Elder John Taylor, in D&C 135:3, proclaimed: "Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world than any other man that ever lived in it."
Regarding the significance of the Prophet's mission, President N. Eldon Tanner, then first counselor in the First Presidency, made this declaration at the October 1979 general conference:"The power of the priesthood, which is the power of God delegated to man to act in his name and officiate in the ordinances of the gospel, was conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery by those ancient Apostles, Peter, James and John. The heavens are as open today as they were in the days of Peter and James and John and Paul and all the rest of the early Apostles.
"God still answers the prayers of the righteous and still reveals His will through a prophet to the established Church of Jesus Christ. As Adam and Noah and Abraham and Moses had been chosen by God as His prophets in the respective dispensations in which they lived, so was Joseph Smith chosen in these the latter days and called of God as His prophet, seer and revelator. The Church is fulfilling its divine injunction to preach the gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue and people."
