Thomas S. Monson

So if you plan a party for Saturday that includes swimming, picnicking, and other out door activities, what do you do if you get a weather report that says hail, lightning, thunder and stormy weather all day?  You just cut it up and burn that darn weather report, and go ahead and have your party anyway!  Right?  Of course not.  How silly!  Burning the weather report won't make the weather change.  Well this is similar to how many people treat prophecy.  In Jeremiah 36, Jeremiah had a scribe write down all of his prophecies and read them to the king.  The king didn't like them.  So he cut them up and burned them.  Did that keep the prophecies from being fulfilled?  Of course not.  But people don't like to hear things that are inconvenient.  Maybe, just maybe if they don't REALLY hear it, then they won't have to feel guilty for not obeying.  Have you ever had someone give you advice that you really didn't want to take, but you knew it was good advice?  But you fought it.  You didn't want to change.  You didn't want to admit that they were right and you were wrong and you could be doing better.

Such is the life of a prophet.  He reports the things we need to do and we can choose to listen and obey, or ignore.  And because he's not asking us to do things like build an ark or look at a snake high on a stick, we think he's not asking us to do anything!  But that's not true.  What are some of the things Pres. Monson has asked us to do since becoming our Prophet?  Up until March 2016, he has asked us to do these things, taken right out of the Friend magazine:

1.  Follow Jesus's example and love everyone.
2.  Pay tithing and donate to the missionary fund.
3.  Stay away from bad* movies, TV, and other media. 
*One of my students asked if this meant bad acting in a movie......
4.  Put a picture of the temple in every bedroom.
5.  Study general conference talks.
6.  Visit the elderly and be a good neighbor.

And in April 2016 conference he asked us to build up a great and powerful faith so that we can have our most effective defense against the adversary.  What does he know that's coming that will take great and powerful faith to help us endure?  Have you done anything yet to build such faith? 

Elder M. Russell Ballard says, "When we hear the counsel of the Lord expressed through the words of the President of the Church, our response should be prompt!  There is safety, peace, prosperity, and happiness  in responding to prophetic counsel."

Gee whiz!  I want those things!!

The Children of Israel were slow to follow prophetic counsel.  I need to be PROMPT!

Here are just a sampling of some of President Monson's quotes:

I LOVE THIS MAN!
Pres. Monson, I will be prompt!

The Children of Israel were slow to follow the words of the prophet.  We need to be PROMPT.