My Favorite Class

I never thought I would say this, but... my favorite class is my Teachings of the Living Prophets class. I know this sounds horrible, but religion classes at BYU-Idaho are known to be a lot of work. This semester, I have learned more than I have ever learned in a religion class. We are studying each apostle individually and I have enjoyed getting to know them a little bit more on a personal level. As I have studied each of them individually, I have learned that they are human, just like the rest of us. For each class, we read the biography of an apostle, their most recent conference talk, as well as another talk given by them. I want to share one thing I've learned about each of the apostles.

I'll start from the bottom up.

Elder Neil L. Andersen
Elder Andersen owned a thriving business in Florida and was serving in the stake presidency, but soon got called as a mission president in France. He accepted the call without hesitation, even though he didn't know what would happen to his business. Shortly after accepting the calling, he received several offers and ended up selling his business. In Elder Andersen's words, "It was clearly the Lord's hand in a miraculous way." 

Elder D. Todd Christofferson
This semester I had the privilege of hearing from Elder Christofferson in person at a fireside. It was a more casual setting, and I feel like I got to know his personality. His talk consisted of answers to questions that had been given him. The first question he answered was a question that I had asked Andrew that very week. I was touched that he not only answered that question (I didn't even write it down to be addressed in the meeting), but it was the first question he answered.

One thing that struck me about Elder Christofferson from his biography was the fact that when his mother became pretty ill, Elder Christofferson learned how to make homemade bread even though he was a young boy, so he could continue to make it for their family.

Quentin L. Cook
Something my teacher pointed out about Elder Cook is that everyone pronounces his name incorrectly. It is not pronounced "Quintin." I was impressed by the following story: Elder Cook was uneasy about his son, Joe, driving back to San Francisco after finishing finals at BYU. The roads could potentially be really bad, and he would be alone and tired after a long week of finals. At the end of finals, Joe heard a knock at the door and opened it to find his father standing there. Elder Cook flew in just to accompany his son on the long drive home.
**One of Elder Cook's mission companions was Elder Holland.

David A. Bednar
When Elder Bednar was a Bishop, he often went into Primary. One Sunday, he wore red suspenders and wanted to use them for an object lesson somehow. He asked the children how the scriptures are like his red suspenders. One boy responded by saying, "The scriptures hold up our faith in Jesus the same way your suspenders hold up your pants." Elder Bednar speaks very powerfully about church doctrine.

Jeffrey R. Holland
One time Elder Holland was out hiking with his son Matt. On their way back to the car, they came to an unexpected fork and did not know which path to take. It was later in the day, so time was important because it would not be light much longer. Elder Holland asked his son to say a prayer. After the prayer, Matt said he felt they should go left, so they took that path. 10 minutes later, they came to a dead end. Matt soon asked his father why he got that answer to his prayer. In response, Elder Holland said, "With the sun going down, that was undoubtedly the quickest way for the Lord to give them information-- in this case, which one was the wrong road. Now, though the other road might not be familiar and could be difficult in places, they could proceed confidently, knowing it was the right one."

Robert D. Hales
My favorite story about Elder Hales involved baseball. In High School, he was the starting pitcher for his team. He hit a rough patch in his career and the team lost three games in a row. Elder Hales was so frustrated that he took his uniform and headed to the coach's office ready to quit. He was surprised to hear his coach tell him that he was doing so poorly because his pitching arm was so tired by the time the game started. Apparently, Elder Hales did a good job impressing people with his fast and curveballs when warming up. After heeding his coaches advice and not throwing out his arm before the game, Elder Hales pitched a shutout the very next game.

Richard G. Scott
Elder Scott was very hardworking. One summer he applied to work for the Utah Parks Service, but was denied. He hid the rejection letter, packed his bags, and headed to Utah. When he showed up he was asked, "Didn't you receive our letter?" "Yes," Richard replied, "but I would like to work anyway. Is there a position as desk clerk?" Elder Scott would not give up, even when laughed at. He finally ended up volunteering to wash dishes with the promise that if they didn't like his work, he did not need to be paid. By the end of the summer, Elder Scott was the number 2 cook.

M. Russell Ballard
Elder Ballard received a call as he was just about to leave for general conference. It was President Hinckley who requested that his wife and him join him in the office. Elder Ballard thought he was going to be asked to speak in conference because one of the speakers was ill. On the drive to President Hinckley's office, he was contemplating what he would speak on and discussing it with his wife. Elder Ballard was shocked when he was asked to be an apostle.

Dallin H. Oaks
This semester Elder Oaks came and spoke at devotional. (On my birthday!) Elder Oaks went through a big trial with the passing of his wife, June, due to cancer. In his words, "I did not know why I received a 'no' answer to my prayers for the recovery of my wife of many years, but the Lord gave me a witness that this was His will, and He gave me the strength to accept it." Not too long after the passing of his wife, Elder Oaks met and married Kristen Meredith McMain. 

Russell M. Nelson
I am impressed by Elder Nelson and his boldness. Several years ago, he had some colleagues show some interest in the church. He ended up giving them a Book of Mormon. A week later, his friends returned it, thanking him. Elder Nelson responded this way, "What do you mean, 'Thanks a lot'? That is a totally inappropriate response for one who has read the book. You didn't read it. Please take it back and read it, and then return it to me with a much more appropriate reply." 3 weeks later, they came back and said they knew the book was true. Elder Nelson later baptized them.

L. Tom Perry
I have always loved children and loved what I learned about Elder Perry. While on an airplane one day, he noticed that the lady sitting across the aisle from him was struggling. She had 3 children all under the age of 4. When the plane took off, all 3 of the children were crying. Elder Perry politely asked if he could hold the baby. He took good care of the baby and when the mother was finally able to calm the other 2 children, she reached to take her baby back, but Elder Perry held the baby for the remainder of the flight.

Boyd K. Packer
I can learn a lot from Elder Packer. He is so humble. He said, "There are many qualifications that I lack. There is so much in my effort to serve that is wanting. There is only one single thing, one qualification that can explain it. Like Peter and all of those that have since been ordained, I have that witness."

It was hard to choose just one thing about each apostle to share because each of them have done numerous noteworthy things. We can learn a lot from them and I look forward to hearing from them all very soon. (Conference is right around the corner!)

***All of this information came from my Teachings of the Living Prophets book called FDREL 333 Biographies.