I am very excited to discuss two different talks from General Conference in my lesson. The first talk is Neil L. Andersen’s talk, The Prophet of God, and the second is Ulisses Soares’s talk, Prophets Speak by the Power of the Holy Spirit.
I like to start off with this quote by Andersen about our prophet.
Can you image a 93 year old man skiing, well I can’t. I think this is just so amazing.
How comforting is this to know that the Lord chooses his prophets through his ordained method of succession. There need not be any debate or concern with who the Lord chooses, because the Lord has prepared him and selected him.
What would it have felt like to be there?
I would have loved to have been there with my hands on the head of Russell M. Nelson and to have felt that “undeniable approval” from the Lord. Powerful!!
I went ahead and looked up more pictures of this fascinating city. As you look at the below pictures put yourself in the tower, how far can you see, and imagine being the instrument in protecting the city.
As I thought about this city, another city came to mind in a far away land, where a prophet through inspiration was lead to create fortifications that were instrumental in protecting and preserving his people from the innumerable army of the enemy. I speak of the great Captain Moroni. Below is an artists depiction of what a Nephite city might have looked like with it’s fortifications in place.
Observe how the two opposing forces gained power. Amalickiah obtained power by fraud and deceit, whereas Moroni prepared the hearts of the people with the word of the Lord. Through inspiration Moroni built and fortified their cities, which was instrumental in their success. The fortifications are also a symbol of the spiritual fortifications we must build ourselves.
How do we build our spiritual fortifications? In Moroni’s day the fortifications weren’t just ordered online and arrived on their doorsteps in 5-7 business days; but rather, they had to build them shovel of dirt by shovel of dirt, and log by log. Likewise, in our day, it’s in the primary answers, pray, read scriptures, attend church, etc… It is in the building that we become sufficiently strong and tune our souls to the wave band of the Holy Spirit, thus preparing us to face our enemies in the strength of the Lord and prevail.
The question to ask yourself is, why is it so important that we know the true nature of God and Jesus Christ? This is an entire lesson all by itself, but a major aspect is that when we know the true nature of God and Jesus Christ, we can come unto them. How can you come unto a God without parts and is not knowledgeable, you can’t. This is a great victory for Satan, but thanks to Prophets, we don’t have to remain in darkness any longer. We can know God and His Son, Jesus Christ, and come unto Him.
My daughter made this and did a great job. Notice the umbrella shielding the rain; the prophets voice is our umbrella in a turbulent and wicked world.
One quote from each apostle, both saying similar things. If we want to create spiritual armor and be protected like a blanket from evil in all it’s forms, we must follow the Prophet as if their words are the words of God to you. For verily, they are the words of God to you personally and to all men, women, and children.
What a powerful quote. Elder Andersen explained in his talk, how we use our intellect in life to make decisions, but we need to always put the Holy Spirit first and above our own intellect. What comes to mind is Grocery Store Mormons, who pick and choose what they will follow or embrace and the rest they discard. We need to be ALL IN when it comes to the Gospel of Christ and our focus needs to be on “becoming” not picking and choosing. For us to become like Christ we must treasure up the Holy Ghost.
Matthew 6:21
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Our treasure must be receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost above all things, so that it can transform us into new creatures in Christ.
I absolutely love this quote. I chose this picture because we must become like a child in the presence of the Master. Children and like sponges and they soak up everything, we to need to soak up everything we can from the Master, and thus one day become like Him.
This is a big pet peeve of mine. I often hear people saying how such and such a prophet was speaking as a man and not as a prophet in XYZ area. Prophets are the mouth-piece of the Lord, and we need to stop picking and choosing the things we will follow. If there is something that a prophet said that doesn’t fit into my finite minds’ understanding, as opposed to discharging it, I “shelf it.” Then, I wait for greater understanding or revelation to assist my finite understanding to comprehend what I had shelved. Is there times that prophets speak as men, absolutely, but I will not be the one to decide that. I will always side on the side of obedience and reverence.
Remember, to always surrender your will to God’s will, and you will become victorious and “virtue [will] garnish thy thoughts unceasingly.”
Doctrine and Covenants 121:45-46
45 Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.
46 The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.
This is my prayer as well. If we can honestly say all of these things we will be on our way to becoming like unto our Lord and Savior, even Jesus Christ.
Craig
Extra– Enjoy some last testimonies of apostles and prophets.
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