Church President Russell M. Nelson Observes His 5th Anniversary as Prophet

Hello again, everyone! As I mentioned in passing yesterday, my recovery from my minor procedure on Thursday has been unpredictable. Despite that, I feel I would be remiss if I did not take a moment on this Saturday to acknowledge the 5th anniversary of the prophetic tenure of Church President Russell M. Nelson. Of our 17 Church Presidents, only 4 have served for less than 5 years.

I don't think that any extensive analysis on my part would be adequate enough to honor this milestone. Thankfully in advance of this milestone, highlighted summaries have been featured by both the Newsroom and the Church News. 

Among the key highlights has been a focus on revelation and prophetic invitations, a summary of what 3 of President Nelson's 8 surviving children shared about him as a husband, father, surgeon, apostle, and prophet (which was detailed more fully in a special edition of the Church News podcast), and 99 announcements, and changes which have occurred in the Church since January 2018.

Prophetic invitations and the blessings that followed have been pivotal as well. And what our prophet has accomplished through inspiration and revelation has been astounding. His 5-year ministry bears striking similarities to the strategy for playing Scrabble. He has taken major steps to unify the worldwide Church by differentiating between what is doctrinal and what has been merely traditional, bucking the expected trends repeatedly.

Under his direction, the Church now has three global magazines, is awaiting the arrival of new hymnbooks and children's songbooks to also be used worldwide, has now seen the appointment of the first Asian-American and Latin-American apostles, has seen restructuring efforts affecting the Elders' and High Priests' Quorums, ward Young Men Presidencies, and stake Sunday School and Young Men Presidencies.

For the first time ever in Church history, all current apostles have individually presided at one temple dedication or rededication. And President Nelson has surpassed 15th Church President Gordon B. Hinckley as the oldest living prophet and the prophet to announce the most temples. The 118 temples announced around the world in the last five years have brought the total number of worldwide temples to an even 300.

Additionally, the Church is well on track to have 200 operating temples within the next 18 months or less, and the Church could almost certainly have 300 temples dedicated by the bicentennial anniversary of the Church (Saturday, April 6, 2030). President Nelson is not only the oldest living prophet but is the older living apostle as well.

The prophet's apostolic colleagues, his wife, and his children all say he is hard to keep up with and continue to report that he acts with the energy and vigor of someone 30-40 years younger than his now-98 years of age.  Some have stated that he might be near the end of his life several times. But just as the prophet has proven the world wrong in the January 2018 assessment that he was unlikely to change the Church, he continues to live and function well daily. 

Of course, as any good former physician would do, he followed the advice of his doctors and was seated to deliver his remarks during the October 2022 General Conference. But his being seated did not in any way diminish the impact of his prophetic counsel. At the beginning of this month, in our ward's Fast and Testimony Meeting, many ward members shared admiration for President Nelson.

I was inspired to stand up and share my admiration for him, along with attesting to the fact that, as promised in the oath and covenant of the priesthood, President Nelson has been "sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewal of [his body[." In just over a year, President Nelson and his counselors will join the list of longest-serving First Presidencies of the Church.

The last five years of inspired leadership from and through President Nelson has taught me so much. A long time ago, I began regularly praying that when any major Church announcement is made, I would know for myself that it has been inspired by the Lord. And the Lord has never disappointed me in that. Many of the adjustments and changes that have been made have always left me with the question, "Why hasn't this been done before?"

I am grateful for the opportunity I have almost daily to witness what is going on in the Church around the world because of our current beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson. He is truly the ma for our time. As we heed his prophetic counsel and seek to obtain confirmation from the Lord regarding it, I promise He will continue to testify to all of us that He does indeed direct His work, through His chosen prophet, seer, and revelatory and President of the Church in our day, President Russell M. Nelson.

I am grateful to have had the chance to reflect on the impact the prophet has had on the Church in the last 6 years. I continue to monitor all major Church news updates and will be sure to bring word of those to you all as I become aware thereof. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly-added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.