Ever since the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith, there have been “prophets in the land again.”
Ether 9:28
28 And there came prophets in the land again, crying repentance unto them—that they must prepare the way of the Lord . . .
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said:
“. . . [T]here is again a living prophet on the earth speaking in the name of the Lord. And how we need such guidance! Our times are turbulent and difficult. We see wars internationally and distress domestically. Neighbors all around us face personal heartaches and family sorrows. Legions know fear and troubles of a hundred kinds. This reminds us that when those mists of darkness enveloped the travelers in Lehi’s vision of the tree of life, it enveloped all of the participants—the righteous as well as the unrighteous, the young along with the elderly, the new convert and seasoned member alike. In that allegory all face opposition and travail, and only the rod of iron—the declared word of God—can bring them safely through. We all need that rod. We all need that word. No one is safe without it, for in its absence any can ‘[fall] away into forbidden paths and [be] lost,’ as the record says (1 Nephi 8:28; see also vv. 23–24). How grateful we are to [hear] God’s voice and [feel] the strength of that iron rod in [general conferences of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints].”
(“Prophets in the Land Again,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2006, 105.)
