A couple of weeks ago, during a Sunday School class, the question was posed, “Why is it so hard to deal with trials?” — or something to that effect. I blurted out the first thought that came into my head: “Because Satan is a jerk,” I commented. It was a thought that perfectly encapsulated how I felt in the moment. Satan sees our trials as an opportunity to discourage us and to tear down our faith, and he spares no effort in his attempts. What a jerk, right?

Thankfully, we have ways of countering him, and one of those ways that I’m most grateful for will occur this weekend: general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Twice a year, we have 10 hours over a weekend dedicated to listening to the words of the prophet, apostles and other church leaders as they teach and encourage us according to the Lord’s will. I hope that we can hear from the current prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, via video recording this week after he announced that he would not be able to attend due to a back injury. But if not, I know the spirit will be palpably felt because of those who do speak to us, and I earnestly pray for a speedy recovery for President Nelson. In addition to the talks, we get to hear music meant to bring peace and the feeling of the Holy Ghost.

It seems as if every time general conference rolls around, I find myself thinking, “This really comes at a great time.” For whatever reason, I often find myself feeling a bit spiritually down in the days and weeks leading up to general conference. Well, I think I know the answer to that. It’s that jerk Satan again, who knows there is about to be this amazing conference that’s going to spiritually supercharge a bunch of people.

When I was growing up, I didn’t appreciate general conference. It was just a bunch of church leaders who I had no personal relationship with talking about concepts I didn’t really grasp using words I didn’t really understand. All I knew for sure was that I was going to have to sit on these hard metal chairs at the church building, because this was before cable and internet was widely available.

As I’ve grown older, however, I’ve truly come to enjoy general conference. And not just because I can now watch the proceedings from the comfort of where I live. There’s instruction mixed with encouragement mixed with humor, all meant to build our faith in Jesus Christ and his restored gospel.

A memorable talk from the last general conference in April that provided all of that was from Elder Allen D. Haynie titled “A Living Prophet for the Latter Days.”

He first shared how he came to know there is a prophet and the impact that this truth has. He then said:

“After all, a perfect and loving Father in Heaven has chosen the pattern of revealing truth to His children through a prophet, someone who never sought such a sacred calling and who has no need of our help to be aware of his own imperfections. A prophet is someone God has personally prepared, called, corrected, inspired, rebuked, sanctified and sustained. That is why we are never spiritually at risk in following prophetic counsel.”

He went on to talk about how having a prophet is encouraging, which should encourage all of us if we are staying close to the Lord.

“The scriptures reveal that in the last days there will be ‘a great hailstorm sent forth to destroy the crops of the earth,’ plagues, ‘wars and rumors of wars, and the whole earth shall be in commotion, … and iniquity shall abound.’

“When I was a child, those prophecies of the last days scared me and caused me to pray that the Second Coming would not come in my lifetime — with some success I might add so far. But now I pray for the opposite, even though the prophesied challenges are assured, because when Christ returns to reign, all of His creations will ‘lie down safely.’

“Current conditions in the world have caused some to panic. As God’s covenant children, we do not need to chase after this or that to know how to navigate through these troubled times. We do not need to fear. The doctrine and principles that we must follow to survive spiritually and endure physically are found in the words of a living prophet. That is why President M. Russell Ballard declared that ‘it is no small thing … to have a prophet of God in our midst.'”

Humor was woven throughout the address.

“One day, I walked into the cafeteria at church headquarters to have some lunch,” Haynie said. “After getting a tray of food, I entered the dining area and noticed a table at which all three members of the First Presidency were seated, along with one empty chair. My insecurities caused me to make a quick detour away from that table, and then I heard the voice of our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, saying, ‘Allen, there’s an empty chair right here. Come and sit down with us.’ And so I did.

“Near the end of the lunch, I was surprised to hear a loud crunching noise, and when I looked up, I saw that President Nelson had stood his plastic water bottle straight up and then flattened it and replaced the lid.

“President Dallin H. Oaks then asked the question I wanted to ask, ‘President Nelson, why did you flatten your plastic water bottle?’

“He replied, ‘It makes it easier for those who are handling recyclable materials because it doesn’t take up as much space in the recycling container.’

“While pondering that response, I heard the same crunching sound again. I looked to my right, and President Oaks had flattened his plastic water bottle just like President Nelson. I then heard some noise to my left, and President Henry B. Eyring was flattening his plastic water bottle, although he had adopted a different strategy by doing it while the bottle was horizontal, which took more effort than with the bottle straight up. Noticing this, President Nelson kindly showed him the bottle-straight-up technique to more easily flatten the bottle.

“At that point, I leaned over to President Oaks and quietly asked, ‘Is flattening your plastic water bottle a new recycling requirement of the cafeteria?’

“President Oaks responded, with a smile on his face, ‘Well, Allen, you need to follow the prophet.’

“I’m confident that President Nelson was not declaring some new recycling-based doctrine in the cafeteria that day. But we can learn from the prompt response of President Oaks and President Eyring to President Nelson’s example and President Nelson’s attentiveness to help teach those involved a better way.”

Elder Haynie in this story is like so many of us when we hear the words of the prophet. We hear the instruction, but we wonder if it’s necessary for us to follow. What President Oaks said applies to all of us in those situations. “You need to follow the prophet.”

Some would call that blind obedience, but it’s not blind if you know that the prophet is, as Elder Haynie said, “someone God has personally prepared, called, corrected, inspired, rebuked, sanctified and sustained.” I know that, and I know that every time I have heeded prophetic counsel I have been blessed, so I know I should continue to follow it.

I loved this quote from Elder Neal A. Maxwell, a former member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the church, that Elder Haynie shared.

“In the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he (or she) will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. …

“Let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. …

“Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, ‘summer is nigh.’ … Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat!”

Remarked Elder Haynie: “The rising generation is growing up in a time when there are more fig leaves and there is more heat. That reality imposes a weightier responsibility on the already risen generation, particularly when it comes to following prophetic counsel.”

There is so much more that can be said about this talk, and that’s truly the great thing about general conference. There’s so much that can be learned and pondered to bless our lives from even just one talk, and we have dozens of them each general conference.

Take that, Satan.

Contact Ryan Comer at rcomer@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @rbcomer8388 and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rbcomer8388.

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