Doctrine and Covenants 106-108

<p>How does the priesthood function? The decisions of the leaders and quorums of the priesthood should follow the pattern of the presiding quorums. &ldquo;The decisions of these quorums &hellip; are to be made in all righteousness, in holiness, and lowliness of heart, meekness and long suffering, and in faith, and virtue, and knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity&rdquo; (D&amp;C 107:30).</p> <p>In some legislative assemblies of the world, there are some groups termed the &ldquo;loyal opposition.&rdquo; I find no such principle in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Savior gave us this solemn warning: &ldquo;Be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine&rdquo; (D&amp;C 38:27). The Lord made it clear that in the presiding quorums every decision &ldquo;must be by the unanimous voice of the same; that is, every member in each quorum must be agreed to its decisions&rdquo; (D&amp;C 107:27). This means that after frank and open discussion decisions are reached in council under the direction of the presiding officer, who has the ultimate authority to decide. That decision is then sustained, because our unity comes from full agreement with righteous principles and general response to the operation of the Spirit of God.</p>

<p>The calling of 15 men to the holy apostleship provides great protection for us as members of the Church. Why? Because decisions of these leaders must be unanimous (See Doctrine and Covenants 107:27). Can you imagine how the Spirit needs to move upon 15 men to bring about unanimity? These 15 men have varied educational and professional backgrounds, with differing opinions about many things. Trust me! These 15 men&mdash;prophets, seers, and revelators&mdash;know what the will of the Lord is when unanimity is reached! They are committed to see that the Lord&rsquo;s will truly will be done. The Lord&rsquo;s Prayer provides the pattern for each of these 15 men when they pray: &ldquo;Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.&rdquo;</p>

<p>And now I quote again from the word of the Lord: &ldquo;And every decision made by either of these quorums must be by the unanimous voice of the same; that is, every member in each quorum must be agreed to its decisions, in order to make their decisions of the same power or validity one with the other&rdquo; (D&amp;C 107:27).</p> <p>No decision emanates from the deliberations of the First Presidency and the Twelve without total unanimity among all concerned. At the outset in considering matters, there may be differences of opinion. These are to be expected. These men come from different backgrounds. They are men who think for themselves. But before a final decision is reached, there comes a unanimity of mind and voice.</p> <p>This is to be expected if the revealed word of the Lord is followed. Again I quote from the revelation: &ldquo;The decisions of these quorums, or either of them, are to be made in all righteousness, in holiness, and lowliness of heart, meekness and long suffering, and in faith, and virtue, and knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity; Because the promise is, if these things abound in them they shall not be unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord&rdquo; (D&amp;C 107:30&ndash;31)</p> <p>I add by way of personal testimony that during the twenty years I served as a member of the Council of the Twelve and during the nearly thirteen years that I have served in the First Presidency, there has never been a major action taken where this procedure was not observed. I have seen differences of opinion presented in these deliberations. Out of this very process of men speaking their minds has come a sifting and winnowing of ideas and concepts. But I have never observed serious discord or personal enmity among my Brethren. I have, rather, observed a beautiful and remarkable thing&mdash;the coming together, under the directing influence of the Holy Spirit and under the power of revelation, of divergent views until there is total harmony and full agreement. Only then is implementation made. That, I testify, represents the spirit of revelation manifested again and again in directing this the Lord&rsquo;s work.</p>

<p>How can we be so sure that, as promised, the prophets, seers, and revelators will never lead this people astray? One answer is contained in the grand principle found in the 107th section of the Doctrine and Covenants: &ldquo;And every decision made by either of these quorums must be by the unanimous voice of the same&rdquo; (D&amp;C 107:27). This requirement of unanimity provides a check on bias and personal idiosyncrasies. It ensures that God rules through the Spirit, not man through majority or compromise. It ensures that the best wisdom and experience is focused on an issue before the deep, unassailable impressions of revealed direction are received. It guards against the foibles of man.</p>

<p>The Lord’s directive in verse 27 that decisions in the presiding quorums must be unanimous does not mean that there is always absolute agreement. The leaders of the Church come from different backgrounds and bring different gifts and experience to their service. Though there can be spirited discussions among the leaders of the Church over the best course to pursue, Church leaders and members are instructed to seek unanimity in their counsels through a spirit of meekness and gentle persuasion (see D&C 121:41–43). When President Henry B. Eyring first witnessed a discussion among the leaders of the Church, he later recalled thinking, “This is the strangest . . . Here are the prophets of God, and they’re disagreeing in an openness that I had never seen in business . . . I watched this process of them disagreeing and I thought, ‘good heavens!’ It was more open than anything I had ever seen with all the groups I had seen in business.”</p> <p>However, as the meeting went on, President Eyring witnessed what he later called a miracle. The Spirit began to work on every person in the room, and each came to see the right path, and a spirit of unity prevailed. “I saw the most incredible thing,” President Eyring recalled, “I have seen a miracle! I have seen unity!” But then he saw President Harold B. Lee, who was chairing the meeting, pause the discussion and say, “Wait a minute, I think we will bring this matter up again some other time. I sense there is someone in the room who is not yet settled.” When the meeting ended, President Eyring saw someone from the meeting thank President Lee for recognizing their feelings and holding off on making the decision. President Eyring was moved by what he saw, saying later, “This is what it claims to be. This is the true Church of Jesus Christ. Revelation is real, even in business settings.”<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" title="" class="see-footnote">[1]</a></p> <p>The Lord’s expectation of unanimity might slow the process of decision-making in the Church, but it is another indelible example of how the Holy Spirit helps lead and guide Church councils.</p> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" title="" class="footnote-label">[1]</a> “Henry B. Eyring: Forget Harvard and Stanford. We’re in Another Kind of Thing Here,” YouTube video, accessed May 19, 2021, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8tccvnKEy0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8tccvnKEy0</a>.</p> </div>

<p>In verses 33–35 the Lord establishes the Twelve and the Seventy primarily as traveling authorities and charges them “to regulate all the affairs of the same in all nations, first unto the Gentiles and secondly unto the Jews” (D&C 107:33–34). The Twelve were originally intended to act as a traveling high council, working to solve differences and problems in the branches of the Church that were not part of an organized stake and thus had no high council or stake presidency to assist them. As time went on and the Church expanded, the number of stakes increased into the thousands, and the role of the Twelve increased in importance. </p> <p>Members of the Twelve spend much of their time traveling to assist in regulating and governing the work of the Church. President Boyd K. Packer, an apostle for several decades, gave this accounting of his travels: “I am no different from the Brethren of the Twelve . . . when I tell you that the records show I have been in Mexico and Central and South America more than 75 times, in Europe over 50 times, Canada 25 times, the islands of the Pacific 10 times, Asia 10 times, and Africa 4 times; also China twice; to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the Dominican Republic, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia, and many, many other places around the globe. Others have traveled even more than that.”<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" title="" class="see-footnote">[1]</a></p> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" title="" class="footnote-label">[1]</a> Boyd K. Packer, “The Twelve,” April 2008 General Conference. </p> </div>