Lessons of 2025
Lesson No. Thirty-Nine

Anticipating President Dallin H. Oaks

“Behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion” (D&C 132:8). One of the great evidences that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s house and kingdom on earth is its remarkable order of government the Lord has established. The order of the Lord’s Church will be very apparent when Dallin H. Oaks, the senior living Apostle, by date and order of ordination, is set apart as President of the Church by the laying on of hands of all the other living Apostles. It is evident that President Oaks is called by the Lord because He only determines who is the senior Apostle. (For a detailed explanation of these matters see Gary E. Stevenson, The Heart of a Prophet, general conference, April 2018).

The reorganization of the First Presidency. Early in the Church some years passed before the First Presidency was reorganized. But that changed in 1898 when the Lord told President Lorenzo Snow to quickly reorganize the First Presidency. It is likely that within the next few days Dallin H. Oaks will be ordained and set apart as the President, and Prophet, Seer, Revelator of the Church.

A Solemn Assembly to sustain the new First Presidency will be held as part of April 2026 general conference. It is a wonderful privilege that every member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has to sustain a new President of the Church and a new First Presidency. President Oaks will not become President of the Church after a campaign, or an election, or a negotiation, but by a process established and controlled by the Lord. We can chose to sustain or not sustain the Lord’s choice. But if we do not sustain the Prophet we are cutting ourselves off from the Lord. Remember that to truly sustain the Lord’s Prophet we must follow the Prophets council.

What can we anticipate to be the focus of President Oak’s prophetic ministry? First and foremost he will focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. As he does this I anticipate he will emphasize the Lord’s will concerning the family as set forth in The Family – A Proclamation to the World. I also anticipate that he will emphasize the Lord’s will concerning the importance of religious freedom.

The importance of the Family. President Oaks began presiding over the Church as President of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles by emphasizing the importance of the family. (See The Family – Centered Gospel of Jesus Christ, general conference October 2025). Here he taught:

“The doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints centers on the family”… Our relationship to God and the purpose of our mortal life are explained in terms of the family…The gospel plan’s intended destiny is to exalt God’s children in eternal families” (Ibid).

Marriages and birthrates are declining. ”It is vital that Latter-day Saints do not lose their understanding of the purpose of marriage and the value of children. That is the future for which we strive.”

“Parents — single or married…are the master teachers…Many parents will find that they can turn their family on if they all turn their technologies off. And parents remember, what those children really want for dinner is time with you.” President Oaks devoted the balance of his remarks to the importance of the family.

President Oaks has continually emphasized the family in his ministry. In Stand for Truth, Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults, May 21, 2023 he gave a detailed explanation about the importance of the family as set forth in The Family – A Proclamation to the World.

The Church’s teachings on families, marriage, children, chastity, gender issues and roles, etc. determines, to a great extent, who will stay on the covenant path. President Oaks will emphasize the family, and to “warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets” (Ibid).

The importance of religious freedom is another issue President Oaks will emphasize. The Lord prepared President Oaks, as a law professor and a judge, to speak with authority on the importance of religious freedom. From the time President Oaks resigned as a justice on the Utah Supreme Court to become an Apostle he has often taught the importance of religious freedom to members and non-members alike. Examples follow:

“The greatest challenge to the Church in fulfilling its mission to take the gospel to the world is the increasing effort in many nations to limit religious freedom” President Oaks told me this in a conversation after a Devotional for workers in the Salt Lake Temple. He also told me “there is a great need for Church members to work hard to maintain religious freedom. Our heritage is built on the foundation of political, economic, and particularly religious freedom. Religious freedom is a necessary part of the plan of salvation.”

President Oaks in a landmark sermon said: "There is a battle over the meaning of [religious] freedom. The contest is of eternal importance, and it is your generation that must understand the issues and make the efforts to prevail" (Religious Freedom, BYU-Idaho, October 13, 2009). I believe all people, members and non-members alike, should study this masterpiece. The audio of this sermon is included in this Lesson.

What the Lord said about Joseph Smith applies to each of Joseph’s successors: “Wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me;

“For his work ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.

“For by doing these things the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory….

“For, behold, I will bless all those who labor in my vineyard with a mighty blessing, and they shall believe on his words, which are given him through me by the Comforter, which manifesth that Jesus was crucified by sinful men for the sins of the world, yea, for the remission of sins unto the contrite heart” (D&C 21:4-6, 9).

Testimony. If we want to know how well we stand with the Lord then let us ask ourselves how well we stand with His mortal captain—how close do our lives harmonize with the Lord’s anointed—the living Prophet— the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Released on October 12th. 2025.