“Come Listen to a Prophet’s Voice: Latter-day Prophets Speak,” Friend, Oct. 2006, 2–3
Come Listen to a Prophet’s Voice:
Latter-day Prophets Speak
Following the prophet is like building on a solid foundation. As we obey his counsel, we will have strength to be righteous and faith to overcome fear.
The first latter-day prophet, Joseph Smith, once said, “It is the privilege of the children of God to come to God and get revelation.”1 One way we can receive revelation from Heavenly Father and know what He wants us to do is by listening to His prophets. Here are statements from four latter-day prophets, including our leader today—President Gordon B. Hinckley.
“I feel to exhort and counsel you, my young friends, to listen to the voice of God and obey it while young, as Samuel did, that you may be great, good, and useful, and the beloved of the Lord and your parents and by all good men. Obey your parents and honor them, for by doing this you will obtain those great blessings which God has promised you.”2
Wilford Woodruff (1807–98), Fourth President of the Church
“I raise my warning voice this day to the youth of Zion. Be not deceived when storms of persecution break over your heads. There will be unkind things said in the future as there have been in the past. See that your feet are planted upon the rock. … If you are pure and virtuous and upright, the evil one will have no power to destroy you.”3
George Albert Smith (1870–1951), Eighth President of the Church
“Heavenly Father … wants you to pray to Him every day. He wants to help you because He loves you, and He will help you if you pray to Him and ask Him for His help. In your prayers, also thank Him for your blessings. Thank Him for sending our oldest brother, Jesus Christ, into the world. He made it possible for us to return to our heavenly home. Thank Him for your family. Thank Him for the Church. Thank Him for this beautiful world you live in. Ask Him to protect you. In your prayers, ask Him to help you know what to do in your life. When you make mistakes, your Heavenly Father still loves you. So pray to Him, and He will help you try again to do right.”4
Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994), Thirteenth President of the Church
“I love you children. You are very much the same the world over. Regardless of the color of your skin and of the circumstances in which you live, you carry with you a beauty that comes of innocence and of the fact that it was not long ago that you lived with your Father in Heaven. How lovely you are, wherever you are, you precious children!”5
“I know this work is true. I know that God our Eternal Father lives. I am thankful for the knowledge that He loves us as His children. I am grateful that I feel in my heart a great love for Him. I know He lives, my Father in Heaven. I can scarcely comprehend the wonder of it all. He who is the Creator and Governor of the universe knows me, knows you, each of you children. … He knows you, He loves you, He is concerned for you. I know that Jesus is my Redeemer, my Lord, my Savior.”6
Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–), Fifteenth President of the Church
Illustration by Richard Hull