My least favorte apostle....but I've repented.

I have to preface this blog or else my very conservative sister and HUGE Boyd K fan will disown me.

Disclaimer: These views represent only the views of the author and are not intended for outside church use. Use of this blog post or any other is prohibited with out official written consent. The author enjoys church every Sunday and very much enjoys the blessings that church brings to her life.

Growing up in the church my whole life I've heard allot of comments about the "Brethren*" or the leaders of the church 90% of which is positive. I realize that plenty of negative material has been written about the church but as a general rule I don't pay attention to anti-Mormon literature. Fortunately the general populace of the church is very dedicated and support their apostles as they should.

Walk around the conference center after any general conference and you will hear supportive comments like "Dallin H. Oaks is my FAVORITE!!!!!" or "oh Jeffery R. Holland I love his voice!!!" or "I love Elder Neil A Maxwell's vocabulary" or "Don't you just love President Hinckley's sense of humor!?!?" not to forget "M. Russel Ballard is the best!," and another declared favorite "Henry B. Eyring is my favorite!"

Edgier people would say things like "I love listening to David B. Haight because he makes up his talks on the spot." Also I've even heard a few people say "I wasn't really a huge fan of David A. Bednar when he was the president of BYU-Idaho" but now he is my new favorite." If you haven't had/heard a conversation like this then your are likely not Mormon and this blog post will really confuse you. The bottom line is everyone has a FAVORITE apostle even me. I admit that Dieter F. Uchtdorf is my current favorite. " I love that he is German and a pilot. I shook his hand once right before I served a German mission. I'm really hoping that one day he will become prophet.

Now here is the question: if people can rank the brethren in terms of favorites who gets the short end of the stick? If I am a self declared "Dieter F. Uchdorf fan" then that means I have to choose him over my other favorites? What about "Jeffry R. Holland or L. Tom Perry?"

Do the people ever realize that by declaring a favorite they are inevitably putting some apostles above others??? I realized this and once in a saucy mood I declared that Boyd K. Packer was my least favorite apostle. I was 99% joking but then it just kind of stuck. I told my mom about my newly declared least favorite but she just rolled her eyes and said "I hope you are joking!"

Now you might be wondering why I chose Boyd K Packer as my least favorite. I was holding the tiniest grudge against him dating back to my mission times when Boyd K. mandated that missionaries only talk to their families for 5 minutes at Christmas. (FIVE MINUTES ONLY...Torture!) Plus he doesn't look as friendly as some of the other apostles on his official church picture. Yes he is a great candidate for least favorite companion.

Last week my wonderful mother in law invited us to attend their stake conference where President Packer was speaking. I graciously accepted and was genuinely excited to see a prophet of god speak although at the time I would have rather heard President Uchdorf. Then Spencer opened his mouth and told his mother "Boyd K. Packer is Joan's least favorite apostle" I could have died! I only say that to my friends who know what a bizarre sense of humor I have and would never question my dedication to the church. I blatantly denied it and gave Spencer the look! The nerve of him!

Anyhow today I sat only rows away from President Packer and I was humbled. He gave a great talk and showed positive signs of having a sense of humor. He spoke about the fact that church members need to be different and not follow the trends of the rest of the world. He talked about how the youth of today need to stand up for their beliefs and always attend seminary. He talked about how women tend to be more spiritual and how men need to heed the councils of their wives too. It was a great talk, and I was humbled.

I've decided to officially stop referring to Boyd K. Packer as my least favorite apostle. It was all a joke but I would never want anyone to think I was serious. I still think the idea of having a least favorite apostle is so ridiculously laughable that it provides a good comic releif from those above mentioned usual conversations.

Here is a picture of Boyd K Packer smiling so that you can see that he actually does. I have forgiven him for the five minute policy and if any of you had similar grudges I would implore you to do the same. Boyd K still isn't my favorite...but I've decided to discontinue my least favorite apostle policy.


P.S. I hope you've enjoyed this post and I can't wait to hear who your favorite apostle is.


* I think "brethren" was a buzz word in the 1990's that became popular. but I'd be curious when my readers first started hearing it.