A Solemn Assembly
In my short (although feels long) 35 years on this earth, I have lived through 6 Latter-Day Prophets service to the Church. (Kimball, Benson, Hunter, Hinkley, Monson and now Pres. Nelson.) I do not remember participating in any Solemn Assembly, except for when Pres. Thomas S. Monson was called and sustained. Taking part in the rare Solemn Assembly is a special occasion and an honor. Yesterday morning in the first session of the 188th biannual General Conference, the 15.8 million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints had the opportunity to participate in a Solemn Assembly and sustain Pres. Russell M. Nelson as the current Prophet and head of the Latter-Day Church. There is a definite reverence sustaining a new prophet for the first time, that isn’t completely there when the routine sustaining happens at every other General Conference. I distinctly remember sustaining Pres. Monson for the first time back in 2008. The Spirit I felt was not unlike the Spirit I feel whenever I have the opportunity to attend a temple dedication. Feeling that Spirit is a definite confirmation that the new prophet is directly chosen from Heavenly Father. As I listened to Pres. Henry B. Iring conduct the sustaining of the new First Presidency and then adding the sustaining of the two new Apostles Elder Gerrit W. Gong and Elder Ulisses Soares the Spirit confirmed to me in my heart that those 15 men are called of God to administer, counsel, and be prophets, seers, and revelators for this modern time. As I watched Conference this weekend, listened to modern revelation, sustained the new individuals in the First Presidency and the 12 Apostles I was definitely filled with the Spirit and edified.
Artwork from Maeserart
Mormon Newsroom defines a solemn assembly as “a sacred meeting held by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, most often at a general conference after a new Church president begins his service. In these meetings, Latter-day Saints around the world gather to show support for the new Church president and others included in the Church’s worldwide governing body including general membership from age 8 and older.”
President Hinckley explained in 1995 that a solemn assembly is “a gathering of the membership where every individual stands equal with every other in exercising with soberness and in solemnity his or her right to sustain or not to sustain those who, under the procedures that arise out of the revelations, have been chosen to lead.”
(Everything You Need to Know About the Solemn Assembly)
