Archive of messages sent while serving as a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
When my grandpa Sullivan was a new convert of 10 or 11 years
old, he went with his mom to a regional conference in the San Francisco Bay
area. Upon arrival my grandpa thought the park across the street looked much
more interesting than a stuffy church meeting. He and a few others boys his age
went to leave the meeting. As they were leaving, an older gentleman invited
them back and promised it would be worth their time.
That older gentleman was President Heber J. Grant. He was
presiding at the meeting and took the time to invite the rowdy boys back in!
I love that story about my grandpa. To me, I see that small
act as my Heavenly Father being aware of my young grandpa and his posterity to
come. Would my grandpa have been an active member of the church had President
Grant not invited him back? Probably. But, I believe that the prophet listened
to the promptings of the Spirit to help my grandpa, and ultimately to help me,
through that small invitation.
Since then, prophets continued to play a great role in my
family. It was a devotional address given by President Spencer W. Kimball that
led to my own mother’s conversion at 17. It was a conference address given by
President Ezra Taft Benson and read by President Thomas S. Monson that gave me
my first testimony of prophets.
We now have the opportunity to sustain a new prophet,
President Russell M. Nelson.
In his October 2014 General Conference talk, then Elder
Nelson said, “If the Restoration did anything, it shattered the age-old myth
that God had stopped talking to His children. Nothing could be further from the
truth. A prophet has stood at the head of God’s Church in all dispensations,
form Adam to the present day. Prophets testify of Jesus Christ—of His divinity
and of His earthly mission and ministry.”
Living revelation and a living prophet continue to bless my
life and your life today.
If you do not have a testimony of prophets, or your own
witness of President Nelson’s divine calling, I invite you to seek that
conviction. Seek it through study and prayer.
May the Lord bless you in all that you do,
Bishop Sullivan
