The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI surprised a lot of people, and for good reason — it had been almost 600 years since the last pope resigned. In the Mormon faith, prophets don’t resign; they remain as LDS “prophet, seer and revelator” until death. Obviously, popes and prophets who end their tenure with death due to old age relinquish their authority long before they die. The last several years of LDS President Spencer W. Kimball’s life was one of constant pain, frequent disorientation, sleeplessness, near blindness and near deafness. However, Kimball in effect “resigned” most of his responsibilities as LDS Church leader long before he died. He just did it in a far more subtle manner than the pope.

President Kimball’s...