Prophets, Seers, and Revelators
Vaiangina Sikahema, of the Seventy
Elder Sikahema urges us to cherish living prophets and heed their divine guidance.
Open talk in Gospel LibraryContents
Topics
Seek Apostolic Guidance Through Trials
Elder Sikahema recounts his grandparents’ costly journey to hear Elder Matthew Cowley. Their determination, even amid the death of their infant son, illustrates how deeply they value apostolic teaching and the restored gospel’s promise of eternal family relationships.
Grieving with empty arms, my grandparents got back on the boat, their mission not yet complete.
They were sailing toward an Apostle, who held priesthood keys, held the authority for the ordinances that would later seal them as an eternal family.
They sailed to sit at the feet of an Apostle, who would teach them their duty so they could bless others on their island with the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
How grateful I am for noble progenitors who left me and my posterity a legacy of faith and courage in the face of difficulties and obstacles.Key Points:
- The Wolfgramms regard an opportunity to hear an Apostle as a blessing worth significant effort.
- Their faith coexists with grief; the account acknowledges their mourning rather than suggesting that faithful disciples avoid sorrow.
- Priesthood keys and sealing ordinances give their journey meaning beyond the immediate opportunity to hear a sermon.
- They seek instruction so they can fulfill their missionary responsibilities and bless others.
- A legacy of faith and courage strengthens succeeding generations.
- What experience shows you the value of making time or overcoming obstacles to hear prophetic teaching?
- How does a teaching from a prophet or apostle help you find hope while you face grief or uncertainty?
- What example from a parent, grandparent, or other mentor helps you understand faith and courage?
- How does the promise of eternal family relationships influence your priorities or strengthen your trust in Jesus Christ?
Recognize God’s Guidance Through His Prophets
Elder Sikahema uses scripture to explain the need for prophetic revelation and the spiritual hunger that accompanies its absence. He contrasts warnings about apostasy and false teachers with the blessing of receiving the Lord’s direction through authorized prophets.
For centuries after the deaths of the ancient apostles and prophets until the boy Joseph knelt in the grove of trees near Palmyra, New York, there was no revelation to prophets.
Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock
Even in modern times, there are people who thirst to hear prophetic direction and guidance.Key Points:
- Amos describes a famine of hearing the words of the Lord, emphasizing the importance of access to divine guidance.
- The Lord reveals His purposes to His servants the prophets.
- Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul warn about false prophets and threats to the Church.
- Elder Sikahema presents the absence of prophetic revelation as a central feature of the period preceding the Restoration.
- The desire for prophetic direction continues in the modern world.
- When do competing voices leave you seeking clearer spiritual direction?
- What prophetic teaching helps you distinguish gospel truth from a popular but misleading message?
- How does studying the scriptures deepen your appreciation for the Lord’s pattern of calling prophets?
- What conversation helps you recognize another person’s desire for trustworthy spiritual guidance?
Hear Jesus Christ Through the Restored Gospel
Elder Sikahema identifies Joseph Smith’s First Vision as the beginning of the restoration of the Savior’s ancient Church. Through Joseph Smith, the Lord restores truths, priesthood authority, ordinances, scripture, and knowledge of His plan of salvation.
This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
With that clear, simple, and understated introduction, the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, would begin the work of restoring the Savior’s ancient Church through a then-teenage boy in upstate New York.
In the years that followed this momentous event, greater truths, priesthood authority, sacred ordinances, additional scriptures, and knowledge of God’s plan of salvation would all be restored or rediscovered through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
You see, my grandparents understood that the gospel restored by Joseph Smith revealed truths previously withheld from them.Key Points:
- The Father directs Joseph Smith to hear His Beloved Son, placing Jesus Christ at the center of the Restoration.
- The First Vision opens the work of restoring the Savior’s ancient Church.
- The Restoration includes priesthood authority and sacred ordinances, not merely additional religious ideas.
- Restored knowledge of God’s plan of salvation gives individuals and families lasting hope.
- Living prophets and apostles testify that the heavens are open and God continues to reveal His will.
- How does studying the First Vision help you strengthen your faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?
- Which restored truth gives you particular hope or helps you understand your relationship with God?
- How does participation in a priesthood ordinance deepen your appreciation for the Restoration?
- What practice helps you respond to the Father’s invitation to hear His Son?
Treasure and Act on Living Prophets’ Words
Elder Sikahema warns that easy access to prophetic messages can lead us to take them for granted. He emphasizes the authority of the Lord’s word through His servants and invites members to receive conference teachings with gratitude and seriousness.
And all they who receive the oracles of God, let them beware how they hold them lest they are accounted as a light thing
I suspect the Lord knew that even when we would have these devices (cell phones) to easily see and hear His anointed servants, many of us would still take them for granted.
What a blessing it is to live in a time when apostles and prophets are on the earth.
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 sameKey Points:
- Receiving prophetic messages carries a responsibility not to treat them lightly.
- Convenient access through technology does not automatically produce gratitude, attention, or action.
- Elder Sikahema contrasts his grandparents’ extraordinary effort with the ease of hearing prophets today.
- The account of objections to Joseph Smith’s writing highlights the danger of allowing a messenger’s limitations to overshadow the Lord’s revelation.
- The Lord affirms that His word remains authoritative whether He speaks directly or through His servants.
- Preparing for conference, studying its messages, and responding to its invitations are practical ways to treasure prophetic counsel.
- What habit helps you give prophetic messages your attention rather than treating them as background noise?
- How does acting on a specific invitation from general conference influence your discipleship?
- What helps you focus on the truth of a message rather than the speaker’s presentation or personal characteristics?
- How does returning to a conference message reveal a teaching you initially overlook?
- What simple change can you share that helps you or your family take prophetic counsel more seriously?
