Testimony #1

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Twice a year, on the first weekend of April and the first weekend of October, the entire worldwide membership "gathers," in person as well as through the use of modern media, to hear the words of Church leaders and to receive revelation from them.

This time, I feel impressed to share a realization that I had while listening to this April's General Conference of the Church. But first, a bit of background information.

The worldwide leadership of the Church consists of twelve Apostles, led by a Presidency consisting of the Prophet, and two Counselors (think Moses, Aaron, and Caleb). So, fifteen men in total. When a Prophet dies, all the Apostles assemble together and pray to receive unanimous revelation to sustain the new Prophet. Since the beginning of the Church in the Latter Days, the next Prophet has always been the Apostle of highest seniority-- he who has been in the Apostleship the longest.

When a new Prophet is called, or when an Apostle dies, a vacancy appears in the Quorum of Apostles that must be filled. When a new Apostle is being called, all the current Apostles assemble and while the exact process is unknown to me, in the end they all come to an agreement (the vote must be unanimous) as to who should be called to fill the vacancy.

I can't imagine this to be an easy process. With so many worthy men in the Church to choose from, how could one possibly be selected-- and unanimously at that-- without revelation from God?

And here's the realization I had today. While listening to this April's Conference, it was pointed out how our current Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, was called to be an Apostle at the very young age of thirty-six! He had three children at the time, ranging in ages from four to twelve. Historically, very few Apostles (save in the very beginning of the Church when there were far fewer members) have been called that young.

Knowing what I know about the importance of Family in the Church, and how much all the Church leaders obviously value the Family and cherish their own families, I just can't imagine that the Apostles at the time when President Monson was called to the Apostleship, would have decided on their own to call him to such a responsibility-laden calling. Surely they knew, when they called him, that he was still raising his children; that by calling him at such a young age, they were asking him to sacrifice much of the time that he could otherwise have spent playing with his children, supporting them in their activities, and watching them grow. And cherishing their own children as much as I'm sure they did, I can hardly imagine that any of those Apostles found it emotionally or psychologically comfortable to put such a burden on such a young father.

But, the Lord sees fit to call whom He will. And all those Apostles were enough in tune with the Holy Spirit to know that, while perhaps they did not understand the reason to call Thomas S. Monson to the Apostleship, God could see much farther ahead than they could and He had His own plans for this man.

What if those Apostles had not listened? What if they had instead listened to their own heads, and reasoned among themselves, "Well, Brother Monson is surely a worthy man; but he's so young, and his family is young; would it not be better to wait several years, for another vacancy in the Quorum?" But, if they had followed this sort of counsel, it is highly likely that Thomas S. Monson would not be our Prophet today.

The Lord sees fit to call whom He will. And I do not question the decisions of the Apostles and Prophet who lead this Church, because I know that they are ever seeking-- and receiving-- their revelation straight from Heaven.

Christ truly does lead His Church in the Latter Days. And that is my personal Testimony today.