hmmm... I have been struggling with this talk all week, it has been a horrible week at work, I have been incredibly busy and stressed out because of all the things coming down in the next few weeks. So last night I finally tried to work on it. Let's just say things with raspberry did not go well and the only thing I got was a guilt trip for being harsh to my two great kids. (I did apologize.) After Raspberry went to bed I said a prayer and told Him that things were not going well and I would really appreciate some help. I decided to lay down for a few moments when I felt like I should pull out my notebook and pen and lay it next to the lamp-- which I did. Then I went to sleep.
About 1:30 a.m. in the morning I woke up and wrote the introduction and then this morning about 7 a.m. I woke up and wrote the remainder on paper. I just love answers to prayers, especially when the come quickly (not something that is usual for me).
On Thursday evening I was in a meeting with Sister Thompson. She talked about the steps in preparing a talk. She said, it is important to prepare yourself first before you prepare the talk. Which I think is what happened to me. I hope that I can convey what the Lord wants me to learn and to share.
My talk on Succession in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
Succession in the Presidency of the church
(Story) In the spring of 2005 I had the opportunity to be with a small group of sisters and visit with – at that time, one of our new apostles, Elder Uchtdorf. I will forever be grateful for the few moments I had to feel of his warmth and love for the sisters of the church. He radiated with the spirit and with his love for the Savior and for His church. When I met him I knew the Lord had chosen him to be an apostle.
I had those same feelings with an even a stronger witness last Monday as I watched President Thomas S. Monson, President Eyring, and President Uchdorf stand before the world as the new presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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Our simple procedure of succession in the leadership of the Church was established through revelation by the Lord to Joseph Smith. Joseph received these revelations regarding the leadership of the church through a line upon line process.
The first line was for the Lord to establish a prophet for His church:
In December 1995 President Hinckley said “from the time of the organization of the church there has been designated one presiding authority over the entire body.
In April 1830 the Lord revealed to Joseph the beginnings of church organization and government, beginning with his call as prophet, seer and revelator for the church. In Doctrine and Covenants, section 20 verse 2 we read that it was “given to Joseph Smith, Jun., who was acalled of God, and bordained an capostle of Jesus Christ, to be the dfirst eelder of this church;
The Lord further clarifies this with verses 2 & 7 from section 28 of the Doctrine and Covenants:
But, behold, verily, verily, I say unto thee, ano one shall be appointed to receive commandments and brevelations in this church excepting my servant cJoseph Smith, Jun., for he receiveth them even as dMoses.
For I have given him the akeys of the bmysteries, and the revelations which are sealed, until I shall appoint unto them another in his stead.
(Story) President Wilford Woodruff once related that in a meeting held in
“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 this speaker had finished his remarks, the Prophet Joseph Smith turned to President Brigham Young and said:
“ ‘Brother Brigham I want you to take the stand and tell us your views with regard to the living prophet 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, ‘… 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. …’ 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.
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And so the first line was to establish a prophet for His church, and as the church matured, the second was to establish the first presidency and then the third was to establish the quorum of the 12 apostles.
On
I give unto him for acounselors my servant Sidney Rigdon and my servant William Law, that these may constitute a quorum and First Presidency, to receive the boracles for the whole church.
I give unto you my servant aBrigham Young to be a president over the Twelve traveling council; Which aTwelve hold the keys to open up the authority of my kingdom.
In those early years the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles did not play as prominent a role in Church administration as it does now, but in January 1836 Joseph clarified the authority of the Twelve when he declared that they stood next to the First Presidency in authority “and are not subject to any other than the first presidency.”
In D&C section 112 verses 30-32 the Lord declared: For unto you, the Twelve, and those, the First Presidency, who are appointed with you to be your counselors and your leaders, is the power of this priesthood given, for the last days and for the last time, in the which is the dispensation of the fulness of times.
For verily I say unto you, the keys of the dispensation, which ye have received, have come down from the fathers, and last of all, being sent down from heaven unto you.”
From the summer of 1841 until June 1844, the twelve were extensively tutored by the prophet and heavily involved with the temporal and spiritual governance of the Church.
Joseph said, “I am constrained to hasten my preparations and to confer upon the Twelve all the ordinances, keys, covenants, endowments, and sealing ordinances of the priesthood. Having done this he rejoined exceedingly and said “The Lord is about to lay the burden on your shoulders and let me rest awhile.”
(story) President Brigham Young heard the news of the Martyrdom while on a mission in the East. “The first thing which I thought of,” President Young recorded in his journal, “was whether Joseph had taken the keys of the kingdom with him from the earth; brother Orson Pratt sat on my left; we were both leaning back on our chairs. Bringing my hand down on my knee, I said the keys of the kingdom are right here with the Church.
In December 1847 the president of the quorum of the 12 apostles, Brigham Young, became the 2nd prophet of this dispensation. This succession in the Presidency of the church has continued on the same since that time with four basic principles.
1. The keys of the kingdom are given to the Twelve
Each apostle so ordained under the hands of the President of the Church, who holds the keys of the
2. Seniority is a governing principle of presidency
The factor that determines who presides among the Twelve and who may actively exercise all the keys of the kingdom at the death of the President of the Church is the principle of seniority. In 1835, when the first Quorum of the Twelve was called, seniority was arranged by age. Since then, seniority has been determined by the date of ordination into the Quorum of the Twelve.
3. At the President’s death there is no First Presidency over the Twelve
Following the principles taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith, when the President of the Church dies, the quorum of the First Presidency is automatically dissolved and the counselors, if they previously had been in the Quorum of the Twelve, return to their respective places of seniority in that quorum.
4. As the presiding officer of the Church, the President of the Twelve has the prerogative to receive revelation regarding when to reorganize the First Presidency.
(story) President Gordon B. Hinckley explained how this process worked upon the death of President Howard W. Hunter: “With President Hunter’s passing, the First Presidency was dissolved. Brother Monson and I, who had served as his counselors, took our places in the Quorum of the Twelve, which became the presiding authority of the Church. “[On
“There was no campaigning, no contest, no ambition for office. It was quiet, peaceful, simple, and sacred. It was done after the pattern which the Lord himself had put in place.
And so it continues today with our prophet Thomas S. Monson. The Lord knows all the men who will be president of the Church. The Lord calls them to be Apostles and then when he is ready for them to be the President of the Church they are prepared. In
And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being acalled and bprepared from the cfoundation of the world according to the dforeknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; in the first place being left to echoose good or evil; therefore they having chosen good, and exercising exceedingly great ffaith, are gcalled with a holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such.
And in Abraham Chapter 3 verses 22&23 Abraham teaches us that the Lord knows his prophets:
Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the aintelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the bnoble and great ones; And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast achosen before thou wast born.
The Lord calls his prophets, but it is up to each one of us as an individual to follow the prophet. When I hear the words of the prophet and try to remember that the counsel and commandments that he gives to us is from the Lord and it is not for me to treat as a buffet table, picking and choosing what I like best and ignoring the rest.
President Harold B. Lee related the following:
(story) When I was on my mission, I was with the mission president once at Carthage Jail. We missionaries, impressed by the atmosphere of the place where the Prophet and his brother, Hyrum, met their martyrdom, asked him to recount the incidents which led up to the martyrdom. I was impressed as a young man when the mission president said this : ‘When the Prophet Joseph Smith died, there were many who died spiritually with Joseph. So has it been with every change of administration in the
When a president concludes his service as the Lord’s representative on earth, the Saints must look to the Lord’s newly appointed prophet, seer, and revelator. Each man who has presided over this church has had a certain work to perform, and when this mission has been fulfilled the Lord has called him home. Following the death of a president, the Savior makes known through the new prophet and president the course the Church is to follow.
As I look back to last Monday as I watched our prophet speak to the media and as I have prepared this message, I have received my own spiritual witness that President Monson is a true prophet of God. The Lord has shown us the way and encourages us to receive a spiritual witness for ourselves. Of our new prophet President Erying has said “I’ve come to know of his goodness”. And President Uchtdorf said, I know of his heart, his soul, his commitment, his wonderful love for the people.
Elder Hales, in a general conference address said, When we raise our hands to sustain the prophet, it is important for each of us to have a personal testimony that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ, who leads His Church today through the prophet He has chosen.”
I am so grateful for the gospel, for the Lord’s guidance we receive through the prophet, the first presidency and the 12 apostles.
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