Add exclamation marks

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday Afternoon Session of the October 1987 Conference.

I've been feeling so grateful recently for our living prophets! I don't know how I would stand living in a world without them. Lately I've felt, like young Joseph Smith, as if I'm in the midst of a "war of words and tumult of opinions." I didn't think it could get any more contentious than it was around the election four years ago, but this year seems even worse! Maybe it's because I usually avoid reading much news, but now I've been reading more of it because of the unrest over coronavirus, our recent earthquake, church announcements, etc. Or maybe the tumult of opinions really has escalated. Either way—it's so hard to make sense of all the different viewpoints! People are mad because they think the quarantine response is too much. Or they're mad because it's not enough. Experts on the economy, medical experts, sociology experts. I can't figure out who to believe. I've even read things that make me anxious that I'm not worrying enough—or worrying too much. Ha!

Amidst all of this, it brings such peace to my soul to know that these days are known to God, and He will reveal whatever we need to know to His servants, the prophets! Already there have been so many evidences of God's merciful hand, preparing us in ways we didn't realize. There have been so many blessings in my own family's life from that preparedness. And all we had to do was follow the words of the prophets!

In a talk called "Follow the Brethren", Elder L. Aldin Porter says,

Speaking of the scriptures, the Prophet Joseph Smith said, “He who reads it oftenest will like it best, and he who is acquainted with it, will know the hand wherever he can see it.”… 

The same spirit that is felt while we read the word of the Lord in the scriptures accompanies the pronouncements of the Lord’s prophets. As we learn to love the word of the Lord as written in the scriptures, we will love the word of the Lord as given through his prophets.

I love that phrase "know the hand [of God] wherever he can see it." And I like the idea that a familiarity with the scriptures helps us see that hand of God! I'm always looking for ways to be more aware of God's hand. It's cool to think that even though God's word comes through all different kinds of people, over time we'll learn to recognize His underlying voice whether it's filtered through ancient scripture, modern scripture, or latter-day prophets.

Elder Porter continues,

Parents, do you want your children to feel your love and more willingly accept your direction? Love the Brethren. 

…Leave no question in anyone’s mind where you stand. Declare in quiet tones that you love the Brethren and that you are going to follow them. Add exclamation marks to your words as you quietly and faithfully follow the Brethren.

I can think of two other places I've encountered such "exclamation marks" lately—one is that Brigham Young quote that says "I feel like shouting hallelujah all the time whenever I think that I ever knew Joseph Smith the prophet."

And the other is a statement by our current prophet, President Nelson, in the April Ensign: "I cannot speak of the Restoration in tempered tones. This fact of history is absolutely stunning! It is incredible! It is breathtaking! How amazing is it that messengers from heaven came to give authority and power to this work?"

How can you argue with such enthusiasm? It makes me want to shout "Hallelujah" myself, to break out of measured tones and add those exclamation marks: I love our prophet! I love the restored gospel! And I love the Savior Jesus Christ, who constantly strengthens and comforts me no matter what tumult is in the rest of the world!


Other posts in this series:

While in isolation: be faithful in Christ—by Jan Tolman