"But behold, the righteous that hearken unto the words of the prophets, and destroy them not, but look forward unto Christ with steadfastness for the signs which are given, notwithstanding all persecution - behold, they are they which shall not perish." (2 Ne. 26:8.)
From the earliest of times, the Lord sent prophets to teach, lead and direct His children. For the most part, the prophets' counsel went unheeded. From its first chapter until its final pages, the Book of Mormon records many instances in which people chose to not listen to the prophets.Because of the wickedness of the people during Lehi's time, the Lord sent many prophets, among whom were Lehi himself, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah. They warned the people to repent and follow the Lord or be taken captive and perish.
In the October 1990 general conference, at which he was released as a member of the Seventy, Elder Waldo P. Call spoke of the need for people to continue to listen to the prophets. He quoted from the sermon of King Benjamin: "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticing of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." (Mosiah 3:19.)
Elder Call said: " . . . the Lord will show us the way, if we will but follow His prophets and apostles.
"Do not question their direction! It is as simple as that. No, I am not saying to have blind faith or blind obedience.
"Sometimes you may want proof of this doctrine or that saying of the prophet. Keep the commandments! Pray, walk in righteousness, and through the Holy Spirit you can know by that sweet, calm feeling that it is true."
