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Date Posted: 11:53:20 03/11/02 Mon
Author: Laura
Subject: Follow the Prophet

I took Michael to the singles fireside in Anoka Stake last night. It was really good. Tom Ramsey, the speaker, served in the Anoka stake presidency with Lyle Cottle. He had the same ability to make us laugh - he said he understood Br. Cottle had spoken recently for 3 hours - he promised he wouldn't do that to us! LOL. But he talked about prophets, about modern ones, about Spencer W. Kimball and Joseph Fielding Smith and David O. McKay, and Ezra Taft Benson, and of course about President Hinckley.

He asked how many of us were converts, and then told a story of how, when he was a new member, the people of his ward did him a bit of a disservice. He said David O. McKay was president then, but he was so very old and so very sick. The people in his ward said things, at the time, like, "The Lord is keeping David O. McKay alive long enough that Joseph Fielding Smith can die first and won't ever be prophet." He'd ask why they'd say something like that, and they said that while Elder Smith was a brilliant man, he was mean, mean-spirited. And being a new member, he just sort of accepted what they said, didn't know any better. But then he had a chance to sing in a young adult choir at General Conference, and at the end of the session, as he left the stand, there was a woman, a very BIG woman, he said, who seemed angry or upset. He asked if he could help her, and she said her husband has lost her coat. So he asked where her husband was, and went up to the man and asked if he could help. The man turned around and said, "Oh! I've lost my wife's coat!" in sort of a tremulous voice. (The way Brother Ramsey said it, all I could think was, brow-beaten!!) And here he was, face-to-face with Joseph Fielding Smith, and he wasn't an ogre at all, but just a regular man.

He quoted D&C 21:4-6 to us, as our doctrinal basis for modern-day prophets, and said that this is like other things - a commandment with a promise. Take a moment to read it - it's a pretty strong promise, sort of like the promise that is at the end of section 89, the Word of Wisdom.

He talked about modern-day revelation, about how it happens. He asked who remembered when President Kimball received the revelation regarding the priesthood in 1978. He talked about what it was like then, how hard it was to be a member of the church when civil rights were such an issue in society, and how bad it looked that the church did not allow certain minorities to hold the priesthood. And then he asked if we knew what was the reasoning behind President Kimball's revelation, why the revelation came when it did. It was because the Sao Paulo Brazil temple was about to be dedicated, and he had been praying regarding this - regarding having a temple in the midst of people, many of whom according to church doctrine would not be able to qualify for the blessings of the temple. And it was then that he received the revelation that the time was right for the priesthood to be available to all worthy men. The revelation did NOT come because of social pressure, because of the civil-rights movement. It came because of the needs of the Lord's people.

He also, as a side note, talked about how Bruce R. McConkie had vocally and adamantly insisted prior to this time, that this church doctrine would never change, or in other words that minorities would never receive the priesthood. When he was questioned later about these statements, he said, "I was wrong. President Kimball is right," and that that was because he was not the prophet and did not have the mantle to receive revelation for the church - thus he was not the one prepared for this, but President Kimball was.

He talked about another recent revelation, the smaller temples. He told the story of how that happened. President Hinckley was presiding over a regional conference in Mexico, in a poor part of the country far from the capital (and thus far from the temple). In his address to these people, he counseled them to prepare themselves for the temple, to qualify for and carry a current temple recommend, and promised them that the time would come when they would each and every one have the opportunity to attend the temple. And as he was saying these things he was thinking to himself, "Why am I promising these things to these people??" and wondering how in the world it could ever come to pass - the area was so small and poor that they would never be able to support a temple. And on the long drive back to the airport after conference, he sat in the car pondering and praying about what he'd promised them under the influence of the Holy Ghost...and it came to him, that it was time not to bring the people to the temple but to bring the temple to the people. And in the car, he sketched out what a small temple would look like, what it would entail. And that is how he received the revelation - in response to the needs of the people, he prayed and pondered and sought the solution.

He told of someone - I didn't catch who it was - who attends General Conference each session, with a piece of paper with a line down the middle. On one side he wrote the doctrine the prophet teaches, and on the other side, the commandments. And then for the next six months, every time he is asked to speak, he uses that piece of paper to guide him regarding the doctrine he should teach. And for the next six months, he focuses personally on living the commandments on that piece of paper. And then he throws the paper away and starts a new one - not forgetting the things from the old one, but ready to learn the next piece, too.

He told the story of the investigators who asked, "What has your prophet said LATELY?" and the missionaries who didn't know, who couldn't answer and thus lost the investigators. He asked us what President Hinckley talked about at last general conference, what doctrine he taught, what commandments he gave. (I dug out my Palm Pilot and pulled up my notes, but then I figured I might be cheating so I didn't contribute too much - some of it I knew off the top of my head, but other pieces I'd forgotten.) He specifically mentioned - quoted directly, actually - President Hinckley in saying that his mind kept coming back to Pharaoh's dream. (And I thought, hmm...I know the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat version of it...maybe I'd better go read the actual account of it in the scriptures!)

He taught that, "Often, reading the words of prophets (both old and new) springboards us into new revelation". Or in other words, in reading the scriptures and the teachings of our modern prophets, we receive inspiration on new topics or answers to other questions we've had - and this is how it works for prophets, also.

Oh, he had some interesting comments about the most successful prophets we know. He suggested Enoch is probably the most successful in all the scriptures (except Christ himself, of course) - because he took a people that were so bad, and taught them and worked with them until they were so good. He said Melchizedek, little as we know about him, was probably one of the most successful, also, for the same reason.

He spoke of things that Ezra Taft Benson taught. Everyone knows he taught that we need to read the Book of Mormon more, to get back to that. But he also taught that we should be active in our communities. And Br. Ramsey recommended to us a couple of specific talks that President Benson gave to singles - one addressed to single brothers, one addressed separately to single sisters. He said much of the counsel is the same - to consider what our priorities are, and what they should be (first and foremost to come unto Christ, and then a whole list of other things). The points in which they differed were that he used strong words to the brethren, that they need to prayerfully select a woman to marry. And to the sisters, he cautioned that we not become too confident or comfortable in our independence, that we CHOOSE not to marry - but then he promised that if we are faithful, the time WILL come when we will be heir to ALL blessings for which we have qualified.

One of the last thoughts he shared before he closed, was to the effect that there are no NEW revelations (well, he admitted, there are SOME things new under the sun, but not many) - but there are not new revelations, only new applications.

Well, how's that for some points to ponder? Something to chew on for a Monday morning? It's too bad the rest of you couldn't be there. But I'm really looking forward to this weekend!!!

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