Homosexual marriage...

[Colly Wolly]

Originally Posted by All-American

I know this much: having spoken with certain leaders of the church regarding this very issue, the marriage amendment is seen as being a fairly important battle in the struggle to save the family.

A story regarding following the prophet: As a general president of the Sunday School, then "Brother" Russell M. Nelson was invited to attend a meeting of the Seventy in the temple, in which meeting President Kimball spoke. Among other things, he urged the seventy to undertake what measures they could to become familiar with and associate with those in Communist China, where the church was not allowed, even to the extent of learning Mandarin. Brother Nelson responded by hiring a Mandarin tutor, despite the fact that the direction was neither doctrine nor policy, nor was it even directed to him, a special guest at that assembly.

His limited experience in Mandarin came in handy one day when a Chinese doctor sat next to him at a lecture at the University of Utah. Being able to give only a few phrases in Mandarin, he was nevertheless able to begin a cordial relationship with this doctor which resulted in visiting the campus of universities in Shanghai and Beijing. One doctor who observed Dr. Nelson's mannerisms became convinced that Dr. Nelson's church was the truth. He moved his entire family to Toronto and were all converted and sealed in the temple one year after baptism. What's more, once he had been ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, his relationship with the Chinese (including one high profile surgery upon a famous Chinese opera star after he was set apart) enabled positive visits as an ambassador of the church, which went a long way in securing the rights of worship for members in Hong Kong.

All of this came about, according to Elder Nelson, because of a willingness to follow the counsel of the prophet, even when it seemingly did not apply to him.

I'm not saying we should sell our houses to support the amendment. It would be wise to remember where this urging is coming from, however.

This surgery you were talking about happened in '88 I believe. I was living in Shanghai at the time, and Elder Nelson came to Church in our house (branch of two families) and had dinner with us. My first time meeting an apostle.