Prophets, Seers, and Revelators

A long time ago, in 1947, Elder Vaiangina Sikahema’s grandma and grandpa were missionaries on a small island in Tonga, far out in the Pacific Ocean. They were poor farmers. Grandpa was 28, and Grandma was 25. They had three little children, two girls and a baby boy.

They heard wonderful news. An Apostle, Elder Matthew Cowley, was coming to Tonga! Only two Apostles had ever visited Tonga before. Elder Sikahema’s grandparents wanted to hear him so much.

So they got on a boat to sail across the ocean. But a big storm came. A trip that should have taken 16 hours took two and a half days. Grandma wrote in her journal that they were soaked, battered, and sick. She held her baby boy close to her chest the whole time.

The storm made the baby very sick. There was no medicine, and the baby died. The family was so sad. They buried their baby on the island where they stopped. Then they got back on the boat and kept sailing, so they could listen to the Apostle.

Why did they work so hard to hear an Apostle? Because Apostles hold priesthood keys. Those keys let families be sealed in the temple so they can be together forever. And the Apostle would teach them how to help other people learn about Jesus.

Elder Sikahema taught that for a long time after Jesus’s Apostles died, there were no prophets on the earth. People looked and looked for God’s words but could not find them. Then young Joseph Smith prayed in a grove of trees. Heavenly Father and Jesus came! Heavenly Father pointed to Jesus and said, “This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” Through Joseph Smith, Jesus brought back His Church with prophets and Apostles.

Today we do not have to sail through a storm. We can watch and listen to the prophet and Apostles at home, during general conference! Elder Sikahema said, “What a blessing it is to live in a time when apostles and prophets are on the earth.”

He asked us not to treat their words like a small, unimportant thing. The Lord said that when His prophets speak for Him, it is the same as if He were speaking. Elder Sikahema said he is thankful for his grandparents, who left him a legacy of faith and courage.

A scripture for this talk: Amos 3:7. Heavenly Father speaks to His prophets, so we can listen to them and follow.

In 1947, Elder Vaiangina Sikahema’s grandparents were serving a full-time mission on a small, isolated volcanic island in the Kingdom of Tonga. They were poor farmers with no formal education. Grandpa was 28 and Grandma was 25, and they had three children: two little girls, ages four and three, and a 10-month-old son, their only boy.

That June, Elder Matthew Cowley, an Apostle, was coming to Tonga. Only twice before had an Apostle visited: David O. McKay in 1921 and George Albert Smith in 1938. For Saints across the Pacific, it was the chance of a lifetime. Reaching him meant a long voyage, stopping first at their home island of Vava’u.

They sailed into a storm. A 16-hour trip stretched into two and a half brutal days at sea. Grandma wrote in her journal, “We were completely soaked, … battered, and sick, … too weak to eat. … I held Vilimanulea to my chest until finally arriving to Vava‘u.” She held her baby to her chest the whole way. But the storm left him badly dehydrated, and with no medicine, he died. Within two days they buried him and continued their voyage. Elder Sikahema compared them to pioneers who buried children on the trail.

Why keep going? He said they were sailing toward an apostle who held priesthood keys, the authority for the ordinances that would one day seal them as an eternal family. And they wanted to sit at the feet of an apostle who would teach them so they could bless others on their island.

Elder Sikahema then taught about why prophets matter. After the ancient Apostles died, there was no revelation to the Church for centuries. The prophet Amos called it a famine, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. People would run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. Amos also said, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” Paul warned that after he left that grievous wolves would come into the flock.

Then Joseph Smith knelt in a grove of trees. He saw two Personages, and one said, pointing to the other, This is my beloved son. Hear him. Through Joseph, priesthood authority, ordinances, new scriptures, and knowledge of God’s plan were restored. Elder Sikahema quoted Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, who declared that the heavens are open and God reveals His will to prophets today.

Elder Sikahema shared a warning the Lord gave Joseph Smith: those who receive the oracles of God should be careful not to treat them as a light thing. Today we can easily watch and hear prophets on our devices, and he worried that many of us take them for granted. He said, “As we begin this opening session of the 196th Semiannual General Conference of the Church, let us not be guilty of holding ‘the oracles of God … as a light thing’” (Doctrine and Covenants 90:5).

He also noted that early in Church history some leaders were embarrassed by Joseph Smith’s poor writing and didn’t want his revelations published. But the Lord declared that whether He speaks by His own voice or by the voice of His servants, it is the same (Doctrine and Covenants 1:38).

Elder Sikahema said he is grateful for grandparents who left him a legacy of faith and courage in the face of difficulties. If they would sail through a storm and grief to hear an Apostle, how carefully should we listen to prophets we can hear at home?

Scripture to look up: Amos 3:7. The Lord reveals His will to His servants the prophets, so we should never take living prophets lightly.

Elder Vaiangina Sikahema, a General Authority Seventy, opened with a family story from 1947. His maternal grandparents were serving a full-time mission on a small, isolated volcanic island in the Kingdom of Tonga. They were poor farmers with no formal education: Grandpa was 28, Grandma 25. With them were three children, including two daughters, ages four and three (one was his mother), and a 10-month-old son, at the time their only boy. Because visas for Americans were limited, Tongan couples like them were routinely called to serve on neighboring islands.

That June, Elder Matthew Cowley, the Apostle over the Pacific, was coming to Tonga. Only twice before had an Apostle visited, David O. McKay in 1921 and George Albert Smith in 1938. For Saints scattered across the Pacific, being in an Apostle’s presence was a chance of a lifetime. Reaching him meant sailing across open ocean to the main island of Tongatapu, stopping midway at their home island of Vava’u.

The Pacific is known for fickle weather, and they sailed into a storm. A 16-hour trip became two and a half brutal days at sea. Grandma’s journal reads: “We were completely soaked, … battered, and sick, … too weak to eat. … I held Vilimanulea to my chest until finally arriving to Vava‘u.” She held her baby boy to her chest the whole way. But the storm left him severely dehydrated, and with no medicine, he died of exposure. Within two days they buried their son and continued the voyage. Elder Sikahema compared them to pioneers who buried children on the trail and, like those pioneers, yearned to hear and be in the presence of an apostle. Grieving with empty arms, they got back on the boat.

He explained their motive. “They were sailing toward an Apostle, who held priesthood keys, held the authority for the ordinances that would later seal them as an eternal family.” They sailed to sit at the feet of an apostle who would teach them their duty so they could bless others on their island. They understood that the gospel restored through Joseph Smith revealed truths previously withheld, and that restored prophets, seers, and revelators held the keys that would one day bind them together as a family forever.

Then he traced the doctrine. For centuries after the ancient Apostles died, until Joseph knelt in a grove in Palmyra, New York, there was no revelation to guide the Church. Amos called it a famine: not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord, when people shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it (Amos 8:11–12). The same prophet declared, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). Paul warned that grievous wolves would enter the flock after his departure (Acts 20:29). Medieval reformers yearned for prophetic voices but could not find them, and even today many thirst for prophetic direction.

Here he raised a pointed warning from D&C 90:5: those who receive the oracles of God should beware how they hold them, lest they are accounted as a light thing. He suspected that the Lord knew that even with devices that let us easily see and hear His servants, many of us would still take them for granted. He quoted Elder Jeffrey R. Holland: “Are the heavens open? Does God reveal His will to prophets and apostles as in days of old? That they are and that He does is the unflinching declaration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to all the world.”

He recounted Joseph Smith’s description of the First Vision: “When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air.” One of them, pointing to the other, said, “This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (Joseph Smith—History 1:17). With that clear, simple, and understated introduction, the Father and the Son began restoring the Savior’s Church through a teenage boy. In the years that followed, priesthood authority, ordinances, additional scripture, and knowledge of the plan of salvation were restored or rediscovered.

Perhaps, he said, we can appreciate why his grandparents were so eager to be with one of the Lord’s anointed, even in their despair. “What a blessing it is to live in a time when apostles and prophets are on the earth.” As the conference began, he said, “As we begin this opening session of the 196th Semiannual General Conference of the Church, let us not be guilty of holding ‘the oracles of God … as a light thing’” (Doctrine and Covenants 90:5).

He added a historical note: when the Church was only about a year and a half old, some early leaders opposed publishing Joseph’s revelations, the future Doctrine and Covenants, partly because they were embarrassed by his poor writing skills. Perhaps that is why the Lord declared, “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” (D&C 1:38). He closed with gratitude for noble progenitors who left me in my posterity a legacy of faith and courage in the face of difficulties and obstacles, and with his witness of living prophets, seers, and revelators.