I remember a long time ago that my parents took us all to a big meeting at some sort of sports arena. There, far away on a little stand, stood an aging man whom we had come to hear speak. He may have been a single person among thousands and so far away I could barely make out his face, but I could feel the spirit that he carried with him. I knew that he loved me, even though he didn't know me. I knew that he was a messenger of the Lord, called by God Himself to minister to us. I knew that Thomas S. Monson was a prophet.
Each time a President of the church has died we have been counseled to pray to know if he is called of God as a Prophet. I have had the Holy Ghost affirm that calling to me again and again. Well, I have known for so long, so strongly that President Monson is a prophet I didn't need to pray for that confirmation. I had that on that long ago day in Reno.
Ever since, when I hear him speak, I pay closer attention. When I read things written by him, it is not my voice speaking in my mind, it is his, I know his voice, his cadence that well, for I relish every word I hear him speak.
Thank you Lord, for President Thomas S. Monson, the Prophet.
Lawlor Events Center, U of NV Reno campus, and I was pregnant with Joseph, I think. It was a regional conference, and it took in at least three stakes if not more. I remember how he talked about giving away his suit to a member in Germany who suffered from the deprivations post WWII. I remember thinking, "The guy must have been huge!" because President Monson is no tiny guy, in stature, in heart, in presence, and in carrying the Spirit. You're right; he IS a prophet of God and I join with you in gratitude.
ReplyDeleteAnd your father was a part of the security force for that meeting, as he was when Spencer Kimball came (well before you were born) and later when Dallin Oaks came. The latter came to another regional conference, this time held in the Reno Convention Center, and you got to shake his hand after the meeting. President Monson was the third in the series, so I don't expect you to remember Elder Oaks' visit.