Gain testimony of calling
Accept principle of revelation
"We must each prepare ourselves for every good work that might come to us and then accept the principle that revelation, not aspiration, is the basis for our respective callings," Elder Monte J. Brough of the Presidency of the Seventy said Saturday afternoon.
"It is very dangerous for any of us to think we have earned the right to a Church calling," he declared. "However, every member must come to know the divine nature of his or her own service in the Church."
Elder Brough related a conversation he had with his then 8-year-old daughter a few years ago while he served in the Asia Area presidency in Hong Kong.
"One night, our youngest child, Kami, asked, `Daddy, how come we got choosed to come to Hong Kong?'
"At that moment, as I surveyed the challenges placed on our little family because of my priesthood calling, I needed to review the answer again for myself," he said.
He recounted the counsel he received from Elder Rex D. Pinegar a few days after President Spencer W. Kimball had extended a call to Elder Brough to serve as mission president.
"You must come to know that you also have been called of God," Elder Pinegar said.
Elder Brough recounted the personal testimony of the Apostle Paul when he declared that God "called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace. . . ." (2 Tim. 1:9.)
"But, Daddy," Kami continued,"why did we `get choosed' and not someone else?"
"Now that is a much more difficult question," said Elder Brough. "Why do these callings and responsibilities come to some and not to others? I was reminded of the charge President Hinckley gave me upon my ordination as a Seventy.
" Brother Brough,' " he quoted President Hinckley as saying, "now a lot of people are going to say a lot of nice things about you. Don't believe them!' "
Elder Brough cautioned against aspiring to callings by citing the Savior's response to the mother of the Apostles James and John who wanted her sons to sit beside the Savior.
"To sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give," Jesus answered, "but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father."
Elder Brough then explained to his daughter "that we definitely had been chosen because we would not seek such a challenging assignment."
"I never completely satisfied little Kami's question that night," said Elder Brough. "Over the years, we have recalled that challenging evening when a small child was a bit overwhelmed with life."
Recently, Elder Brough continued, Kami, now 15, was asked by an adult friend: "How come you were so lucky to live in Hong Kong when you were a child?"
"She looked directly at me," said Elder Brough, "as she gave her answer to our friend, `It wasn't luck, we were chosen.'
"Personal and prophetic revelation is the foundation upon which our Church service is firmly based," he concluded.
