The following is excerpted from the Church News. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.

When asked what he has learned about the importance of councils in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, thinks back to an experience he had in his late 20s. 

President Oaks was a newly called second counselor of a stake presidency in Chicago, Illinois, at the time. In one of the first meetings he attended, the stake president indicated a stake center needed to be built to accommodate the large number of units in the stake. 

The stake president suggested the stake center could be located in the western suburb of Naperville and asked what his counselors thought. “The first counselor said he thought that was a good idea,” President Oaks recalled. “And I said, ‘I think that’s a bad idea.’” 

After a few minutes of discussion in which President Oaks outlined his concerns with the location, the stake president invited his counselors to pray about the decision and plan to talk about it at their next meeting. 

“The instant I put it before the Lord,” President Oaks said, “I got as strong an impression as I’ve ever had: You’re wrong. Get out of the way.” 

At the next meeting, he was on board with building the stake center in Naperville.

“The purpose of the council was to introduce a subject and to stimulate me to prayer, and with the benefit of revelation, I came in line,” President Oaks said. “We had what the Lord wanted — unity — and a stake center was built. And yes, you’ll find it in the western suburbs of Chicago. It’s not where I thought it ought to be, but it’s where the Lord wanted it.”

Seated shoulder to shoulder in President Henry B. Eyring’s office in the Church Administration Building, President Oaks and President Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, recently spoke to the Church News about the essential role of councils in the Church and the revelatory process that comes through counseling in the Lord’s way.

To read the full article, CLICK HERE.