Friday, January 14, 2022

"There was power in that pointing finger"

Elder Rasband and his wife, Melanie spoke in a devotional broadcast  on Sunday, January 9, 2022. In her talk, Sister Rasband shared the following story about when President Nelson pointed at her when  she arrived late to a meeting. 

There was an article written about it on LDSLiving


Here is the excerpt from her talk that was shared in the article.

Years ago, when President Nelson was president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder and Sister Rasband attended an annual mission leadership seminar in Provo. Sister Rasband was scheduled to attend a meeting with the mission presidents’ wives, and for whatever reason, she arrived late.

“The room was full of our devoted sisters,” Sister Rasband says. “I stepped in near the back of the room, looking for a seat I could slip into.”

But as she was looking for a seat near the back, eye caught the eye of President Nelson, who was seated on the stand.

“He smiled. I smiled back, despite my embarrassment for being late,” Sister Rasband says. Then President Nelson held her gaze as he motioned with his finger for her to come take a seat on the front row. Not wanting to draw attention to her late arrival, Sister Rasband indicated that maybe instead she could stay and sit near the back. But President Nelson continued to smile and again beckoned for her to come and take the front-row seat that had been reserved with her name on it.

“There was power in that pointing finger,” Sister Rasband said.

So she smiled back, took a deep breath, and “walked the long walk” to the seat awaiting her on the front row. After the meeting, Sister Rasband bolted from her seat to try to catch President Nelson and ask forgiveness for not responding to his request the first time. His response was to again smile and lovingly say, “Thank you for being obedient.”

“The Son of God has also invited each one of us to come unto Him to step up and be like Him. The Lord taught, lifted, blessed, forgave, and loved, ministering one by one like President Nelson did for me. Like we can do for others,” she said.


Did you catch that last sentence? ....

The Lord taught, lifted, blessed, forgave,
and loved, ministering one by one
like President Nelson..


It might just be me... but I think that sentence has it backwards. That word order puts Nelson as the example being followed by the Lord. It should read...President Nelson ministered like the Lord. Have we started to elevated President Nelson over Jesus Christ in saying that the Lord is like President Nelson?

2 comments:

  1. Yep. Nailed it. Russell M Nelson came out to our mission we had to get up at 4 am and drive all over the NW corner of Missouri picking up young elders to be at a conference in Kansas City at 7am. Then we had to sit in our assigned seats not talking for one hour before his arrival. (Which is really cruel to the young elders because they are always so excited to see each other, and all their former companions, etc.) Then of course we had to stand up when he came in, and file up in a certain order to shake hands with him and Whitney Clayton. I think Renlund was supposed to be there, but wasn't able to make it. Then he gave an incredibly long, lackluster talk before we got to eat, which was the best part. Jesus rarely got such fanfare, excepting the entry into Jerusalem. No doubt Nelson came in on much finer transportation than an ass. And he was only "President of the 12" then.

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  2. from Adrian

    The “obedient” comment was the jaw dropper for me. “You’ll sit where I tell you to sit, regardless of your personal discomfort because I said so and I require your obedience to my every whim. There were other open seats; this was just a flex. Who craves that kind of power? —the kind of power that controls others down to the silliest detail. It is a very disturbing look into the mind of the man.

    What’s worse, the author praises him for it!

    Overall this one vignette summarizes the current, disturbing direction of the LDS church.

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