Twice a year, during the first of April and the first of October, we all gather as a wide body of members and friends to listen to the Prophet and Apostles and other church leaders. General Conference is what this special meeting is called and click here to read about what General Conference is. This is one of my favorite times of year, and it's not because my dad makes the greatest homemade cinnamon rolls, but because I feel as the people must have in Moses' time or Abraham or Jacob or even the great orator Paul of the New Testament. They must have been excited and anxious to learn of the Prophet coming to their town to give them the words of God. I wonder if they went around and told their families and friends who it was that was coming and what that meant to hear the words of a Prophet of God. We now read those words that they heard first hand so many years ago.
On Saturday we were able to participate in a solemn assembly to sustain the new Prophet of the Church. President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away on February 27, 2008 and President Thomas S. Monson was called and sustained to take on the mantel of Prophet, Seer, and Revelator for all members and friends worldwide. In the solemn assembly, each quorum of the Priesthood was able to stand and sustain Thomas S. Monson as the Prophet of God. Below is a picture of the gesture one makes to signify that they sustain the newly called person.
As President Thomas S. Monson walked to the pulpit and began to speak to us, I was amazed that not only do I get to hear him speak, but churches and homes all over the world were also able to simultaneously hear the Prophet's voice. This has not happened in dispensations of the Church in the past. As President Monson spoke, I could feel the love of Heavenly Father. I know that He is aware of our situation, circumstance and happenings of our time just as much as He was concerned and cared for the people during Moses' dispensation, and Isiah and the Apostles of the New Testament. He spoke to His people so many years ago because He loved them, and He speaks to us today, because He loves us. He did not loose the power to call Prophets and speak to them, nor has He stopped caring. I know that just having a Prophet on the earth is a sign of God's love and hope for the welfare of His children on earth.
The First Presidency: Prophet Thomas S. Monson (sitting), President Henry B. Eyring (1st counselor), President Dieter F. Uchtdorf (2nd counselor)
Conference Center in Salt Lake City, UT
