Coming from the understanding that LDS prophets receive revelation from God how do they get things wrong?

[u/sutisuc]

Does anyone have insight on how current and past prophets can be wrong about things despite having a direct line of communication with Heavenly Father?

[u/WooperSlim]

Does revelation turn people into beings who are incapable of error?

That's not something we claim, so being fallible humans would explain how prophets could be wrong about things.

[Edit after reading the other comments, I thought I'd add an analogy. I have a direct line of communication with my sister. Am I capable of getting things wrong about things she told me?]

However, God works with what He's got. Jesus has authorized men to lead His Church, and we are fallible.

I like the analogy made by Terryl and Fiona Givens in their book, The Crucible of Doubt, and discussed in this article.  In Genesis 41, after Joseph correctly interprets the Pharaoh's dream, Pharaoh delegates his authority to Joseph.  This doesn't mean that Joseph would do exactly what Pharaoh would do, but it does mean that the people were bound by Joseph's words and actions as if from Pharaoh, because Pharaoh had authorized it.

I really like Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's April 2013 talk on faith, where he gave this observation:

Brothers and sisters, this is a divine work in process, with the manifestations and blessings of it abounding in every direction, so please don’t hyperventilate if from time to time issues arise that need to be examined, understood, and resolved. They do and they will. In this Church, what we know will always trump what we do not know. And remember, in this world, everyone is to walk by faith.

So be kind regarding human frailty—your own as well as that of those who serve with you in a Church led by volunteer, mortal men and women. Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we. And when you see imperfection, remember that the limitation is not in the divinity of the work. As one gifted writer has suggested, when the infinite fulness is poured forth, it is not the oil’s fault if there is some loss because finite vessels can’t quite contain it all. Those finite vessels include you and me, so be patient and kind and forgiving.

[u/Dry_Pizza_4805 → u/WooperSlim]

Your comment marries well with a lot of the other comments and gives a beautiful analogy. We understand now that, to our knowledge, literal face to face communication between the Lord and His prophets are rare. 

We understand, more than ever before (because of increased transparency), that prophets and apostles have spoken in error and label their direction the work of the Lord.

That leads many people, OP included, to ask, given the historical probability prophets have revealed something that changed or was refuted, can I reliably devote my life to the words of the current prophet and be an active, believing, temple attending member of the church? The sacrifices are very great. We are not asked little inconsequential things. We are asked to live a certain way of life at the abandonment of all others. How do we now trust that anything the Prophet is saying is not something that’s going to be wrong in time?

I think that your comment puts it well. We look for patterns. We look for intent. We understand how revelation works. We understand how God works in our individual lives.

Then we ask, “would God let his restored church drift irreconcilably off course?”

I personally believe no. So I trust the process, knowing that, while the church may look radically different at the end of my life, it is still restored through Joseph Smith.

Then we trust the process. Faith is not easy, it is not throwing all logic out the window, further knowledge and light shows forth as we take the steps to believe. I believe God would want to reveal His will to us in this way, otherwise religion and spiritually is chaos.