.  A few years ago I attended such a meeting with Elder Ballard, and found it to be among the most instructive and interesting meetings I have ever attended.  And so that thought of being able to attend this meeting was very exciting.  When I arrived at the Stake Center, it became apparent, that our leadership meeting would consist of watching the Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting.  I was excited to see the broadcast, but I must confess that I felt somewhat let down that it would not be the personalized training meeting I had hoped for.  I quickly realized, however, that this was a unique experience.  In addition to the many wonderful messages that were spoken, I was able to see the amount of value that Elder Cook placed upon the information discussed.  As we were watching the broadcast, Elder Cook sat on the stand and watched it with us.  He then drew upon that broadcast for thoughts and ideas for the rest of the Conference meetings.  It was wonderful to see that even a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recognized the need to listen to and learn from his peers in the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve.  Further, Elder Cook paid close attention to the talks given in the other meetings of the Conference.  At the beginning of each talk, he recapped what each prior speaker had discussed and wove their messages into his talks, thus reminding me of the importance of every message I had received.  I am sure that each speaker felt more than a degree of anxiety in speaking in a meeting presided over by one of the Lord's Special Witnesses.  But what a wonderful thing it must have been to hear that same Apostle praise and draw upon their talks in his own teaching.

Second, I was struck by a short little message that Elder Cook gave during the Adult Session of the Conference.  He encouraged us to stop looking at our assignments and callings in the Church as an opportunity to impress others and to look good.  He asked us to begin asking ourselves, "How can I build faith?" as we taught lessons and gave talks in the Church.  He then assured us that as we prayed and asked to be able to do this, that we would be able to have a profound impact upon the members of the Church.  As one who has too often used talks and lessons as an opportunity to look good, I found this timely reminder to be of great personal value.  Truly, we are "called to serve" and to build others not to be self-serving and to build a resume.

Third, Elder Cook did something that I have never seen a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles do as he spoke today.  He began by discussing some of the ways in which Prophets had been ahead of their time and emphasized things that did not become important for awhile.  He talked about Heber J. Grant's emphasis upon the Word of Wisdom, and said that because President Grant had given so much emphasis to that principle, he was able to see the Latter-day Saints in the Bay Area largely avoid the many tragedies of drugs when drug culture began to sweep through the area during the 1960s and 1970s.  He then talked about President Hinckley's warning of economic troubles in 1998.  But then he did something unexpected and asked what the Prophets have focused upon most recently.  He answered the question by stating that the Prophets have given their highest attention to emphasizing religious observance in the homes and to reaching out to those who are lost.  He emphasized the growing wickedness and secularism in the world, and said that we must protect our families by emphasizing religious practices in our homes and families through family home evening, family scripture study, and family prayer.  Further, he said that now was the time to reach out to those who are lost and gather them back in through the ordinances of the Temple.  He promised that if we would do these things, that we would be able to weather the storms of this world and protect our families.

What impressed me most of all, however, was Elder Cook's special witness of the divinity of our Savior.  He said that since becoming a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, the thing that he had learned with greater depth than he had previously understood was that life was often unfair, which was necessary in order for men and women to have agency, but that the atonement of our Savior was powerful enough to cover and heal all of life's unfair experiences.  I left the four meetings I attended with Elder Cook with an a feeling that the Brethren understood many of the challenges that we face and they know of our many efforts to serve and grow in spite of those challenges.  But even more importantly, I left with an absolute assurance of the fact that the Lord understands all of the challenges we face and that He knows with an absolute certainty of our efforts to grow amidst these challenges.

As I listened to these talks and then briefly shook hands with Elder Cook at the end of the night last night, I was reminded once again that we are indeed led by Prophets and Apostles who hold the keys of presidency in all the world, and who seek to emulate our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in word and deed.  It was a wonderful and testimony fortifying experience.

Brett