Four months before my dad died, I sent him a voice recorder in the mail. After many phone conversations of PLEADING, he agreed to record some thoughts. "You can record anything Dad, but please make sure to record why you got baptized," I urged him. The end product is a treasure for generations to come. It begins with his disgusted voice saying, "Donna, is this thing on?" And ends with a heartfelt testimony. I would like to share a portion with you....
"I always believed in Jesus the Savior. A spark of religion was always alive in me." He talked of sleeping outside at night and looking up into the heavens, wondering why things were created the way they were and who God was. He found himself at Ricks college with a swarm of people wanting to convert him. The things the missionaries taught him made sense, but he just couldn't get past the fact that the Lord would put that much faith in a 14 -year old boy, Joseph Smith, to restore the Gospel to the earth. Finally, he knelt down in prayer. He said, "I finally humbled myself. I knelt in prayer and I had a firm, and undeniable answer that Jospeh Smith was a Prophet of God..."
It is with the same conviction in my heart, born of deeply imprinted personal revelation, that I KNOW there are prophets today. I have just spent the last two days listening to General Conference and a "layer" of that testimony has been added again.
Paul told us that the "household of God...(is) built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone." (Ephesians 2:20-21) With Elder Holland I testify that "God not only lives, but He speaks." And he speaks through Apostles and Prophets. Why does He speak, you ask. He speaks "that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men..." (Ephesians 4:14) He speaks, and His Prophets speak, for our STABILITY AND WELFARE. He loves us, so He speaks.
In an ever gloomy world, these men speak and radiate the peace of personal preparation. I don't need someone to tell me how bad it is going to get or how bad it really is. I think we can all see the writing on the wall. I need someone to tell me that we will be okay, when we stand with and hearken to a Prophet's voice, we will be okay!
We Thank Thee Oh God For a Prophet
To guide us in these Latter Days.
We thank Thee for sending the Gospel
To Lighten our minds with It's rays.
We Thank Thee for every blessing bestowed by Thy Bounteous Hand.
May my children always know that I KNOW. Joseph Smith was a Prophet, he saw God the Father and Jesus Christ in a Sacred Grove. Today, Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet, called of, and directed by the same God. A God who loves us, so he speaks!
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