Does President Nelson Talk With God? Do Any Church Leaders?

Russell M. Nelson would have us believe he is in direct conversation with Jesus and with God the Father. Neil Anderson recounts a story from Wendy Nelson (Russell M. Nelson’s second wife) on his Facebook page which details Russell M. Nelson’s frequent practice of receiving revelation. It’s so frequent that he keeps a lined yellow notebook by his bed for when revelation strikes in the night.

Sister Nelson explained that in their 12 years of marriage, she had watched the process of revelation and inspiration upon her husband but that since becoming the president of the Church, those revelations have “expanded exponentially.”

She explained, “He keeps a lined yellow pad of paper beside his bed.” Then she declared, “In the morning he holds up a half page to one and a half pages of notes with joy.”

Although she said that sometimes she remains close to him when this process is happening, sometimes she does not. She recounted a night in January when “I got the prompting, ‘move out of bed now.’”

“Two hours later he emerged from the room. ‘Wendy, you won’t believe what’s been happening. The Lord has given me detailed instruction on what I am to do.’”

Neil L. Andersen, Facebook Post, August 20, 2018
https://www.facebook.com/neill.andersen/posts/pfbid0nCVWawSUJVtuPjoKBHdDE9ktctN1R99epxp8fn34rNA89XjhKmcSygLkwPFVDUvUl

Russell M Nelson is known to wake in the night and exclaim “It’s happening!” before sitting up to write the revelation he’s received in his sleep on his yellow pad of paper.

Mormons are Taught that outside the church is life filled with fear
https://wasmormon.org/mormons-are-taught-that-outside-the-church-is-life-filled-with-fear/

For example, early one Saturday morning Sister Nelson awoke and knew she was to get out of bed. She was not done sleeping, but she could feel the prompting to “move out of bed now.”

“So, I went downstairs and did some family history research and then puttered with some other things,” she recalled. “Two hours later, my husband emerged from our bedroom, and said, ‘Wendy, you won’t believe what has been happening for two hours. The Lord has given me detailed instruction about a process I am to follow.’”

Other times the Lord has prompted Sister Nelson to stay close to her husband when he is receiving instruction. “My husband will say during the night, ‘OK dear, it is happening.’ I remain quiet and then soon he is sitting up on the side of the bed writing.”

Sister Nelson said she never reads the private messages the Lord has for President Nelson.

Sister Wendy Nelson shares her personal witness of President Russell M. Nelson’s prophetic ministry
https://www.thechurchnews.com/2019/3/11/23214843/video-sister-wendy-nelson-shares-her-personal-witness-of-president-russell-m-nelsons-prophetic-minis

By his own account, Russell M. Nelson speaks often to God, or, rather, God speaks often to him.

Nelson, the 94-year-old president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said recently that he was awakened at 2 a.m. with a distinct impression that he should go to the Dominican Republic.

…

Few of Nelson’s modern predecessors, however, have made such strong use of the word “revelation,” at least in public or in news releases. The current Latter-day Saint leader, on the other hand, speaks boldly of his prayer life and divine mandates.

In January, the month Nelson took the faith’s reins, his wife, Wendy Watson Nelson, reported that one night she was prompted to leave her husband alone in their bedroom.

“Two hours later, he emerged from the room,” Wendy Nelson told apostle Neil L. Andersen, who reported it on Facebook. “Wendy, you won’t believe what’s been happening,” the church president told his wife, according to Andersen’s account. “The Lord has given me detailed instructions on what I am to do.”

His choice of counselors in the governing First Presidency? The Lord instructed him. New apostles? The Lord inspired him. Emphasizing the church’s full name and eschewing its long-standing “Mormon” nickname? The Lord “impressed” it on his mind.

It’s not surprising, then, that Nelson’s first major sermon to the global membership during his inaugural General Conference since taking the hierarchy’s helm was titled “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives.” No church president in recent decades has seemed so at ease with the rhetoric of his own revelation.

Nelson and the ‘R’ word
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2018/10/02/nelson-r-word-why-this/

But what, since he took reigns of the church in January 2018 as the head officer of the church, has Russell M. Nelson said that is prophetic? What have his addresses at each General Conference been about? What have the First Presidency’s Official Messages and Statements been about? Do these convey the deep revelatory notes he makes at night on his yellow pad?

Here are his addresses since becoming church president at both General Conference and other notable speeches (which the church newsroom promotes) and Official First Presidency Statements or Messages. What do we find? These seem to be more of the same and some administrative changes and personal projects:

• March 2018 – First Presidency issues letter on preventing and responding to abuse. Formally allows children, youth and women to invite another adult to accompany them for priesthood interviews (perhaps in response to Sam Young and the Protect LDS Children movement?)
• April 2018 – Announced restructureed Melchizedek Priesthood quorums by combining Elder’s Quorum and High Priest Groups into One Quorum.
• April 2018 – The Authority and Power of the Priesthood.
• April 2018 – Revelation for the Church and personal revelation. During the talk, he also details that his first wife of 60 years unexpectedly passed away in Feb 2005, and he quickly remarried less than 14 months later, becoming a celestial polygamist.
• April 2018 – Announcing the retiring Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching and replacement program called Ministering.
• April 2018 – Closing Remarks: Let us press on. “Not only have the messages been edifying, but they have been life-changing.”
• May 2018 – Meeting with NAACP and calling for greater civility and racial harmony.
• June 2018 – Commemorating 40 years since the church lifted the ban on blacks and the priesthood. “The Lord has stressed His essential doctrine of equal opportunity for His children.” We have a “passionate desire to build bridges of cooperation instead of walls of segregation.”
• October 2018 – Opening remarks: Time for a home-centered Church, and moving to a 2-hour church meeting schedule.
• October 2018 – The correct name of the church/Don’t say Mormon, it’s a “major victory for Satan“.
• October 2018 – Women’s Session: Social Media Fast, Read Scriptures, Attend Temple, Do Relief Society.
• October 2018 – President Nelson About the Church in the Coming Years: “Eat Your Vitamin Pills. Get Some Rest. It’s Going to Be Exciting.”
• April 4, 2019 – LGBTQ Exclusion Policy Reversal. “Children of parents who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender may now be blessed as infants and baptized in The Church… In addition, the Church will no longer characterize same-gender marriage by a Church member as “apostasy” for purposes of Church discipline, although it is still considered “a serious transgression.””
• April 6, 2019 – Do and Be Better – Focus on daily repentance.
• April 7, 2019 – Follow Jesus. “Salvation is an individual matter, but exaltation is a family matter… The anguish of my heart is that many people whom I love, whom I admire, and whom I respect decline His invitation… Now, as President of His Church, I plead with you who have distanced yourselves from the Church and with you who have not yet really sought to know that the Savior’s Church has been restored. Do the spiritual work to find out for yourselves, and please do it now. Time is running out.”
• April 7, 2019 – Temple Restorations Announcements and New Temple Announcements.
• September 2019 – The Love and Laws of God – Rationalizing the November Policy Reversal: “Because parents are the primary exemplars for their children, we did not want to put young children in the position of having to choose between beliefs and behavior they learned at home and what they were taught at Church. We wanted to facilitate harmony in the home and avoid pitting children and parents against each other. Thus in 2015, the policy was made to assist children and their parents in this circumstance, namely that children being raised by LGBT parents would not automatically be eligible for baptism at age eight. … we recently felt directed to adjust the policy… Though it may not have looked this way to some, the 2015 and 2019 policy adjustments on this matter were both motivated by love”
• October 2019 – Reiterates announcement about changes in policy regarding who may serve as witnesses to baptism and sealing ordinances. “These policy adjustments are procedural. The underlying doctrine and covenants are unchanged.” Introduce new Strength of Youth programs.
• October 2019 – Women’s Session Spiritual Treasures: “The restoration of the priesthood is just as relevant to you as a woman as it is to any man.” “Your participation is essential and never ornamental!”
• October 2019 – Loving our Neighbor talk praising the efforts of the church in humanitarian aid and service. “It would be impossible to calculate the amount of service that Latter-day Saints render around the globe every day of every year, but it is possible to calculate the good the Church as an organization does to bless men and women—boys and girls—who are in need of a helping hand.” “Let me cite just a few examples of how the Church follows these teachings of the Savior.” “The activities I have described are merely a small part of the growing welfare and humanitarian outreach of The Church. And you are the ones who make all this possible. Because of your exemplary lives, your generous hearts, and your helping hands, it is no wonder that many communities and government leaders are praising your efforts.”
• October 2019 – Announcing edited Temple Recommend questions. Stated that “general conference next April will be not only memorable; it will be unforgettable.”
• November 2019 – Newsroom Rationalizing the Exclusion Policy Reversal – “God has not changed His definition of marriage… we can adjust policy when the Lord directs us to do so. … Our concern… was to find a way to reduce friction between gay or lesbian parents and their children.”
• December 2019 – First Presidency Statement on Church Finances in response to whistleblower report of mismanagement, illegal actions, and misleading statements about church finances: “Claims being currently circulated are based on a narrow perspective and limited information. The Church complies with all applicable law governing our donations, investments, taxes, and reserves. We continue to welcome the opportunity to work with officials to address questions they may have.”
• February 2020 – First Presidency announces release of new general handbook.
• April 2020 – Acknowledgement that the prophet had no idea COVID was coming. “Little did I know, when I promised you at the October 2019 general conference that this April conference would be “memorable” and “unforgettable,” that speaking to a visible congregation of fewer than 10 people would make this conference so memorable and unforgettable for me!” “Attendance at this general conference has been strictly limited as part of our efforts to be good global citizens and do all we can to limit the spread of COVID-19. This virus has had a major impact throughout the world. It has also altered our Church meetings, missionary service, and temple work for a while.”
• April 2020 – Reiterate the “don’t say Mormon” church rebranding and announce the new church logo. Call for a worldwide fast for relief from the global pandemic on Good Friday.
• April 2020 – “Our Father knows that when we are surrounded by uncertainty and fear, what will help us the very most is to hear His Son.” Announcement and reading of The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: A Bicentennial Proclamation to the World. Commemorating the 200th anniversary of the First Vision.
• April 2020 – Commemorating the First Vision with the Hosanna Shout.
• April 2020 – “We pray that you will begin anew truly to hear, hearken to, and heed the words of the Savior. I promise that decreased fear and increased faith will follow.” Temple Announcements (including Shanghai, China – which has been denied by China)
• October 2020 – Reassurances that the work of the Lord steadily moves forward despite the pandemic.
• October 2020 – The future will be glorious for those who are prepared.
• October 2020 – The Lord has pledged that He will fight [our] battles. Choose to let God prevail in your lives.
• October 2020 – Today we often hear about “a new normal.” If you really want to embrace a new normal, I invite you to turn your heart, mind, and soul increasingly to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Let that be your new normal. Temple Announcements.
• January 2021 – The First Presidency and Apostles Over Age 70 Receive the COVID-19 Vaccine.
• April 2021 – “If you look at your life prayerfully, I believe you will see many ways in which the Lord has been guiding you through this time of hardship… Adversity is a great teacher.”
• April 2021 – “Through your faith, Jesus Christ will increase your ability to move the mountains in your life, even though your personal challenges may loom as large as Mount Everest.”
• April 2021 – Phased Temple reopening announcement, and announcing more Temples.
• August 2021 – The First Presidency Urges Latter-day Saints to Wear Face Masks When Needed and Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19 “We can win this war if everyone will follow the wise and thoughtful recommendations of medical experts and government leaders”
• October 2021 – Feast on our messages. Learn how to apply them in your life.
• October 2021 – Spiritual safety is living your temple covenants. The Restoration is a process, not an event, and the ongoing Restoration needs ongoing revelation.
• October 2021 – The pandemic has demonstrated how quickly life can change, at times from circumstances beyond our control. However, there are many things we can control. Make Time for the Lord.
• December 2021 – Revised General Handbook now complete.
• March 2022 – As COVID-19 Restrictions Ease, The Church Is Reopening
• April 2022 – The gospel is the only answer when many in the world are stunned with fear.
• April 2022 – Suggesting five actions to help us maintain positive spiritual momentum.
• April 2022 – The time is now. Temple announcements.
• October 2022 – God is the source of all truth.
• October 2022 – Find rest from the intensity, uncertainty, and anguish through covenants with God.
• October 2022 – Focus on the Temple and more temple announcements.
• February 2023 – The $5M SEC Settlement and Ensign Peak Advisors matter is Closed!
• April 2023 – Be peacemakers!
• April 2023 – Whatever questions or problems you have, the answer is always Jesus. Temple announcements.
• August 2023 – New Church Handbook Updates and revisions.

While there are many addresses from President Nelson, what if any of them is prophetic or the result of revelation?

Notably missing things during his presidency. Any sort of warning regarding the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. After the pandemic began and the CDC recommended face masks and social distancing, he did call members to follow the recommendations. Missionaries were evacuated from places and the work came to a standstill for months on end. Everyone was surprised by this pandemic. No church leaders had seen it coming.

Also missing are any pre-emptive messages to calm things before the infamous January 2021 insurrection riots fueled by Donald Trump’s refusal to accept the 2020 election results as legitimate. No warning one way or another. No voice of reason to the American (and staunchly conservative base) of church members. In fact, we know there were church members present, as Captain Moroni made an impressionable appearance at the insurrection complete with his flag of liberty!

What is the Lord telling Russell Nelson then? What are these detailed instructions that are so grand? Maybe it’s just something that has his wife impressed? How to vacuum perhaps? How to swing?

Do tell, President Nelson, what are these grand revelations coming from God? Are they the administrative updates the church has seen since you took the reigns? Nothing about the turmoil the world finds itself in, the Lord must not care. Either the Lord forgot to tell Russell Nelson about these grand events, or he did tell him and he did literally nothing to prepare the world. That or he doesn’t actually speak with God.

Special Witnesses

The church leadership has led members to believe that they are “Special Witnesses” of the Savior and the resurrection. Much like the three and eight witnesses to the gold plates. They have a “special” testimony and if we only could know what they know, or see what they’ve seen…

This “special” myth is perpetuated by Nelson’s wife in this same talk.

Two days later, however, the Lord gave Sister Nelson “a most unique, most distinctive experience that I could never deny or forget,” she said. From the experience, Sister Nelson knew “the mantle of prophet was upon my husband.”

“The experience was so dramatic, so clear, that it really was embedded upon my heart and my mind right in the moment,” she said.

Still, two days later, the Lord gave her exactly the same experience again.

“So I can take any witness stand in any nation on the earth to tell you for sure that Russell Marion Nelson has been called by God to be the Lord’s prophet on the earth at this time,” she said.

Sister Wendy Nelson shares her personal witness of President Russell M. Nelson’s prophetic ministry
https://www.thechurchnews.com/2019/3/11/23214843/video-sister-wendy-nelson-shares-her-personal-witness-of-president-russell-m-nelsons-prophetic-minis

Normal witness stands will ask people about things they have physically witnessed, not dramatic feelings that are embedded in their hearts. She’s alluding to the fact that she’s witnessed things like a usual witness, but in reality, it is something she saw with her “spiritual eyes”. The problem is these witnesses are no more special than having a good feeling, or seeing something with “spiritual eyes,” or having a dream that feels more profound than usual. These are the “special” witnesses they are referring to, nothing more. These are the “impressions” they are leading the church with. They are deluded enough to believe that because of their special titles and authority, these feelings and inklings are direct messages from God.

“Why do you doubt your senses?”

“Because a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There’s more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!”

Ebenezer Scrooge, The Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
https://www.charlesdickenspage.com/carol-dickens-reading-text.html

The problem, as Dicken’s Ebenezer Scrooge plainly states, is there’s likely “more of gravy than of grave” to these feelings. Feelings may be important information for us as humans to understand the world and our place in it, but they shouldn’t be elevated to revelation status. Feelings are not the method of communicating the absolute truth from God.

In rare moments of honesty, we do however find some explanation that these “special” status witnesses are no more special than everyone else’s spiritual witnesses. Here, when Elder Nelson explained how the November policy of exclusion was a revelation to the quorum of the twelve apostles and first presidency as they fasted and prayed in the temple, he states:

It was our privilege as Apostles to sustain what had been revealed to President Monson. Revelation from the Lord to His servants is a sacred process, and so is your privilege of receiving personal revelation.

My dear brothers and sisters, you have as much access to the mind and will of the Lord for your own life as we Apostles do for His Church. Just as the Lord requires us to seek and ponder, fast and pray, and study and wrestle with difficult questions, He requires you to do the same as you seek answers to your own questions.

You can learn to hear the voice of the Lord through the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. As helpful as Google, Twitter, and Facebook may seem, they simply do not provide answers to your most important questions!

Becoming True Millennials, Elder Russell M. Nelson, January 10, 2016, BYU–Hawaii
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/broadcasts/article/worldwide-devotionals/2016/01/becoming-true-millennials?lang=eng

He makes it clear here that regular folks and individuals “have as much access to the mind and will of the Lord for your own life as [the] Apostles do for His Church.” In other words, there’s nothing more special about their connection than your connection. It’s just that they have the “authority” to receive guidance for the whole church.

But where are these grand revelations Nelson fervently writes on his yellow-lined paper and light pen? Nothing? What’s up with that?

Perhaps we’re yet to see them. The now 99-year-old church president must be waiting for this coming General Conference. Or perhaps he’s continuing the juvenile Mormon tradition of charlatan leadership.

• https://www.facebook.com/neill.andersen/posts/pfbid0nCVWawSUJVtuPjoKBHdDE9ktctN1R99epxp8fn34rNA89XjhKmcSygLkwPFVDUvUl
• https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/22/us/mormon-lds-name-change-revelation/index.html
• https://www.worldreligionnews.com/religion-news/president-nelsons-wife-describes-revelations-leading-drop-mormon-moniker/
• https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news/sister-wendy-nelson-shares-her-personal-witness-of-president-nelsons-prophetic-calling-and-ministry