President Russell M. Nelson, Prophet, Seer, and Revelator
From the June issue of the Liahona magazine, speaking first of the Prophet Samuel from the Bible, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles wrote:
The Tugs of the World
As members of this same house of Israel broadly defined, we have been commanded not to be just like other people, not to be just like the world. But like God’s people in the days of Samuel, we face the strong pull to be like those of lesser ways, those overcome by worldly fad in behavior or belief.
“For true believers,” Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles observed, “the tugs and pulls of the world—including its pleasures, power, praise, money, and preeminence—have always been there. Now, however, many once-helpful support systems are bent or broken. Furthermore, the harmful things of the world are marketed by pervasive technology and hyped by a media barrage, potentially reaching almost every home and hamlet.”1
And what are some of those “harmful things of the world”? Look around. Celebrity worshipping, materialism, self-interest, and some elements of fashion—in sweet, plain old hedonism—threaten our spiritual sensitivity each time we turn on the television, conduct an online search, or step out the front door.
We have been called to separate ourselves from wickedness (see Alma 5:57) and to be spiritual leaven to the world without becoming spiritually leveled by the world.
“When men say unto us, ‘you are not like us,’ we reply ‘we know it; we do not want to be,’” said President John Taylor (1808–87). “We want to be like the Lord, we want to secure His favor and approbation and to live under His smile, and to acknowledge, as ancient Israel did on a certain occasion ‘The Lord is our God, our judge and our king, and He shall reign over us.’”2
By revelation, the Lord commands us to “lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better” (Doctrine and Covenants 25:10). We have help in that task. For though we live in a confused, contentious, and commotion-filled world, because of divine direction, we need not “live without God in the world” (Mosiah 27:31).
The Way to Safety
With the mantle of our apostolic ministry, we declare to the world that the restored Church of Jesus Christ is led by prophecy, seership, and revelation.
Having served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for nearly three decades, I can testify that the wise men who lead The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a grasp of moral and social issues exceeding that of any think tank or brain trust on earth. Our lives, travels, and breadth of background give us a view of the world that few others experience.
When we couple that collective experience with the mantle of our apostolic ministry, we can and do declare to the world that the restored Church of Jesus Christ is led by prophecy, seership, and revelation. The light that comes from that divine direction will guide modern Israel through the spiritual and physical dangers of a darkening world.
“Every time in my life when I have chosen to delay following inspired counsel or decided that I was an exception, I came to know that I had put myself in harm’s way,” said President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency. “Every time that I have listened to the counsel of prophets, felt it confirmed in prayer, and then followed it, I have found that I moved toward safety.”3 ~Elder Jeffrey R. Holland,
For Elder Holland’s complete article, click. . . . ‘Choose the Lord and His Prophet’. Liahona: June 2022, 5-9.
