Follow the Prophet

I've been noticing through my research of different topics that I can find answers to just about everything through the modern-day prophets. Yes, I find answers in scriptures and I heavily rely on them throughout my daily activities and strive to make them an integral party of my life. Nothing can compensate or replace the value that they hold. I've heard it said that the council and direction that guided Adam during his life did not help Noah build the ark. In other words, we need direction for our current day, too, and we are blessed with the restored gospel and a living Prophet today. There are a lot of topics that makes one go "hmmmm... I wonder what is the right thing to do in this situation?" And, then there are those topics that we know inherently are the right thing to do and could use the validation and articulation to put our thoughts into words. I appreciate and love the gospel and I feel comfort knowing that I have a modern day Prophet to lead and guide me through my life and these difficult latter days. I would like to compile a list of articles from the leaders of the church, mostly found in the Ensign, that I find speak to me or answer a latter-day question specific to our time.

This is a work in progress and topics and related council will be added through time. I can't possibly have a comprehensive list of all of them... so, these will be a few that stuck with me.

Abortion
Abortion, An Assault on the Defenseless by Elder Russel M Nelson, Ensign October 2008
What I really liked about this article is the point that he made that we do not get to choose the consequences to our actions. The choice comes before whatever action we choose to take. After the action has been taken, we loose the privilege of deciding from that point and consequences are what naturally follow. This holds true in many areas of our lives. How many times do we hear our children cry how unfair their punishment is? What if the criminals were able to choose their course of punishment? To every choice we make there is a consequence, whether good or bad. It's up to us to realize that we have the opportunity to choose before we make a mistake. After we have thus made the mistake we can no longer change the consequences, but we can rely on the miracle of forgiveness and correcting our course from that point. Let's not compound our errors by making more errors. Here are a couple more abortion articles. Statement on Abortion and Covenants.

Same Gender Attraction
Helping Those Who Struggle with Same-Gender Attraction by Jeffrey R. Holland, Ensign, Oct 2007.
Church Supports Call for Constitutional Amendment Ensign, July 2006.
Same-Gender Attraction, by Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, Oct 1995

What I appreciate about the council that we get from our leaders is the understanding of our divine heritage. The Proclamation to the world addresses and clarifies this heritage when reminding us "All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose." I find comfort in knowing that God is not a God of confusion and I can hold to this council during these times of confusion throughout the world.

Abuse
I've been blessed with goodly parents and family, so thankfully I cannot relate to the horrors of deep and lasting abuse. It's nice to be reminded that Heavenly Father is mindful of everyone's challenges and difficulties. I would imagine that those who suffer from abuse probably feel alone and wonder about their worthiness as an individual. I'm grateful that our leaders have seen fit to address such difficult and sensitive issues.
To Heal The Shattering Consequences of Abuse by Elder Richard G. Scott, May 2008 Ensign.

Business and Fraud
Over the course of the last few years I have come to realize that any business that practices using the advantage of time in their favor and against their customer’s best interest boarders anywhere from unethical to fraud. They would justify their coarse of action by claiming that’s the way business works, but I can testify that any persons character is at more risk by practicing these methods than their business could ever benefit by doing the same. Here are two examples that are on either end of that spectrum of morality. When I joined Mary Kay Cosmetics I was told to purchase extra product for my Debut because it would sell faster and easier than if my customers, aka friends and relatives, had to place an order. Why is this? This is because we tend to be impulse buyers, go home and later either regret the purchase or realize that we don’t even need it. Which, we would have realized this had we had an opportunity to think about it and be more practical in our decision. Why would I want to do this to my customers, whether or not they are friends or family? If they truly need this item, why trick them into purchasing it just because it’s right in front of their face all in the name of a profit? That is just plain unethical. The second example of this is when we signed up for real estate training classes with Russ Whitney. There were only a minimal amount of students they could enroll. Furthermore, if we didn’t enroll today, we would lose a “discount.” Finally, after actually attending this expensive “training” for 3 days we learned that it was a glorified sales pitch for much more expensive “discounted” classes, where again the “discount” was only available until the end of class that day. This is plain fraud and dishonest behavior any way you look at it. Unfortunately, in both cases, we didn’t realize these questionable behaviors were unethical or fraud, and because of our ignorance and decision to disregard any warning signs, get clarification and seek information or advice from an unbiased third-party, we participated in them. It wasn’t until later that we realized that because the first would be willing to be unethical with their own customers that I wasn’t far behind. While the training made promises that they wouldn’t keep and they surely didn’t have our best interest at heart all while they were running a “business” which eventually found us, and quite quickly, in dire financial circumstances. I had said that I wish I had known beforehand, but as it turns out there were leaders within the church, including prophet counsel to beware of fraudulent activities and unreasonable investments. While we had been cautioned for years to use wisdom and prudence in all things somehow I either didn’t believe that included me or the circumstance in which I was facing, or both. While I one time chastised my daughter for not coming to me before making a decision that could have put her into serious danger, although in her mind was quite safe, I came to realize that when making the level of decisions we were making in both of these circumstances I should have, too, taken them to someone smarter and more informed that I was at the time, because as it turns out we were not safe.
Recognizing—and Avoiding—Bad Investments, by John W. Hardy, Ensign, Sep 1983.
Protecting Family Finances by Avoiding Fraud by Karianne Salisbury, Ensign, July 2008.

Word of Wisdom
Energy Drinks: The Lift That Lets You Down, by Russell Wilcox, New Era, Dec 2008.
The Energy Drink Epidemic, By Thomas J. Boud, MD, Ensign, Dec 2008. Dr. Boud works in family medicine at a primary care facility and volunteers for the Church as a consulting physician in the Missionary Medical Department.