Portraits of the Prophets. © by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. Used by permission.

What a profound blessing it is to live at a time when we have a prophet of the Lord on the earth! Our lives are blessed every day by the influence of our prophet as we are taught and instructed, nourished and fed, encouraged and uplifted.

We are also richly blessed by the direction of other prophets, seers, and revelators who serve with the President of the Church. All these faithful brethren have been called of God by revelation and inspiration through the instrumentality of the Lord’s ordained prophet.

In a very real and direct way, we are benefiting today from the inspiration of previous prophets. For example, Presidents Gordon B. Hinckley and Thomas S. Monson were called to the apostleship by President David O. McKay. As the Lord’s seer, President McKay sought the Lord’s will in calling these worthy men to fill these high and holy positions. How significant are the results of President McKay’s inspiration those many years ago. Similarly, it is wonderful to contemplate that of our fifteen currently serving Apostles, almost half (seven) were called to the apostleship by President Spencer W. Kimball.

Following are three helpful tables dealing with the numbers of Apostles called during the years of service of each of our fifteen Church Presidents. The largest number of Apostles were called during the presidency of Joseph Smith, primarily because of the organization of the original Quorum of the Twelve and the frequency of apostasy among the early Church leaders. It is interesting to note that during the six years and nine months that John Taylor served as Church President, he called six new Apostles, while President Hinckley, who has now served almost eight years as Church President, has called just one new Apostle, Elder Henry B. Eyring.

The last chart points out that of our fifteen Church Presidents, only six have called Apostles who subsequently served as Presidents of the Church. The call of Joseph Smith is unique in that he was called directly by the Lord Himself.

Number of Apostles Called during the Tenure of Each Prophet Listed Chronologically

Prophet	Years as President	Apostles Called	Apostles Living	Names of Apostles Called
Joseph Smith	1830–1844	22	0	Joseph Smith to Amasa M. Lyman
Brigham Young	1847–1877	13	0	Ezra T. Benson to Albert Carrington
John Taylor	1880–1887	6	0	Moses Thatcher to John W. Taylor
Wilford Woodruff	1889–1898	5	0	Marriner W. Merrill to Abraham O. Woodruff
Lorenzo Snow	1898–1901	2	0	Rudger Clawson to Reed Smoot
Joseph F. Smith	1901–1918	11	0	Hyrum M. Smith to Richard R. Lyman
Heber J. Grant	1819–1945	12	0	Melvin J. Ballard to Mark E. Petersen
George Albert Smith	1945–1951	3	0	Matthew Cowley to Delbert L. Stapley
David O. McKay	1951–1970	11	2	Marion G. Romney to Alvin R. Dyer
Joseph Fielding Smith	1970–1972	2	1	Boyd K. Packer to Marvin J. Ashton
Harold B. Lee	1972–1973	1	0	Bruce R. McConkie
Spencer W. Kimball	1973–1985	7	7	L. Tom Perry to M. Russell Ballard
Ezra Taft Benson	1985–1994	3	3	Joseph B. Wirthlin to Robert D. Hales
Howard H. Hunter	1994–1995	1	1	Jeffrey R. Holland
Gordon B. Hinckley	1995-present	1	1	Henry B. Eyring

Number of Apostles Called during the Tenure of Each Prophet Listed by Decreasing Number of Apostles Called

Prophet	Years as President	Apostles Called	Apostles Living	Names of Apostles Called
Joseph Smith	1830–1844	22	0	Joseph Smith to Amasa M. Lyman
Brigham Young	1847–1877	13	0	Ezra T. Benson to Albert Carrington
Heber J. Grant	1918–1945	12	0	Melvin J. Ballard to Mark E. Petersen
Joseph F. Smith	1901–1918	11	0	Hyrum M. Smith to Richard R. Lyman
David O. McKay	1951–1970	11	2	Marion G. Romney to Alvin R. Dyer
Spencer W. Kimball	1973–1985	7	7	L. Tom Perry to M. Russell Ballard
John Taylor	1880–1887	6	0	Moses Thatcher to John W. Taylor
Wilford Woodruff	1889–1898	5	0	Marriner W. Merrill to Abraham O. Woodruff
George Albert Smith	1945–1951	3	0	Matthew Cowley to Delbert L. Stapley
Ezra Taft Benson	1985–1994	3	3	Joseph B. Wirthlin to Robert D. Hales
Lorenzo Snow	1898–1901	2	0	Rudger Clawson to Reed Smoot
Joseph Fielding Smith	1970–1972	2	1	Boyd K. Packer to Marvin J. Ashton
Harold B. Lee	1972–1973	1	0	Bruce R. McConkie
Howard H. Hunter	1994–1995	1	1	Jeffrey R. Holland
Gordon B. Hinckley	1995–present	1	1	Henry B. Eyring

Future Church Presidents Called during the Tenure of Each Prophet

Prophet	Called during the Tenure of	Year Called to the Apostleship
Brigham Young	Joseph Smith	1835
John Taylor	Joseph Smith	1838
Wilford Woodruff	Joseph Smith	1839
Lorenzo Snow	Brigham Young	1849
Joseph F. Smith	Brigham Young	1866
Heber J. Grant	John Taylor	1882
George Albert Smith	Joseph F. Smith	1903
David O. McKay	Joseph F. Smith	1906
Joseph Fielding Smith	Joseph F. Smith	1910
Harold B. Lee	Heber J. Grant	1941
Spencer W. Kimball	Heber J. Grant	1943
Ezra Taft Benson	Heber J. Grant	1943
Howard W. Hunter	David O. McKay	1959
Gordon B. Hinckley	David O. McKay	1961