Already a Prophet

With the death of President Thomas S. Monson and the (what would you call it? The promotion?) of President Russell M. Nelson to the position of "Acting President" of the church, I imagine that some people will give more weight to his words, past and present, now that he is probably soon to be the next prophet.

But the thing is, he was already a prophet. All members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are "prophets, seers, and revelators," from the President of the Quorum to its newest members. His counsel was already prophetic counsel, as is the counsel of any General Authority.

Of course, there is something special about the mantle that is probably about to fall on President Nelson's shoulders, and I'm probably going to pay more attention to his next Conference talk than I paid to his last one, but we really should pay attention to the talks of all General Authorities, because they are all already prophets, even if only one of them is considered the prophet.