"Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice"
Bishop H. David Burton
October 19, 2004
Sister Burton and I are delighted to be on this beautiful campus today. We are grateful for the very warm and cordial welcome we have received from administrators, faculty, and students. Thank you! Just two weeks ago we experienced another marvelous General Conference of the Church. It seems to me that each General Conference is better than the previous one. Perhaps that’s a reflection on my age. I love General Conference time and the spirit and enthusiasm each conference engenders. We are still basking in the afterglow of the conference. I hope each of you can still feel the warmth of the sweet spirit of that special conference. As I look back on the conference, I recall the beauty and vitality of the music performed. I recall the electricity in the air when we were taught the order of the Church as two great men were called to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood office of Apostle. I suspect there were a few wows expressed on this campus as one of those names was so familiar and such an integral part of this institution. It raises a question. How do you address your Apostle/President? Elder? President? I suspect he would prefer to forego the issues of protocol if he could and just be called dear friend.
The Wednesday morning preceding conference, President Hinckley, in addressing the General Authorities, talked about the process of selecting members of the Twelve and indicated he did not know the will of the Lord at that time pertaining to the replacement of Elders Haight and Maxwell. The next day during the temple meeting he again talked about the process but finished his remarks by saying that he knew the will of the Lord in the matter but we would have to wait to find out.
It seemed to me this conference was primarily focused on basic doctrine. We heard much about faith, repentance, testimony, love, covenants, fasting, and the Savior, just to name a few. General conferences seem to take upon themselves a distinct personality as they roll out. It is as if a master menu of compatible and coordinated themes have been decreed from on high. Of course, such is not the case. Inspired men and women, blessed by the Lord, and tutored by the Spirit independently combine to produce the unique event we know as General Conference.
This past conference my assignment was to speak during the last hour of the last day. By the time I spoke the conference’s personality had been well established. As each preceding speaker finished their inspired remarks I began to feel like I was the only one who failed to get the message or that I was going the wrong way on a freeway. My chosen theme (I hope inspired theme) was not within the personality sphere of the conference. Faced with prospect of delivering my prepared remarks or relying on the Spirit for "up to the pulpit" inspiration, I decided to give my prepared "more can be less" speech. I do know and understand the difference between wisdom and valor, so I proceeded with what I had prepared. I really don’t know how the message was received by members around the world. I earnestly pray I didn’t detract from the Spirit and personality of this sacred event.
Two little stories give me hope. Two days after General Conference concluded I received this letter:
Dear Bishop Burton,
Our family has been saving for about a year to go to Disneyland. The children have never been, and it’s been fun for them to work on chores and help earn the money to go.
After learning about the hurricanes and devastation, particularly in Haiti, the children (ages 8, 7 and 4 years old) decided we should send our trip money to help.
There has been some concern from our 8-year-old that writing this letter is bragging, but I (the mom) felt that it makes it more personal and meaningful knowing the source, so to speak. Thank you for your love and service.
Love,
A family happily saving for Disneyland next year!
The anonymous letter postmarked from Snowflake, Arizona contained a bank draft for one thousand dollars.
The second story is a little closer to home. It involves an eight-year-old grandson. It seems as little Sam, our wonderful grandson, has been collecting Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards (I had not heard of them before and know little about them) and happened to acquire one of the most cherished and sought-after cards called the Blue-eyed White Dragon. A friend learned Sam owned the rare card and attempted to negotiate a trade. After much give and take, a deal was struck between the two boys. Sam would receive a whole stack of his friend’s cards and in turn Sam would surrender the Blue-eyed White Dragon card. During Family Home This evening on the day after conference Sam’s family talked about conference talks. On Sunday, Sam had attended General Conference to render much needed support to his grandfather. Sam, of course, heard the more can be less talk. Late Monday evening Sam came to his mother sobbing. She inquired why he was crying. Between sobs he tearfully said: “Grandpa is right. More is not better. I want the Blue-eyed White Dragon more than all the cards I received in trade.” Mother and son had a soothing conversation.
The rest of the story follows. Unbeknownst to Sam his older brother was a witness to the negotiations and the ultimate trade. He quietly negotiated a trade himself. By parting with a popular toy he gained possession of the valuable card. He didn’t share his secret with Sam. On Tuesday morning Sam asked his mother if it would be OK if he went to his friend and asked him to reverse the trade. Sam’s wise mother said, “You can ask but know that you likely will not be successful and remember a deal is a deal.” It was when he approached his friend that Sam learned his own brother was the owner of the favorite card. Appropriate arrangements were made, and now Sam has resumed ownership of the much revered Blue-eyed White Dragon and is also much wiser when it comes to more may not necessarily be better.
One hundred seven years ago the personality of a general conference was detected by then President of the Church, Wilford Woodruff. His feelings prompted him to conclude the conference by offering the following comments:
There are a few moments I would like to spend in talking upon one particular point that has been spoken about today. Brother Brigham has referred to it, and our brethren this fore-noon alluded to it. It is in regard to the written word of God and the living oracles. Perhaps you may think that Brother Woodruff is hardly a suitable man to speak upon this subject, seeing he is President of the Church, but I think you will find I am when I get through. I will refer to a certain meeting I attended in the town of Kirtland in my early days. At that meeting some remarks were made that have been made here today, with regard to the living oracles and with regard to the written word of God. The same principle was presented, although not as extensively as it has been here, when a leading man in the Church got up and talked upon the subject, and said: ‘You have got the word of God before you here in the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants; you have the written word of God, and you who give revelations should give revelations according to those books, as what is written in those books is the word of God. We should confine ourselves to them.’
When he concluded, Brother Joseph turned to Brother Brigham Young and said, “Brother Brigham I want you to take the stand and tell us your views with regard to the written oracles and the written word of God.” Brother Brigham took the stand, and he took the Bible, and laid it down; he took the Book of Mormon, and laid it down; and he took the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and laid it down before him, and he said: “There is the written word of God to us, concerning the work of God from the beginning of the world, almost to our day. And now,” said he, “when compared with the living oracles those books are nothing to me; those books do not convey the word of God direct to us now, as do the words of a Prophet or a man bearing the Holy Priesthood in our day and generation. I would rather have the living oracles than all the writing in the books. That was the course he pursued.”
When he was through, Brother Joseph said to the congregation: “Brother Brigham has told you the word of the Lord, and he has told you the truth.”
Now before any of you decide to throw away your scriptures or allow dust to gather on them, listen to what additional advice President Woodruff gave:
We should all understand this. The Bible is all right, the Book of Mormon is all right, the Doctrine and Covenants is all right, and they proclaim the work of God and the word of God in the earth in this day and generation until the coming of the Son of Man; but the Holy Priesthood is not confined particularly to those books, that is, it did not cease when those books were made.
English lexicon continues to evolve over time. Today “alright” is one word and usually conveys an unenthusiastic approval. “Oh, that’s alright,” with a shrug of the shoulders is a typical response. President Woodruff’s “all right” was two words and literally meant all is right or true. Therefore, President Woodruff was not giving the scriptures a casual unenthusiastic endorsement but rather a strong, ringing statement of their veracity and value.
I love the words of the modern, latter-day prophets just as I love the scriptures. Along with my scriptures I carry what I term my “Hinckley Bible.” I hope that title is appropriate. It is a compilation of President Hinckley’s messages delivered in General Conference since he was sustained as President of the Church. I read and refer to President Hinckley’s words just as I study the scriptures.
At this past conference one of the landmark talks on the need for apostles and prophets was given by one who has been ordained to the holy apostleship, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Can you remember what he said? Why does Christ’s church have a foundation of apostles and prophets? Let me remind you using Elder Holland’s text:
Among other reasons, so ‘that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive’(Ephesians 4:14).
“Thus,” Elder Holland continued,
the apostolic and prophetic foundation of the Church was to bless in all times, but especially in times of adversity or danger, times when we might feel like children, confused or disoriented, perhaps a little fearful, times in which the devious hand of men or the maliciousness of the devil would attempt to unsettle or mislead. Against such times as come in our modern day, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve are commissioned by God and sustained by you as ‘prophets, seers, and revelators,’ with the President of the Church...authorized to exercise all of the revelatory and administrative keys for the Church.
Elder Holland noted that
the incomparable Ralph Waldo Emerson rocked the very foundations of New England ecclesiastical orthodoxy when he said to the Divinity School at Harvard: ‘It is my duty to say to you that the need was never greater [for] new revelation than now. The doctrine of inspiration is lost. . . . Miracles, prophecy,. . . . the holy life, exist as ancient history [only]. . . . Men have come to speak of . . . revelation as somewhat long ago given and done, as if God were dead. . . . It is the office of a true teacher,’ he warned, ‘to show us that God is, not was; that He speaketh, not spake.’ In essence, Mr. Emerson was saying, ‘If you persist in handing out stones when people ask for bread, they will eventually stop coming to the bakery’ (Louis Cassels, quoted in Howard W. Hunter, “Spiritual Famine,” Ensign 1973, 64).
In conclusion Elder Holland asked: “Do you believe God speaks to man?” And in response to his question he answered:
In all else that he accomplished in his brief 38 and a half years, Joseph left us above all else the resolute legacy of divine revelation—not a single, isolated revelation without evidence or consequence, and not a ‘mild sort of inspiration seeping into the minds of all good people’ everywhere, but specific, documented, ongoing directions from God. As a good friend and faithful LDS scholar has succinctly put it, ‘At a time when the origins of Christianity were under assault by the forces of Enlightenment rationality, Joseph Smith [unequivocally and singlehandedly] returned modern Christianity to its origins in revelation.
I hope we understand the magnificence of the legacy left by the prophet of the restoration.
So what did the prophets teach us this past general conference? What do you remember just fifteen days after the event? Perhaps we need a mini-refresher course in General Conference 101. Less than one minute into his opening comments, President Hinckley surprised everyone, as he is prone to do on occasion. What was the surprise? A marvelous lesson in Church governance. Without the roll of drums or the sound of a trumpets he quietly expressed the will of the Lord by saying with sobriety and dignity:
After fasting and prayer we have called Elder Dieter Friedrich Uchtdorf and Elder David Allan Bednar to fill [the] vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. We present their names to you this morning. You may not know them, but you will soon get acquainted with them. Those of you who feel you can sustain them in this sacred calling will please signify by the uplifted hand. Any who may be opposed?
What should we have learned from this simple event—An event which had not taken place for over nine years and probably beyond the memory of many of you? A prophet, after fasting and praying, received the will of the Lord and nominated; a quorum of Apostles ratified the nomination; and the membership of the Church lifted their hands to signify their desire to sustain. We witnessed, firsthand, how the Lord governs His kingdom.
President Hinckley will be fondly remembered for many things. Perhaps the construction of temples will be the one that most will remember. Do you recall what he said about temple construction? As he talked about the condition of the Church he stated: “We continue to build temples. We recently broke ground for a new temple in Sacramento, California, the seventh in that state, where we have the second largest membership of any state in the United States.”
He continued:
The temples in the Salt Lake City area are extremely busy and at times are overloaded. For this reason, we have determined to build a new temple in the Salt Lake Valley. The location of the site will be announced shortly. It may appear that we are unduly favoring this area. But temple attendance is such that we must accommodate those who wish to come. And if the present growth trends continue, we shall probably need yet another.
And then to the delight of Church members in Idaho he announced:
We will construct another temple in Idaho, where we have the third largest membership in the United States. Plans are going forward for one in Rexburg. Now we are also planning to build another in the city of Twin Falls. This temple will serve thousands of our members who live [in that area].
What is the underlying significance of these temple announcements? I submit, a prophet of God continues to be prompted to go forward in building temples so the great work of redeeming the dead can be accomplished. What does it mean for you and me? It means we will be asked to sacrifice some of our time to keep the lights of the temples burning. As the conference concluded, President Hinckley had something to say about keeping the lights of the temple burning. Do you remember? In a pleading way he said:
I would hope that we might go to the house of the Lord a little more frequently. As I indicated at the opening session, we have done all that we know how to do to bring temples closer to our people. There are still many who have to travel long distances. I hope they will continue to make that effort until such time as a temple is justified in their midst.
Further he observed:
Most of our temples could be much busier than they are. In this noisy, bustling, competitive world, what a privilege it is to have a sacred house where we may experience the sanctifying influence of the Spirit of the Lord. The element of selfishness crowds in upon us constantly. We need to overcome it, and there is no better way than to go the house of the Lord and there serve in a vicarious relationship in behalf of those who are beyond the veil of death. . . . Just as our redeemer gave His life as a vicarious sacrifice for all men, and in so doing became our Savior, even so we, in a small measure, when we engage in proxy work in the temple, become as saviors to those on the other side who have no means of advancing unless something is done in their behalf of those on earth.
And then this prophetic promise:
It [temple proxy work] will refine your natures. It will peel off the selfish shell in which most of us live. It will literally bring a sanctifying element into our lives and make us better men and better women.
I can only say "wow" to these prophetic promises.
President Hinckley reminded us that the Book of Mormon was recently included in the list of the 20 most influential books ever published. Do you recall what he then announced? He said: “We are now joining hands with a commercial publisher to enlarge the distribution of this sacred volume, this second witness of the Lord Jesus Christ.” What does it mean to “join hands with a commercial publisher?” It means this sacred record will be available in thousands of book stores and other retail outlets that probably would not otherwise carry the book. I have with me, and I’m sure most of you cannot see it, one of the first copies published by Doubleday. In the flyleaf page Doubleday states:
For the 12 million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worldwide, the Book of Mormon is literally the word of God, a companion volume to the Bible that contains the everlasting gospel. With the faith now of one of the fastest-growing religions in the country, Doubleday is proud to publish this first official trade edition of the Book of Mormon by special arrangement with the Church.
While there are, of course, uncertainties in ventures of this sort, the positive possibilities are astronomical.
President Hinckley concluded the priesthood session speaking to a theme he has spoken about a number of times. Sisters, while the prophet spoke with candor directly to the brethren, I would like to broaden the audience to include you. While what was discussed used to be largely an addiction involving men, times have changed, and more and more women are falling victims to this malady. This is what our beloved President said with deep emotion: “I reluctantly speak to a theme that I have dealt with before. I do it in the spirit of the words of Alma who said: ‘This is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance’ (Alma 29:9).” I hope we listen very intently when a prophet of God issues a call to repentance. When the Lord prompts His prophet to remind us multiple times, we need to take heed. This is the way President Hinckley approached the subject. “While the matter of which I speak was a problem then [referring to the last time he warned us] it is a much more serious problem now. It grows increasingly worse.” Listen carefully to the words he chose: “It is like a raging storm, destroying individuals and families, utterly ruinng what was once wholesome and beautiful. I speak of pornography in all of its manifestations.” Then he said, “And sin it is. It is devilish. It is totally inconsistent with the spirit of the gospel, with personal testimony of the things of God, and with the life of one who has been ordained to the holy priesthood.” We may also say the same for all of us who have membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
President Hinckley described the seriousness of the problem by saying:
Suffice it to say that all who are involved become victims. Children are exploited, and their lives are severely damaged. The minds of youth become warped with false concepts. Continued exposure leads to addiction that is almost impossible to break. Men [and women], so very many, find they cannot leave it alone. Their energies and their interests are consumed in the dead-end pursuit of this raw and sleazy fare.
We have learned that when President Hinckley brings sin to our attention he always suggests some way to remedy and avoid the sin. So what did he suggest on this occasion?
He said: “The excuse is given that it is hard to avoid, that it is right at our fingertips and there is no escape.” You can tell he doesn’t buy into that often-used excuse. Rather he draws our attention to a simple analogy about the weather. What was it? “Suppose a storm is raging and the winds howl and the snow swirls about you. You find yourself unable to stop it [the wind and snow]. But you can dress properly and seek shelter, and the storm will have no effect upon you.”
“Likewise,” he said, “even though the Internet is saturated with sleazy material, you do not have to watch it. You can retreat to the shelter of the gospel and its teaching of cleanliness and virtue and purity of life.” He described some remedies which included “not viewing salacious magazines; not reading books laden with smut; not watching television that is beneath wholesome standards; not renting movies that depict that which is filthy and not sitting at the computer and playing with pornographic material found on the Internet.”
President Hinckley’s concluding pleas stirred my soul as he addressed those engaged in pornographic material when he said:
If there be any within the sound of my voice who are doing so, then may you plead with the Lord out of the depths of your soul that He will remove from you the addiction which enslaves you. And may you have the courage to seek the loving guidance of your bishop and, if necessary, the counsel of caring professionals.
May our Father in Heaven bless us with the desire, courage and ability to listen to and follow the words of living prophets.
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