What does the Lord himself say about it?

I would be remiss if I did not mention what the Lord himself has said about sustaining those he has called to lead his Church. In Doctrine and Covenants 1:38 the Lord states: “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.”

Equally compelling is the oath and covenant of the priesthood, found in Doctrine and Covenants 84:35–38: “And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me, saith the Lord;

“For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me;

“And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father;

“And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.”

What can we do to sustain our Church leaders?

In closing, what can we do to sustain our Church leaders? There are many things—and I would encourage you to ponder by yourselves and discuss in your families additional ways you can sustain the prophet, Apostles, and other Church leaders. But here’s a short list:

• We can magnify our priesthood.
• We can fulfill our callings and other assignments to the best of our ability.
• We can do our home and visiting teaching.
• We can be missionaries to others and support the missionaries in their work.
• We can fulfill our family responsibilities
• We can obey the commandments and keep our covenants.

I know that as we do these things and earnestly strive to make sustaining not just a motion we go through when asked to do so in general conference and sacrament meeting but an active part of our daily lives, we will be sustaining the Lord himself. We will be putting ourselves on his side, on his team, saying that we trust him and believe the revelation he has given to our Church leaders. When we sustain our Church leaders, we are choosing to follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And he will bless us for it.

Thank you, brothers and sisters, for your sustaining vote for me in my new calling. [5] I will strive to fulfill this calling to the best of my ability and will do what I can to sustain you in your callings as well. I know that the Lord lives, that this is his Church, and that he guides it through revelation and the leadership of those whom he has called.

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NOTES

1. Though you will often hear that many of the Dutch will be offended if you call their country Holland—since that is the name of only two of the country’s 12 provinces—it’s not true. They themselves call their country Holland all the time. Their language, however, they generally call Nederlands, though on at least one occasion I did hear it called Hollands.
2. Remember, that’s what the Great Apostasy was all about.
3. As of the date of this talk; there are more today.
4. Elder Dunn was a member of the Seventy from 1968 to 2000; he was given emeritus status in 2000 and called as the first president of the Boston Massachusetts Temple, where he served until he passed away in 2001.
5. I had been sustained earlier in the sacrament meeting as clerk in the Bushwick 1st Branch.

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This text is adapted from a talk Dustin gave in the sacrament meeting of the Bushwick 1st Branch on 23 October 2011.

This article appeared on pages 28–32 of Issue 5 | January 2012.