Unsurprisingly – he is humbled.
I have often wondered if an apostle had some unusual experience in preparation for their calling. The spirit whispers that they do not experience anything that is unusual for them – they walk a path of improvement and spiritual closeness with the Savior such that no experience greater than they have already had is necessary for them to bare their witness.
For much of my life, I have been trying to become what {my wife} thought I already was.
Never have I seen any personal positioning for influence or power.
Rather, I have seen their loyalty and care for their wives and children. I have experienced their love and their sure witness of our Heavenly Father and His Son. I have watched them untiringly seek first to build up the kingdom of God. I have seen the power of God rest upon them and magnify and sustain them. . . I testify that they are the Lord’s anointed.
Our responsibility is not trivial; it is not by chance that we are who we are; the keeping of our covenants in these days of destiny will be a badge of honor throughout all the eternities.
We must remember, my dear brothers and sisters, who we are and what we have in our hands. We are not alone in our desire to do good; there are wonderful people of many faiths and beliefs.
We are not alone in praying to our Heavenly Father or in receiving answers to our prayers.
We are not alone in sacrificing for a greater cause.
Others share our faith in Christ. There are loyal and decent fathers and mothers in every land who love each other and love their children. There is much we can learn from the good people all around us.
Yet we must not shrink from what is uniquely and singularly found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Only here is the priesthood of God. Only here does the Book of Mormon stand with the Bible in revealing and declaring the full divinity and gospel of Christ. Only here are there prophets of God, bringing guidance from heaven and holding the keys that bind in heaven what is bound on earth.
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