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In a noisy political season when the decision
about who will be the next U.S. president plays out in contention
and mixed opinions, the next president and prophet of the Church
of Jesus Christ was decided in a quiet, orderly, divine way —
set by a pattern planned long in advance that assures that the new
leader has been seasoned and trained and assumes responsibility
ready to lead without a blip on the screen.
Click on
photos to enlarge
These three chairs were not vacant for long. Questions
about the identities of the two new counselors in the First Presidency
were answered as soon as the General Authorities entered the room.
Thomas S. Monson, who was first ordained as
an Apostle and called to the Quorum of the Twelve in 1963 when he
was 36, was ordained and set apart as president of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Sunday, 3 February 2008.
President Monson takes his new calling seriously,
as this picture shows. He told reporters he immediately went to
his knees when the mantle fell upon him.
He has called to serve with him in the First
Presidency two he called “tireless and innovative workers”
— President Henry B. Eyring, 74, First Counselor, and President
Dieter F. Uchtdorf, 67, Second Counselor. President Boyd K. Packer
was named as the President of the Quorum of the Twelve.
President Uchtdorf, who called himself “joyfully
overwhelmed,” is the first member of the First Presidency
to be born out of the United States in recent history. He said that
President Monson had the gift not only to reach out to the one,
but also to continents. “President Monson has such a feeling
for the needs of individuals and the needs of all the world.”
He said that when people ask him if this is
a global church, he responds, no; it is a universal church, not
for any one nation or ethnic group.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Indeed, President Monson worked under specific
assignment with the Latter-day Saints behind the Iron Curtain for
18 years, and some have speculated that this might signal an upsurge
in energy for the Church in Europe.
Speaking of his new position, President Uchtdorf
said, “I know this call came from God, because human beings
might have had a difficult time doing the same.”
He laughed, ”My wife said you don’t
have to worry about your accent because more than half the Church
speaks with an accent.”
President Uchtdorf, who has been senior vice-president
of flight operations and chief pilot of Lufthansa German Airlines,
has been a General Authority since April 1994, and was sustained
as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on Oct 2, 2004.
In choosing President Uchtdorf, President Monson
has chosen “an international man and a very competent one.”
President Monson noted that President
Hinckley’s passing “has affected all of us,” saying
that he sat side by side with him for 44 years and met with him
nearly every day. He said “our purpose was united” and
“we worked together in complete harmony and in a spirit of
love and cooperation.” Therefore, the Church shouldn’t
expect any abrupt changes.
Even when pressed by a reporter to say what the first order of business
would be for the new First Presidency, President Monson said the
most urgent need was to give dignity and respect and adequate time
to remember President Hinckley. “If anyone thinks he is going
to be idle over there, you better think again,” he quipped.
“He doesn’t know the meaning of the word idle.”
“I testify that the work in which we are
engaged is the Lord’s work,” said President Monson,
and signaled that as a Church, “we reach out not only to our
own people but also to those people of good will throughout the
world in a spirit of brotherhood and in the spirit of Jesus Christ.”
He commended the young people of the Church
who “stand as beacons of goodness in a world of shifting values
and standards.”
As President Hinckley before him, President
Monson is a skilled communicator with a background in the media.
He told reporters, “I believe in an open book and access to
the media.”
In that spirit, the press conference
was open for reporters to ask the First Presidency questions, and
they ranged from how President Monson felt in learning that the
mantle now fell upon him, to how the Church would respond to recent
indications that the public still has some reservations about it,
to the Church’s response to those who don’t follow the
First Presidency’s stand on the marriage amendment.
Here’s a sampling of President Monson’s answers.
On his feelings when President
Monson knew the mantle was falling on him: “I found
most helpful to me was going to my knees, thanking my Heavenly Father
for life, for experience, for my family and then directly asking
him to go before my face, to be on my right hand, on my left hand,
his Spirit in my heart and his angels around me to bear me up.”
On travel: “I
do plan to travel. Traveling is difficult when you go for long stretches
at a time.” He said, however, that he always comes back refreshed
feeling like he’s accomplished something. “I’d
like to testify that I’m on my knees before I go anyplace
in this world asking that the Spirit of the Lord will go with me.”
On following President Hinckley:
President Monson said it is “not difficult because
he blazed the trail. We knew each other so well. I knew and testify
afresh that he was the Lord’s prophet.” He said he was
so grateful that the weather was so nice for his funeral.
On President Monson’s
role in establishing the Genesis Group in 1971 and the Church’s
plans to train in diversity and differences: President
Monson said he took his role working with the Genesis group very
seriously and he was with them when that great pronouncement was
made [extending the priesthood to all worthy males]. “It was
overwhelming to see the joy and see that God’s will had been
done.” President Monson said he had the opportunity to do
the first temple marriage for a member of the Genesis Group, and
“I thought it significant that his name was Freeman. Free
man — no limitations.
On his health: “I
have always had good health.” President Monson said that some
years ago he was found to have type 2 diabetes, which is under control.
He said, “I still do a day’s work and half the night’s
as well.”
On education for women:
President Monson said that today’s world is more competitive
than it has ever been. Men and women need to get the type of education
that will allow them to meet the exigencies of life. Men and women
need to be prepared for a vastly broader scope than ever before.
On members who disagree with
Church leaders, for example, on the marriage amendment:
President Monson said it would depend on what the disagreement was
and whether the disagreement led to apostasy. If the disagreement
is about something political, “there is room for people on
either side.”
On why President Monson is
so drawn to serve the one: “I think it came from
my mother.” He said that his family lived on the west side
of Salt Lake City where men who were traveling on the rails to find
work in the East, often stopped at their home. “I saw my mother
minister to those men, totally unafraid.” In fact, he said
that she told them to write their mothers and tell them where they
were. “That spirit carried on,” he said. In fact, he
had 84 widows in his ward when he was a young bishop and each asked
him to speak at her funeral. This wasn’t something he was
certain he could do because he was out of the country so often.
He started giving those speeches in 1950, and at the end of the
year 2000, he had spoken at the funerals of all 84.
On bringing the Church into
the mainstream since current press reports indicate that people
still have reservations: “I think we should not be
sequestered in a little cage.” President Monson said that
we have a responsibility to be involved in the communities where
we live and that rather than standing alone, we should all work
toward a common goal. He noted, for example, that the Church has
worked with the Red Cross and other groups. “I believe in
that spirit.”
His thoughts on where the Church
should go: “I think our young people live in a world
of many challenges and they should be prepared to meet those and
not be overwhelmed by them.” He said that sometimes the best
answers that young people can give to the questions of life are
found on their knees, calling upon their Heavenly Father.
On temple building:
“There’s no doubt that the Church will keep going forward
because the Church keeps going.” President Monson said he
looks forward to being at Rexburg this coming weekend for the temple
dedication with President Eyring. “I love to meet the people
and be out among them.”
On the Perpetual Education
Fund: “The perpetual education fund is one of the
hallmarks of the administration of Gordon B. Hinckley.” He
said that those who report to the First Presidency saw it is expanding
and the recipients are able to pay back their loans. “It’s
a miracle. That’s all there is to it.” He said that
every day when he reads the obituaries (“we do that regularly,
you know, to make sure we aren’t in it), he likes to see at
the bottom the words “in lieu of flowers, contribute to the
Perpetual Education Fund.”
On the less active:
“Don’t give up. We need you. My purpose is to provide
ways for we, as active members, an put our arms around less-active
members and bring them back to the fold.”
President Henry B. Eyring
President Eyring said
of President Monson, “I’ve had the chance to know him,
his goodness, his great capacities, his love of the people.”
He added “I know of his power to receive revelation and know
what we should do.”
He said to President Monson, “I pledge
you my total love and support.”
President Monson said that the quorums of the
Church will give due attention to the present and the future, but
not forget the past, “because the past is prelude to the future.”
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