“While the Lord is impartial, yet heaven has its ‘favorites’ ([Lectures on Faith] 6:4). They are spoken of as the ‘noble and great’ (Abr 3:22–23), the ‘chosen’ (D&C 121:40), the ‘sanctified’ (D&C 20:34), and so forth. They constitute what Elder Matthew Cowley called ‘the aristocracy of righteousness.’ … But they are not born aristocrats, they are exalted by merit, not by chance. “Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one; he that is righteous is favored of God” (1 Nephi 17:35).’ … James wrote: ‘The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much’ (James 5:16)” (Turner, “Imperative and Unchanging Nature of God,” 216).