USA Today: Mormon president can do no wrong to religion's members

Nonsense, nonsense and more nonsense! Obviously we don't stand by Joseph Fielding Smith's statement that man would not get to the moon because we have doctrines concerning when a prophet speaks for the Lord and when he speaks for himself. But when a prophet speaks for God, reverence would dictate that it not be trivialized by calling it a fax from heaven.

Clearly the writer only picked part of quotes that would support the views that she obviously believed. Not much homework was done here in regards to gathering information. It's like only picking out a few minutes of a person's life and judging that person based on that few bad minutes! Shame on you!

It becomes difficult to see with spiritual eyes and hear with spiritual ears when distractions reduce visability and hearing. Finding fault is easy to do under these circumstances. The Lords anointed are imperfect mortals with a mantle of authority to speak for and represent the Savior as special witnesses. When media attention is given positive or negative it will always bring questions to the minds of the readers thereby opening the door for discussion. The Lords ways are not always mans ways and meaningful prayers are not always answered in the way one may expect. To the writer of USA Today, thank you for noticing, I would ask, would you like to know more?

I echo the sentements of the previous writers and add, when you need advice about an electical problem in your home, do you go inquire from a plumber as to the solution? Maybe you should actually inquire to the proper source before making yourself look incompetent on the subject.... ooppps, too late! USA Today, do your homework before handing in the assignment! VERY dissapointed in the content of this article.>:/

I wonder why some of you have not learned the Golden Rule. If you actually believe the workings of the church then you know this kind of behavior and bashing is not proper behavior.

One of my favorite Brigham Young stories takes place during the time that the US Army was coming to Utah Territory in response to things that had been heard about the Mormons, and church members were scared that the same sort of abuses and terrors that drove them into the wilderness in the first place were about to happen again. At first, Brigham Young told the saints to arm and defend themselves, but than, rather abashedly came back a short time later, and told them that the previous statement had been from Brigham, the man, but now they needed to hear from Brigham, the prophet of the Lord, whose mandate was far different. The saints were then told to refrain from violence and to submit themselves quietly to the influx and authority of the army, and to treat them with respect and curtesy. What could have ended up as yet another tragic chapter in the history of the saints, ended peacefully, and no lives or property were lost during the event. This story illustrates what we believe, which is that when our prophet speaks on behalf of the church that we are recieveing direction from the Lord himself, just as prophets of old did. That does not mean that outside of their responsibility to speak the word of God, that they cannot be fallible. However, when one reaches the point of wisdom and spiritual acumen that enables them to be the mouthpiece of the Lord, they are less likely to make very many errors than most other folk, and I would be far more likely to trust and respect anything that came out of their mouths than I would just about anyone else.

Let's take a good look at any of the Presidents in my lifetime (the past 45+ years)that I have been able to personally observe. LDS or not, anyone would be hard pressed to find fault with their teachings or their personal lives.

I do believe president Thomas S.Monson and the twelve Apostles, of the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints, will talk about things God wants all members and nonmembers need to know concerning His Gospel.

The problem with most Mormons is that they, themselves, do not know the Lord, so they fail to recognize the fact that Brother Monson does. They don't recognize when Brother Monson is expressing an opinion that the Lord has, and they don't get that, while they don't take their trespasses seriously, the Lord does. It is absolutely untrue that Brother Monson has no ability to speak for himself. But the fact of the matter is, whether you want to admit it or not, Brother Monson is privy to what the Lord thinks, so you'd better take what he says seriously, not just poo-poo it. Never aggrandize things a prophet supposedly said above what the Lord has said, because a prophet won't disagree with the Lord. Most of the so-called disparities members come up with are figments of their own imagination. If they really knew what the Lord thought for themselves, they would see the prophet is a lot wiser than they give him credit for ... especially in the fact that the prophet is willing to listen to the Lord, when most of the rest of the members just plain won't.