Mormons don’t believe God is incapable of speaking to us today, nor do we believe He doesn’t love us enough to guide us toward the second coming in the same way He guided His children toward the first coming.

The Bible teaches us to trust and obey the prophets–remember what happened to the people who refused to trust and listen to Noah? That is the job of a prophet–not to replace Jesus, but to lead people to Him.

The Mormon Church has a lay clergy. That is, the members of the Church are called to fill the various positions of leadership and service that enable the Church to function for the benefit of its members. Most callings to positions are temporary. There is no system of progress from position to position, and members are not supposed to covet or vie for positions. Members do not vote for people who are called to various positions, but they are asked to “sustain” other members in their callings, and to manifest that sustaining with a raise of their right hands in the appropriate church meeting. This fulfills the law of common consent, wherein the entire kingdom of God functions as all its members uphold it. To sustain someone in a calling means to support, help, pray for, and strengthen the person as he or she serves. Members have the right to refuse to sustain a person they think should not be called. The member is asked in private to explain the reasons for abstaining. And leaders take to heart this information, and act upon it, if necessary.

No one in a position in the LDS Church has been professionally trained, or has gone to divinity school to prepare him or her for a calling. The Holy Spirit prompts the person as he or she is prayerful as to how to best serve, although there are guidelines, other leaders, and manuals to help. Bishops and bishoprics who lead local wards, and stake presidents with their counselors who lead stakes (groups of wards), try to counsel members according to the revelation they receive in their stewardships. Members then go to the Lord in personal prayer to receive validation of that counsel from the Holy Spirit. They then act on the counsel. This system requires humility both on the part of the leaders and the members. It also requires “charity,” including the quality of charity listed in the scriptures…longsuffering, not easily offended. Sometimes members are offended when they receive good counsel, because they are not truly humble and ready to accept that counsel. Other times, leaders are a little clumsy because they are simply human; perhaps they don’t express themselves perfectly; or their own experiences somehow are allowed to color their opinions. The member with charity can still accept counsel according to the validation from the Lord, even if the member doesn’t care for the manner in which it was given or feel personal chemistry for the person giving the counsel. The key here is humility. If a person feels beligerent towards his or her leaders, offended, or rebellious, then humility is usually wanting, and the person needs to work on becoming more Christlike and more centered on the Savior. This is impossible for an outsider to judge, especially as we are counseled to “judge not.”

It’s not commonly used in modern popular fiction or American English, but it is used in British literature, hymns, and scripture, and I still sometimes see it used by English speakers from England. Wordsworth used it, for instance, in his poetry. President Monson is very well read and this often shows in his vocabulary.

E.g. “oftimes”

Holy, holy, holy.

According to the talks we heard, the mind of the Lord seems to be: have faith, even when times get tough (which they probably will), Satan is getting even tougher (and the world’s moral decline is more like a spiralling swan dive), and for the Saints to get to the temple.

There were other messages of course, but those are the overriding impressions I got.

And to you, Pres. Monson, I give you my warmest regards and a willing heart. Thank you for this website.