Conference Lesson

The talks used in this lesson were:
Sustaining the Prophets by Russell M. Nelson
Live According to the Words of the Prophets by Carol F. McConkie

In Sacrament, there were a lot of changes in callings made. Many of our fellow sisters and brothers were sustained into new positions. The sustainings were unanimous. If you were in the meeting, you yourself probably sustained these fellow ward members.

What does it mean to sustain someone though? When we raise our right arm to the square what are we saying/doing?

When we sustain someone we are telling that person that we support them. That we think they will do a good job as whatever they were called to. We are saying that we will do what we need to to help them in their position in the church.

All callings come from the Lord. Yes, man delivers them and is flawed, but if we doubt a calling, we can pray to have a personal revelation that the called has come from the Lord.

How do we really sustain a prophet? Long before he became President of the Church, President Joseph F. Smith explained, “It is an important duty resting upon the Saints who … sustain the authorities of the Church, to do so not only by the lifting of the hand, the mere form, but in deed and in truth."

The Lord calls the prophet, He has promised us that the prophet will never lead us astray. Local leaders my become coorupted, but the Lord will never allow a prophet to lead us where He does not want us to go.

Elder Nelson shared this story as part of his lesson:

Well do I remember my most unique “deed” to sustain a prophet. As a medical doctor and cardiac surgeon, I had the responsibility of performing open-heart surgery on President Spencer W. Kimball in 1972, when he was Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He needed a very complex operation. But I had no experience doing such a procedure on a 77-year-old patient in heart failure. I did not recommend the operation and so informed President Kimball and the First Presidency. But, in faith, President Kimball chose to have the operation, only because it was advised by the First Presidency. That shows how he sustained his leaders! And his decision made me tremble!

Thanks to the Lord, the operation was a success. When President Kimball’s heart resumed beating, it did so with great power! At that very moment, I had a clear witness of the Spirit that this man would one day become President of the Church!

 

20 months later President Kimball was made President of the church.

 

When we sustain prophets and other leaders, we invoke the law of common consent, for the Lord said, “It shall not be given to any one to go forth to preach my gospel, or to build up my church, except he be ordained by some one who has authority, and it is known to the church that he has authority and has been regularly ordained by the heads of the church.”

 

Twenty-six years before he became President of the Church, then-Elder George Albert Smith said: “The obligation that we make when we raise our hands … is a most sacred one. It does not mean that we will go quietly on our way and be willing that the prophet of the Lord shall direct this work, but it means … that we will stand behind him; we will pray for him; we will defend his good name, and we will strive to carry out his instructions as the Lord shall direct.”

 

When we sustain someone, we need to support them and help them however we can.

 

Moving on to Sister McConkie's talk.

 

Concerning the living prophet, the Lord commands the people of His Church:

“Thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me;

“For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.

“For by doing these things the gates of hell shall not prevail against you.”

To be in harmony with heaven’s divine purposes, we sustain the prophet and choose to live according to his words.

 

In a world threatened by a famine of righteousness and spiritual starvation, we have been commanded to sustain the prophet. As we give heed to, uphold, and affirm prophetic word, we witness that we have the faith to humbly submit to the will, the wisdom, and the timing of the Lord.

 

We heed prophetic word even when it may seem unreasonable, inconvenient, and uncomfortable. According to the world’s standards, following the prophet may be unpopular, politically incorrect, or socially unacceptable. But following the prophet is always right. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”

 

If we are not able to follow the little things in life we are asked to do, we will struggle with the big things we are asked to do.

Many years ago the prophet asked women to only have 1 earring per ear. For some this was a struggle, "why does it matter how many earrings are in my ears?" "More than one earring does not make me a bad person."
Others accepted this counsel, went home and removed the excess earrings.
If we can not abide by the "small" things we are counseled to do, we will struggle with the larger and harder parts of the gospel.