Relief Society · Elders Quorum · 25 minutes
Elder Vaiangina Sikahema · Of the Seventy · Saturday Morning Session
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Living prophets, seers, and revelators are a gift from the Lord, and this class asks how we can treat their words as precious rather than as a light thing (Doctrine and Covenants 90:5).
Skip the history of the Great Apostasy (Matthew 7, Acts 20, the reformers) and the story of early leaders who opposed publishing the revelations, so the class has time for the Wolfgramms' story and Doctrine and Covenants 90:5.
Before Sunday
Sunday: a family that sailed through a storm to hear an Apostle
Before Sunday, please read or listen to Elder Vaiangina Sikahema's October 2026 talk "Prophets, Seers, and Revelators." In 1947 his grandparents sailed through a storm and buried their baby son on the way, then kept going so they could hear Apostle Matthew Cowley. Elder Sikahema quotes the Lord's warning not to hold the words of prophets "as a light thing" (Doctrine and Covenants 90:5). Ponder this: what is one way you have taken prophetic counsel for granted, now that it is on your phone?
Pick one opening
Think about the last time you heard or read something from a living prophet or apostle. Where were you, and how did you hear it? Maybe it was on your phone, in the car, or on the couch. Now picture having to cross an ocean in a small boat to hear the same thing. How might that change the way you listen?
Think about the last time you heard or read something from a living prophet or apostle. Where were you, and how did you hear it? Maybe it was on your phone, in the car, or on the couch. Now picture having to cross an ocean in a small boat to hear the same thing. How might that change the way you listen?
In 1947, Elder Sikahema's grandparents were young missionaries on a remote island in Tonga. Elder Matthew Cowley was coming, and an Apostle had visited Tonga only twice before. They set out by boat with their three children. A 16-hour trip turned into two and a half days in a storm. Their 9-month-old son became dehydrated and died. They buried him on Vava'u, got back on the boat, and kept sailing to hear the Apostle.
Amos prophesied of a famine, "not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord" (Amos 8:11). What would you miss most if there were no prophets on the earth today?
Teach this first
For centuries after the ancient apostles died there was no revelation to prophets, which Amos called a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Through Joseph Smith, the Lord restored prophets, seers, and revelators who hold priesthood keys. Because their words are now easy to reach, Elder Sikahema warns that we can take them for granted, and he points to the Lord's counsel in Doctrine and Covenants 90:5.
Elder Sikahema suggested the Lord knew that even with cell phones that let us easily see and hear His servants, many of us would still take them for granted.
Ask the class
If time remains
The Lord declared that whether His word comes "by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same" (Doctrine and Covenants 1:38). Some early leaders were embarrassed by Joseph Smith's poor writing, but the Lord said His word would be fulfilled no matter the servant's weaknesses.
Ask the class
Counsel together
Last 3–5 minutes
This week, choose one talk from this general conference and study it as if you had crossed an ocean to hear it: set your phone aside, take notes, and write down one thing you will do.
Your witness: Share briefly why living prophets and apostles matter to you, and how the Father's words in the First Vision, "This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" (Joseph Smith, History 1:17), help you understand why we listen to the Savior's servants.