Our First Presidency Message for the month of July comes to us from Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency. He reminds us that ours is a worldwide church, with members in nearly every nation, and that we all are children of our Heavenly Father, who shows us His love in part by providing us with living prophets. We have had an unbroken succession of prophets from Joseph Smith down to our present day, as we’ve recently seen with the passing of Gordon B. Hinckley and the sustaining of Thomas S. Monson. There is always a president at the helm of the Church.
Even though we may not all have ancestors who crossed the plains, those pioneers are our spiritual ancestors, and we are pioneers in our own right. President Uchtdorf shares of his growing up years in Germany right after World War II. His family had lost everything they owned, and yet, they also gained everything there was to gain, as this is when they found the Gospel. He speaks of being specifically touched by President George Albert Smith, who was the prophet at the time of his own baptism, and of feeling a connection to President David O. McKay. He also found a hero in the Apostle Paul, a Biblical prophet, whose words then are just as true today.
Our prophets act as watchmen on the towers, warning us of things ahead and reminding us of things that have passed and the significance of them. They speak to us the words of the Lord, and it’s our duty not only to listen but then to act on those words so that we might receive the blessings that will come from obedience.
One of the greatest recent pieces of counsel given by our prophets has been to teach the gospel to our children and to regularly study it in our homes. We should follow all the teachings of the prophets, but this one in particular will bring us great peace and joy.
We are urged to give careful heed to the words of the prophets and to be instruments in teaching those words to our children, so that we all together may be exalted and live together forever in the eternities.
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