Do you guys have something like a Pope?

We have a Prophet.

A Prophet? You mean like... Old Testament, talks to God, has power to perform miracles, that kind of Prophet?

Yes.

Do you understand what that means?

Yes.

And you accept it? Really?

Yes.

Prophets have a bad name these days. The world has seen its fair share of nut jobs proclaiming themselves to be a Prophet. In too many minds the term Prophet is equated with secretive cults, illegal activities, and mass suicide. Whether it is Waco, Texas, or the so-called 'fundamentalist LDS' church, or the various cults of a generation past, the word Prophet conjures up images of compounds, weapons caches, female oppression, and sedition against the government.

That would not be us.

It should come as no surprise that the devil would want to paint prophets with a nice, broad, ugly brush. After all, Prophets are what saved Israel over and over again. And Prophets are what brought us the Bible. And Prophets talk to God. All things that the devil would prefer did not happen.

So when I say I accept the idea of a modern prophet, I am not suggesting that I have plans to move to a compound in the central US and stockpile tear gas.

One stark difference between the Prophet and the nut jobs in the cults is that the nut jobs have serious control issues - the last thing they would preach is individual, personal revelation. The Mormon church is the opposite - the Prophet encourages the members to learn to receive revelation and live by the Spirit. If everything is working the way God says it should (and I find that it does), the Spirit confirms individually what the Prophet teaches generally.

So, would you like to see what today's Prophet is saying? His name is Thomas S. Monson. He travels a lot and speaks in various meetings and conferences around the world, but twice a year he presides over a worldwide conference of the church, broadcast by satellite to nearly all of its buildings. It happens usually in April and October. The full text and the audio, and the video, if you'd like to hear his voice or see what he looks like are available on LDS.Org. Look for 'General Conference'. In fact, the proceedings of the conference are also streamed live on the internet, and available on KBYU on consumer satellite services. Put it on your DVR or Tivo, or print off a copy of a talk, or download the audio to your iPod sometime, and see what you think.