GOD DIRECTS HIS CHURCH

From the book, To the Rescue, The Biography of Thomas S. Monson, by Heidi S. Swinton, previously cited, page 411, we read:

“…Elder Monson designated a mission assignment for a young man, only to return back to it several times. Still not feeling right, he asked Elder Carlos Asay, a member of the Seventy who was assisting him in the assignment meeting, to read to him the whole file. In the initial review they had somehow missed the information that the young man had learned Spanish ‘at his mother’s knee.’ Elder Monson assigned him to a Spanish-speaking mission and the Spirit said, ‘Yes.’

‘It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord can motivate and direct the length and breadth of His kingdom,’ Elder Monson has said, ‘and yet have time to provide the inspiration on the call of a single missionary.’”

And then we read from page 422 of the same book:

“Elder Monson was assigned to the committee to handle Elder (Bruce R.) McConkie’s funeral, ‘quite an undertaking, with many aspects, all the way from security to flowers to speakers to funeral processions. One of those attending a planning meeting was Ronald D. John, new manager of Temple Square.

At the close of the meeting, Elder Monson called on one of the security men to say the prayer and asked if anyone in the room had heard what the weather forecast might be on Tuesday, the day of the funeral. It was the consensus opinion that the weather would be bad. He said to the man giving the prayer, ‘It can’t rain on Bruce’s funeral; please take care of that in your prayer, will you?’

Brother John later described his feelings in a letter: ‘Elder Monson, I have been a first counselor to two bishops; I’ve been a bishop two times; I’ve served on two high councils and I’m currently serving as the first counselor in a stake presidency. I’ve had some special experiences, but never have I felt what I felt in that room at that time. I never understood childlike faith until that moment. I had come to me an absolute knowledge that the elements would obey.’

He raced home and called his best friend, local television weatherman Mark Eubank and asked: ‘What will the weather be on Tuesday?’ Mark answered that the pattern of bad weather would stay for at least four or five more days. I then told him of my experience in your office…On Monday evening Mark alone forecast clear and warm weather until at least 3:00 PM on Tuesday.

You and Elder Packer were the last two to leave the cemetery. As you drove away, the large awning we had set up for the family almost blew down…As I looked toward the west, the black clouds were coming across the lake. Elder Monson, it wasn’t the sign that was the teacher but your example of absolute faith that I shall never forget.’”