June 2 - Prophets and the Priesthood

We finished up our prophet presentations.  Each of the students did a marvelous job researching the prophets' lives, sharing their discoveries, and discussing the prophets' messages and testimonies!  They were resourceful in getting information from scriptures, biographies and other church literature, church websites, Internet search engines, and Wikipedia.

To conclude our discussion of prophets, I shared some insights from President Spencer W. Kimball's life, including his diminutive stature, his love of sports, his battle with throat cancer though he'd never smoked or used tobacco in his life, and his struggle to accept his calling as an apostle:

"On 8 July 1943, while having lunch at home, Kimball received a telephone call from J. Reuben Clark, then the first counselor to church president Heber J. Grant, notifying him that he had been called to fill one of the vacancies. Kimball was initially so shocked by the call that he asked Clark's permission to ponder it for several days before coming to Salt Lake City to meet with him in person as part of a previously scheduled family trip. After the phone call, Kimball's desire to accept the calling was overwhelmed by feelings of self-doubt and incompetence. Kimball's wife recounted that, although he was not prone to tears, he afterward lay on the floor of their home and wept uncontrollably as she tried to comfort him.

"The following week, Kimball and his wife went as planned to Boulder, Colorado, to visit their oldest son, Spencer LeVan, and his family. Unable to sleep and having begun to fast, Kimball around midnight began climbing a nearby mountain to seek solace from his intense emotional struggle with his own feelings of inadequacy and doubt. He later wrote of the experience, 'How I prayed! How I suffered! How I wept! How I struggled!' After falling asleep on the mountain shortly after sunrise, Kimball recorded dreaming of his grandfather Heber C. Kimball and his life, and found that it had brought peace to his worries. He later wrote: 'My tears were dry, my soul was at peace. A calm feeling of assurance came over me, doubt and questionings subdued...and I felt nearer my Lord than ever at any time in my life.'

"Kimball traveled to Salt Lake City, where he met with David O. McKay, then second counselor to Grant. McKay assured Kimball of his call to the apostleship, and Kimball formally accepted. The news was released immediately, and Kimball was sustained by the LDS membership at the October 1943 General Conference. He was ordained an apostle and added to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the Salt Lake Temple on 7 October 1943, by Heber J. Grant." ("Spencer W. Kimball", wikipedia.org)

Then, I introduced the new topic for this month: Priesthood and Priesthood Keys, and we closed with a couple of inspiring stories:

Emily - Dare to Stand Alone
Maile - Hearing His Voice 

These videos were great, and I really appreciate Emily and Maile for remembering and for their willingness to go first!  I also can't wait to see what the other students share!

References

Spencer W. Kimball. Photo by Brigham Young University. Dept. of Religious Education; Brigham Young University. In public domain. Originally from Harold B. Lee Library, Digital Collections, Religious Education Image Archive. Courtesy of LDS Church Archives. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Spencer_W._Kimball.JPG on 6/2/13.

"Spencer W. Kimball: Called to the Quorum of the Twelve (1943)". Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_w_kimball on 6/12/13.