Heeding the Voice of the Prophets

We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth. (Articles of Faith 6)
We believe all God has revealed, all He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. (Articles of Faith 9)

One very distinguishing characteristic of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that sets it apart from 'traditional' Christian churches, is it has modern day prophets and apostles. You can't find that anywhere else, and I have to say it was one of the biggest things that first attracted me to the Church.

The Church is lead by a prophet of God, whom we call the President of the Church. The current prophet is President Thomas S. Monson. We also have a structure of organization and church leadership similar to that of the Primitive Church Christ established here on the earth.

The 'job', or a 'job', of the prophets, apostles, and leaders of the Church is to give the world guidance and tell and help us to live good, prosperous, and Christlike lives. Now this seems to be a popular point of contention by those who have problems with the Church, "I don't need people to tell me how to live my life." Well, I agree none of us need guidance in our lives, but man it sure does help, and we're pretty lucky to have it.

Some look at our Church as being "controlling" and "restrictive", telling us what we can and can't do, or what we can or can't consume. But these rules, commandments, and other forms of guidance we have received in these latter-days, actually does the opposite of "restricts" us, it helps keep us free. It keeps us free from the crutches of addiction to many things (alcohol, drugs, tobacco, eating to excess, pornography, etc.). Freedom is integral part of the Plan of Salvation, without it we cannot practice agency (the ability to have and make free choice). We lose that freedom of choice when we allow outside forces to make decisions for us, addiction being one of them. I know some of you may argue that, "I use my 'agency' to choose to do these things." That may be true when you first start these things it is often because you want to, but there comes a decisive point when a dependency is developed and whether you realize it or not you allow these substances to dictate you, your time, and your finances. Before I was introduced to the Church I had my fair share of addictions. Like most I started these things because I wanted to, deep down I knew they were wrong but I did them "because they were pleasing unto the carnal mind". For example I started drinking once in awhile, maybe a Friday every 2 weeks. Then I wanted to do it more, so every Friday and Saturday. Again, wasn't enough so started doing it after school. Then I started actually doing in school, even in some classes; I would just fill up a water bottle with it and sip it during class. Now did I feel like I needed it? Not necessarily. I realized I craved it when I didn't have it, but I enjoyed it still, it was still pleasing, 'unto the carnal mind'. I realize now that there is a distinct difference from the 'happiness' things such as alcohol brought me and the true happiness I receive from friends, loved ones, and the Gospel. The happiness I received from those were temporary and fleeting, and when I didn't have it I felt bad, at times miserable and depressed, but true happiness, that fills you forever, it stays with you no matter what problems you face; you turn to those things that give you true happiness, not to the bottle or the bowl, and you may overcome any adversity.

Now these addictions to substance is all very different from that of "heeding the voice of the Prophets". I always have the freedom to choose to listen to what they say. I can can choose not to listen to God's commandments, I can choose not to listen to Church leaders, I can choose to do whatever I want. And there in lies the key difference we, as the body of the Church, listen to and obey guidance given to us by our leaders because we choose to, not because we are forced to. And I know that through adherence to both commandments new and old and to guidance given to us by revelation, we will experience rewards greater than we can fathom, and we all will be blessed for doing so.

I am trying to truly heed the guidance we receive from the Church leadership (everything from food storage to trying to remain debt free). Have I been the best at it? No. For awhile I viewed things like not watching R rated or inappropriate movies as something that was maybe for some people but I didn't need to adhere to it. But I ask myself, does it make sense to follow just some of the commandments, just the ones that you like to follow, or are easiest? I think the answer is obvious.

I can't tell you how many times my life has been blessed by listening to guidance from the Church leaders. One recent example is our Ward goal (I really don't know if that is the correct term...) for our Ward Mission was to know the Articles of Faith. Well I didn't go to Primary so I had some memorization to do. I wrote out the Articles on a piece of paper and decided to practice memorizing them during my lunch break at work. One night (I work nights) my boss asked me what I was doing, and I told him I was memorizing scripture for my Church. He asked what scriptures and I told him it was the Articles of Faith. This lead us into a lengthy conversation about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which he had really never heard of, just knew about the "missionaries on bikes" whom he thought were awesome). As we talked I could tell he liked a lot of the things he heard and was eager to have another conversation about it. Immediately after talking, it clicked in my head, this is why we were given that direction by our Church leadership.

I believe that the continuation of prophetic guidance is not only necessary, but also testifies the love that God has for His children is not fleeting. We in this dispensation are not sheep lost from the flock, doomed to wander in the dark, no, we have a constant torch that stays lit with the power of revelation by Heavenly Father. I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.