The word that cometh forth from the Lord

 As a missionary, I taught a lot of people about the importance of having a living prophet on the earth. Think about it for a minute--why would God have sent prophets like Moses and Noah to the earth in ancient times and then just leave us here by ourselves? We need direction and guidance just as much, if not more, than those people did. And luckily for us, we have a wonderfully loving Heavenly Father who has sent us that guidance. 

Twice a year we get to hear from our prophet and the apostles. I am so happy to belong to a Church whose organization is not only the same as in Christ's primitive church, but is also still led today by Him. 

I wanted to share one of my favorite scriptures about prophets. It's from Ezekiel 33:

Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 

Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:

If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;

Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 

He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.

...

So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

Basically the Lord is telling us here that He has a watchman in the tower already: the prophet (and by extension the apostles and other general authorities of the Church). He is there to warn us of things to come and help us prepare for trials ahead.

...

Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh from the Lord.

I love that. In Doctrine & Covenants 1:38, it says, "What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." So when we listen to the voice of His servants, we are really listening to His voice.

This scripture in Ezekiel goes on to talk about people who will say things like that ("Come, I pray you, and hear...") but then they won't really pay attention. People who hear the words but "do them not." And then it says:

And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.

So what I'm telling you is that a prophet is among us. And he's speaking to us today and tomorrow in the general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

And you should watch.