Hence, from time to time the Lord called new prophets and again revealed the plan and bestowed the necessary priesthood authority, creating a new dispensation. Each new dispensation, or period of restored truth, presents men and women with a divine stewardship in performing the Lord's work on earth. The recipients become custodians and coworkers with God in bringing to pass his purposes. They work according to his orderly and revealed design. The concepts of stewardship and orderliness are important themes in LDS theology.
Prophets are stewards who preach and organize the work of redemption in each dispensation.
However, this list does not take into account other dispensations, such as those among the Jaredites, the Nephites, and the ten lost tribes of Israel. More often, one people has been responsive, while other nations have languished in ignorance and unbelief. Some prophets have been given keys and responsibility over specific aspects of God's plan for this earth. In the sense of dispensation or stewardship, each of these assignments could with propriety be called a special dispensation. Whenever the gospel is revealed anew, it is under the direction of Adam.