EVIDENCE 20: PRESIDENTS AND KINGS TO CONFER WITH CHURCH LEADERS
CLAIM:
A prophecy by Brigham Young concerning visitors to Church headquarters has been
fulfilled. On 8 July 1855, just after the Church had been driven from Illinois,
as it had been driven so many times before away from society and civilization.
President Brigham Young prophesied that in the future, kings, nobles, emperors,
and wise men of the earth would travel to the headquarters of the Church to
visit and obtain counsel and wisdom from the leaders of the Church. (See Journal
of Discourse, [1855], pp. 316-317; History of the Church, vol. 6, p.
319).
EVIDENCE:
This prophecy is being fulfilled on a regular basis. Many U.S.
Presidents have called upon LDS Church leaders. One of the first U.S.
Presidents to travel to Utah was Ulysses S. Grant who met with Brigham Young in
1875. Rutherford B. Hayes met with Latter-day Saint leaders, John Taylor, George
Q. Cannon and Daniel H. Wells in 1880. B. H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History
of the Church, vol. 5, pp. 611-615.
IN
1952, Elder Ezra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was appointed
by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to serve in his cabinet as Secretary of
Agriculture. Elder Benson was particularly effective in filling this role. In fact
in 1953, he was featured as Time Magazine’s “Man of the Year.” (See Time,
April 13, 1953; and “Changing the Farm Policy” in U.S. News and World Report,
March 6, 1953).
Prior
to his election as president of the U.S., John F. Kennedy met with LDS leaders
and spoke at the Mormon Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Utah, September 23, 1960. In
his address, he spoke of the importance of the contribution made by Mormon
pioneers in colonizing the intermountain West. He also spoke of LDS apostle
Elder Reed Smoot and referred to D&C 101. He also gave a similar address in
the Tabernacle on September 26, 1963.
On
September 10, 1982, President Ronald Reagan met with Gordon B. Hinckley of the
First Presidency and toured the Welfare Services Center of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to obtain ideas for revamping the federal
welfare system. Afterwards, President Reagan remarked: “If more people had had
this idea back when the Great Depression hit, there wouldn’t be any government
welfare today or need for it. . . . It’s an idea that once characterized our
nation. It’s an idea that should be reborn nationwide. It holds the key to renewal
of America in the years ahead.” (See Ensign, November 1981, pp. 100-101).
Her
Majesty Queen Sirikit declared herself very impressed after visiting some of
the welfare facilities in Salt Lake City 27 years ago. The Queen accompanied Her
Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn, spent four days in Utah during the first
stop of her three-week tour of the US in 1981. “The more I learn of the Mormon
Church, the more I am impressed with its ideals,” she told her host, Keith Kirkham
(See article by Songpol Kaopatumtip in Bangkok Post, February 22, 2009).
King
Tauf’ahua Tupou IV of Tonga visited with leaders of the Church in Salt Lake
City, Utah several times, such as in 2004. His wife, Queen Halaevalu Mata’aho,
also met with Church leaders in 1991 for six days as a guest of the Church (see
Deseret News, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2006). (Allen H. Richardson and David
E. Richardson, 1000 Evidences For The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, 2 vols. [2d ed.; South Jordan, Utah: Artisan Enterprises, 2011], 1:19-20)
Further Reading: