Why Prophets?

Lately we have been talking to a lot of people about prophets and the importance of following them. So I am on this prophet kick. I was studying about prophets the other day and came up with a cool way (I think) to relate the importance or role of a prophet to us today.

I was reading Preach My Gospel, which is a manual us missionaries use. In a section about prophets this line stood out to me, "the prophet acts as a steward to oversee the household of God here on Earth." As I pondered that I thought the prophet is kind of like our babysitter while we aren't living with God. How I see it when we are young and learning our parents get us babysitters to look out for us while we are gone. Well our purpose here on Earth is to learn and grow. God isn't here personally to direct us in all that we do so He sent us prophets to give us some extra guidance. Our parents give all the rules we need to live by to the babysitter. They expect us to listen to the babysitter and do what is right. God gives His commandments to the prophet and expects us to live by them. Now there are consequences for all action. If we are disobedient to the babysitter we probably aren't going to have a good time. Just as if we don't follow the prophet life isn't going to be as easy as it could. We might not agree or understand what the babysitter is asking us to do. So we can call our parents and ask them if it is right. Same thing with a prophet. We might not fully understand the counsel he gives but we can always get down on our knees and pray and ask God if that is truly what He wants us to do. Now the time will come when our parents are back. Just as the time will come when we go to meet God. Are parents will discipline us or reward us based upon our actions. If we failed to follow the babysitter we will probably get punish and have some privileges taken away. If we were good we will have more joy and comfort in their presence and they will probably reward us for our actions. The same with God if we failed to follow the prophets we will feel sorrow and receive our just reward. If we followed the prophets we will find great joy and peace in the world to come. God will reward us with Eternal Life to live with Him forever.

I know that prophets are here to lead and guide us. I know that as we follow the prophet we will get close to God and find greater peace and happiness. I know that God loves us and will reward us based upon how we followed Him and His servants in this life. I know if we are obedient we will receive Eternal Life to live with God for all eternity. This will bring us great joy and happiness. I know that wee all make mistakes and can be forgiven because God sent Jesus Christ to suffer and die for us. I know God loves us all and only tells us to do things that will truly bring us happiness. I recommend that everyone tries to learn about and follow the counsel of Thomas S. Monson. Living his teachings will bring you that joy. Go to new.lds.org to learn about him and his teachings. I promise as you do you will feel the spirit and as you live the teachings you will have great peace in your life. So go ahead and give it a try.