Many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints were saddened to hear recently the Church’s statement that President Thomas S. Monson will no longer be attending meetings at the Church offices regularly. The prophet’s age is beginning to wear on him, so some of his duties will need to be given to his counselors, President Eyring and President Uchtdorf. Some people both inside and outside of the Church are asking, “How will things work now?”
Well, they will work in the same way that things have always worked in the Lord’s church. The prophet will rely on those who have been called to serve with him.
This is not the first time since the restoration of the Church that the prophet has not been able to fulfill his usual tasks. President Gordon B. Hinckley served as a counselor to three different prophets, and he spent years working with prophets in the same position President Monson is in now. President Hinckley described in a talk the situation he found himself in when he and President Marion G. Romney were counselors to the ill President Spencer W. Kimball:
“Then President Romney became ill, thus leaving to me an almost overwhelming burden of responsibility. I counseled frequently with my Brethren of the Twelve, and I cannot say enough of appreciation to them for their understanding and for the wisdom of their judgment. In matters where there was a well-established policy, we moved forward. But no new policy was announced or implemented, and no significant practice was altered without sitting down with President Kimball and laying the matter before him and receiving his full consent and full approval.”
Clearly, some things cannot or will not be done except through the prophet. That helps keeps the Church moving in the right direction. But God has always granted His prophets with counselors, apostles, and others to assist them in their work. Remember the story of when Aaron and Hur, held up the arms of Moses as Israel fought in a battle? Or when Jesus called Peter, James, and John to lead the apostles? God works in the same way today.
President Hinckley’s also bore this testimony: “Even though I, too, had been sustained as a prophet, seer, and revelator, along with my Brethren of the Twelve, I knew also that none of us was the President of the Church. I knew that the Lord prolonged the life of President Kimball for purposes known to the Lord, and I had perfect faith that this prolonging of life was for a reason under the wisdom of Him who has greater wisdom than any man.”
President Monson, too, is still with us for a good reason. He will continue to lead the church in the ways that he can, and his counselors will aid him in that work. And we can sustain them all.. .
