Own Your Own Conversion

 The truth is that you must own your own conversion. No one else can do it for you. 

May I invite you to consider a few questions? Do you want to feel peace about concerns that presently plague you? Do you want to feel know Jesus Christ better? Do you want to learn how His divine power can heal your wounds and weaknesses? Do you want to experience the sweet, soothing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ working in your life?

If your answer to these four questions is "yes," that is evidence that you want to have a strong testimony of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth. Don't pollute it with the false philosophies of unbelieving men and women and then wonder why your testimony is waning.

Engage in daily, earnest, humble prayer. Nourish yourself in the words of ancient and modern prophets. Ask the Lord to teach you how to hear Him better. Spend more time in the temple and in family history work. 

As you make your testimony your highest priority, watch for miracles to happen in your life. 

If you have questions about the gospel and about your life--and I hope you do--seek answers with the fervent desire to believe. Learn all you can about the gospel by turning to truth-filled sources for guidance. We live in the dispensation when "nothing shall be withheld." Thus, in time, the Lord will answer all of your questions.

In the meantime, immerse yourself in the rich reservoir of revelation we have at our fingertips. I promise that doing so will strengthen your testimony, even if some of your questions are not yet answered. Your sincere questions, asked in faith, will always lead to greater faith and more knowledge.

-President Russell M. Nelson, Heart of the Matter, 2023, p. 52-53

Nevertheless I went forth.

 The last couple of weeks I have lost a lot of sleep over an immigration case in which a mistake had been made that put us in a situation where I didn't see a path forward for the client, who happens also to be a church member. I prayed and fasted about it and nothing came. Court was a few days away and I felt I had nothing good to tell them. I finally set up an appointment to talk to them and convince them to plan for removal, and in the morning I started listening to the Book of Mormon audiobook on the new app, since I set a goal to read the Book of Mormon between now and the end of the year now that I finished reading D&C. 

One of my favorite verses hit me again in the context of my current situation. "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do. Nevertheless I went forth..."

I didn't know what to do. And maybe in the end I could do nothing except be with this client through this trial and "comfort those that stand in need of comfort." But I could take the next step I could think of and go forward.

And I met with the clients and gave them the news, and it was so upsetting to the mother that she finally shared some terrible things that had happened that she hadn't told anyone before. And those things gave me the basis for an asylum application that would not be frivolous and that could at least give the client more time if not eventually gain his residency.

So today I've got to put together an entire asylum application package. I'm not sure how I'll get it done.

Nevertheless, I'll go forth.

The Ongoing Restoration

I was scheduled to give a talk on March 15. Usually my talk preparation drags out, and I revise and revise until right up until I give it. But this time I pounded out a talk early in the week, read it through, and then couldn't think of anything else and set it aside. Of course that was the first week that our regular church gatherings were cancelled, so this talk wasn't meant to be given. But I am sure I was meant to study and write it. So I'll post it here like I usually do with the talks I write.

The Ongoing Restoration

When he was getting ready to plan speakers for this month, John decided to go through the old programs and lists of who has spoken in the last year or so to make sure he didn’t ask people who had just recently spoken. He came downstairs after compiling his spreadsheet and asked, “You know who I noticed hasn’t spoken in quite a while?”

You can guess the answer, and here I am, packing in all of my Sacrament Meeting participation before I have this baby next month and become a hermit for a while. (This is funny in retrospect; we all became hermits a lot sooner than I had anticipated.)

Today I’m going to talk about the ongoing nature of the restoration and what it means for us to live now, in the dispensation of the fullness of times. I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to reflect on it this month as we are preparing for General Conference and the bicentennial of the First Vision.

Elder John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve told of a time when he was with a group of stake officers and someone asked him how long it had been since the Church had received a revelation. Elder Widtsoe rubbed his chin thoughtfully and replied, “Oh, probably since last Thursday.”

In his talk, “Are you Sleeping Through the Restoration?” Elder Uchtdorf said, “Sometimes we think of the Restoration of the gospel as something that is complete, already behind us—Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, he received priesthood keys, the Church was organized. In reality, the Restoration is an ongoing process; we are living in it right now. It includes “all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal,” and the “many great and important things” that “He will yet reveal.” Brethren, the exciting developments of today are part of that long-foretold period of preparation that will culminate in the glorious Second Coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

A huge part of what makes us different as a church is our belief that revelation is ongoing; that “[God] will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” I love this doctrine, and I love that we have a living prophet on the earth today to guide us. But there has always been a little question or tension in my mind, which I have summed up this way: How is it that we say that the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the Gospel, or that the Prophet Joseph Smith restored the fullness of the Gospel, if there are still great and important things yet to be revealed?

When I think logically about this, two answers come to mind:

1. There must be a difference between what we call “having a fullness” and “having everything.”
2. Having a fullness doesn’t mean that we understand and apply it fully.

I think both of these apply to us in these last days; we are seeking to understand the fulness we have been given and to increase to perfection through Jesus Christ.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained what it means to live in the dispensation of the fulness of times:

“Whenever the Lord reveals the plan of salvation anew so that men do not have to rely solely upon prior dispensings from heaven of the same glories and wonders, it is called a dispensation of the gospel. This may or may not involve a restoration of keys and powers and priesthoods. 

…

“We live in the dispensation of the fulness of times. That is to say, we live in the dispensation of the fulness of dispensations. We have received all of the ‘keys, powers, and glories,’ possessed by them of old. Angelic ministrants have come from these Biblical dispensations which had distinctive keys and powers—‘all declaring their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their priesthood.

“In the dispensation of the fulness of times,’ as Paul promised, the Lord will ‘gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth.’ All of the rivers of the past have or will flow into the ocean of the present; already all of the keys and powers have fallen to our lot; in due course all of the doctrines and truths will be manifest to us.”

My translation of all of this is this: we have all of the Priesthood keys and powers, all of the principles and ordinances of the Gospel necessary for our salvation and exaltation, and because of that, we have the ability to receive every doctrine and truth as we are prepared to do so individually and as a church.

President Spencer W. Kimball said, “Of all things, that for which we should be most grateful today is that the heavens are indeed open and that the restored church of Jesus Christ is founded upon the rock of revelation. Continuous revelation is indeed the very lifeblood of the gospel of the living Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We are all a covenant part of this dispensation and of this process of ongoing revelation and restoration. It will not be completed “until we come to the fullness of the body of Christ,” and it requires something of all of us. President Kimball continued:

“it is the sad truth that if prophets and people are unreachable, the Lord generally does nothing for them. Having given them free agency, their Heavenly Father calls, persuades, and directs aright his children, but waits for their upreaching hands, their solemn prayers, their sincere, dedicated approach to him. If they are heedless, they are left floundering in midnight’s darkness when they could have the noonday sun.”

I think if any one of us examines our own hearts, our own understanding, and our own commitment to the Gospel, we will find places where we are lacking the investment of time or study or obedience that would be required to really understand and apply the principles of the Gospel in our lives. These things come, as Nephi put it, “line up one line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little.” It is the work of a lifetime and then some to grow and be converted unto the measure of the fullness of Christ. The more we learn and obey, the more the Lord can add to our understanding.

The same is true for us collectively as a Church. Sometimes we expect perfection out of the church organization and leadership, and become upset when teachings or policies change over time, but we forget that the Church is no more than the sum of a whole lot of imperfect people striving to become perfect through Christ and trying to follow Him. The only perfect thing about it is the person leading it—Jesus Christ—and the authority that He has delegated. The process of growth and revelation that this authority enables works just as it does for each of us as individuals: we are taught line upon line as we are ready to receive, and our understanding as a church will grow and be perfected over time. This means that we should not only accept when the prophet asks us to stretch or grow or even change our minds, we should expect him to do so.

It also means that as we look back on the great unfolding of this dispensation so far, we shouldn’t be surprised to see that there were imperfections and blind spots among our predecessors, even among the greatest of them, any more than we should be surprised to find them in ourselves. They, like us, were learning line upon line, and could only be taught as much as they were prepared to ask. In response to their questions about how the Church should be established, many really hard things were required of them, and I am constantly inspired by the bravery and faith with which they responded. But I know that as great as they were, they didn’t respond perfectly. They didn’t understand perfectly. No one from Joseph Smith until now has attained perfection or managed to live the fullness of the Gospel without taint from the philosophies of their time, their own weaknesses, and their own intentional or unintentional biases. And I feel to say, thank goodness. Thank goodness that kind of perfection isn’t expected of me and of you in this life, and thank goodness that the Lord is able to bring about His work in spite of what poor agents we can be on His errands. As Elder Holland famously said, 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.

Elder Holland also said:

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.

…

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.

I love the way that Clayton Christensen described the process of modern revelation in his book The Power of Everyday Missinoaries:

Revelation is a lot like a detective movie. The protagonist (the prophet) starts out with limited understanding of a complicated problem. As he asks question after question, the truth becomes clearer, but not without dead ends and wrong hypotheses based on limited information along the way. 

These movies end with the message on the screen, To be continued . . . (as in, “. . . we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God,” stated in our ninth Article of Faith). There are many of these ‘movies’ in the process of revelation. The ‘stars’ of these other movies include Moses, Peter, Thomas, Joseph Smith, and others—prophets whose understanding of God came from iterating processes of questions, answers, and teaching; questions, answers, and teaching.

Perspective matters a lot. From God’s perspective, the doctrine of Christ is complete and unchangeable. Some current or former members of our church pray that our prophets will change our doctrines or policies to conform to emerging societal norms. God does not invent the rules and doctrines on the fly to keep pace with society, however. From God’s perspective, doctrine is unchangeable. But from our perspective, we must always expect that the doctrine that we understand will always evolve and improve. We should expect that the Prophet might change things, on occasion. But we must also believe that we, as members, might be wrong too—and we might need to be willing to change our position on a policy or belief as we learn more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We simply must pray that we might ask the right questions, questions that will lead to our knowing more of what God knows.

I suppose what I have taken from all of this is summed up in that last sentence. I hope that we will seek and pray to ask the right questions. To ask the questions that will lead us to repent. To ask the questions that will stretch us and lead us to grow. To ask the questions that will help us to increase in understanding line upon line, precept upon precept, and to be patient in that process. I know that Christ lives and that we are part of His latter-day work. I know that Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet of God, to restore the Gospel fulness and to launch this ongoing dispensation of light and knowledge that we get to be a part of. That doesn’t mean that we or our leaders are necessarily more perfect than anyone else, but it does mean that we have covenanted to be on His side. As my primary class discussed a few weeks back, we are free agents, but through covenant we have committed to be on the Lord’s team, to act on His behalf, and to keep trying when we fall short. As we do so I know that He is anxious to give us knowledge and blessings according as we are prepared to receive them.

President Nelson has recently taught: “These are exciting days. The Lord is hastening His work right before our eyes. It is thrilling. It is rigorous. More is required from each of us—more than ever before. And more is being given. … My dear brothers and sisters, the ‘veil o’er the earth is continuing to burst, and one of the deep desires of my heart is for you to receive all that the Lord is ready to reveal to you.”

That this desire sinks deep into my heart and yours is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Discernment

Facebook Post from Elder Oaks on Receiving Answers

Recently I was asked about how I prepare myself to receive answers to my prayers for guidance. We receive personal revelation in different ways, but we should each live so that the Spirit is always with us.

I start my day very early—not because I am ambitious, but because I am old (after a while, you just can’t sleep anymore). I first bow my head and pray that the Spirit will teach me. This is a simple prayer, like one offered before a meal because that is what I am doing. I ask for nourishment from what I am about to partake. Then I study the scriptures.

Throughout my day, impressions come at various times and in various ways. I am blessed by the guidance of the Spirit. It is a precious blessing to “always have His Spirit to be with [us]” (D&C 20:77).

Tuning In.

I love this so much. And I love hearing President Faust's sweet voice.

A plea to read, pray, and listen

Nothing like a post from President Eyring to make me turn off Facebook and jump into my scripture study!

I don't just invite you to read the scriptures, to pray, to listen for the word of God. I plead with you. Put yourself where you can hear the words of testimony. Listen with the simplicity of a child.

Expect that spirit of testimony and revelation to impel you to action, to keep the commandments. And never think that you have been taught enough, that you have listened long enough, that now is your time and turn to rest.

President Henry B. Eyring, Facebook, June 19, 2015

Journals

I love this Newsroom article from LDS.org on the importance of keeping a journal.

I am grateful that my mom got me a journal for my eighth birthday. I am grateful that I have felt to keep a journal since then, even if plenty of the the things I wrote as I grew up are surely embarrassing. Writing has helped me grow closer to my Savior and to record the things He has taught me. Reading my own thoughts has helped me to see in retrospect how the Lord's hand has guided my life. And now that I am old enough to want to know more details of my parents' and grandparents' lives, I can see why the things I write may be valuable, even if it doesn't feel like it at the time.

Kingship in the Scriptures: A Pattern

As I read in Ether today, I had the urge to write, and as I did so I found that my current study, my reading with the kids last night, recent Sunday School lessons, and things I'd been pondering in the back of my mind all came together in my mind as a type for things that are going on now in the world and in the church. I love when I can feel that inspiration come and see how various principles fit into that picture of the great whole that is truth. Here is my journal entry from today:

The issue of kingship seems to me a good example of how revelation works among the Lord's people and to His leaders. The pattern:

1. An issue arises over rulership (e.g. The Israelites want a king like everyone else, the Nephites and the Jaredites ask for a king)
2. The Lord says "That will lead to captivity! Bad idea!"  (see 1 Samuel 8:10-18; 2 Nephi 5:18; Ether 6:22-23)
3. The people say, "But we want one anyway!" (se 1 Samuel 8:19-20; 2 Nephi 5:18; Ether 6:22, 24)
4. After this advice is ignored, the Lord ceases to push the point. (se 1 Samuel 8:7-9, 22; Jacob 1:9; Ether 6:30)
5. Thereafter, the issue of kingship isn't brought back up until the leader, the prophet, and the people are all ready to take up the issue again and willing to change, and they go seeking and asking. (see Mosiah 28-29)

Questions for thought:

• With this pattern in mind, are the prophets that come between steps 4 and 5 somehow false or mistaken if they don't bring up the issue of kingship?
• Are those prophets false or mistaken if they even support or endorse the king and kingship?

In answering those questions, keep this in mind: For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in all wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doeth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true. (Alma 29:8)

I am not sure if I spoil the value of asking the questions by answering them myself, but here is my view on the subject: No, I don't think that not teaching or even supporting the king or endorsing kingship makes them false. If a prophet follows the Lord's revelation for their own time and place, giving that portion that is commanded Him, he is not false if he does not see what is not meant for the people at that time. The Lord wants to give all that He has, but can only do so line upon line, according to the willingness and ability of the people to receive it.

We are blessed to live in the latter days, in the days when the promise is being fulfilled that all things will be revealed. Those things are coming, line upon line. Looking at this pattern, then, how could I personally speed along the process of greater revelation coming? This pattern tells me that the precondition for revelation isn't necessarily only that the prophet ask. The people, too, must be prepared and willing to receive, and the time must be right. So my role is to be part of that preparing process. How do I do that? Here are a couple of suggestions:

• Search the scriptures. Treasure up gospel truths. Enjoy the words of eternal life in this life, and hope for immortal glory in the life to come. Read, ponder, and pray about all that the prophets have written. Such is the course which the Lord invites men to pursue where his holy word is concerned. And it was into this path of progress and enlightenment that young Joseph was led by that providential hand which knows the end from the beginning and rules in love and mercy over all his children. -Bruce R. McConkie, "Once or Twice in a Thousand Years" https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1975/10/once-or-twice-in-a-thousand-years?lang=eng 
• With reference to the perfecting of the Saints, the Savior has asked us to become perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect. (See Matt. 5:48.) In modern revelation we are told that we “are not able to abide the presence of God now, neither the ministering of angels; wherefore, continue in patience until ye are perfected.” (D&C 67:13.)  To accomplish the second objective, the perfecting of the Saints, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides opportunities for all members to become involved in many different kinds of activities that develop them mentally, morally, physically, and spiritually in the perfection process.  -Franklin D. Richards, "Perfecting the Saints," https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1976/10/perfecting-the-saints?lang=eng 

Here are the novel and unique things that come to mind: Studying the scriptures and revelations to prepare ourselves. Sharing and teaching to help others progress. Going to the temple and understanding what has already been revealed. Fulfilling our callings. Home and visiting teaching. Reaching out in service to others. Loving. Hoping. Giving.

Unsurprisingly, these are the exact things that prophets have told us repeatedly that we should do. These are the things that help to bring about Zion, to purify our hearts and prepare us to receive all that the Lord would give. I think because of their simplicity, because we've heard them a thousand times, we think that they aren't earth-shattering, and in doing so we look beyond the mark. The miracles that the Lord brings about on a daily basis are earth-shattering for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, and by small and simple things, great things are coming to pass in these last days.

"Blind Obedience"

Leave it to Elder (a.k.a. Justice) Oaks to make solid distinctions in the knowledge and obedience departments.

In closing, I refer to the relationship between obedience and knowledge. Members who have a testimony and who act upon it under the direction of their Church leaders are sometimes accused of blind obedience.

Of course, we have leaders, and of course, we are subject to their decisions and directions in the operation of the Church and in the performance of needed priesthood ordinances. But when it comes to learning and knowing the truth of the gospel—our personal testimonies—we each have a direct relationship with God, our Eternal Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, through the powerful witness of the Holy Ghost. This is what our critics fail to understand. It puzzles them that we can be united in following our leaders and yet independent in knowing for ourselves.

Perhaps the puzzle some feel can be explained by the reality that each of us has two different channels to God. We have a channel of governance through our prophet and other leaders. This channel, which has to do with doctrine, ordinances, and commandments, results in obedience. We also have a channel of personal testimony, which is direct to God. This has to do with His existence, our relationship to Him, and the truth of His restored gospel. This channel results in knowledge. These two channels are mutually reinforcing: knowledge encourages obedience (see Deuteronomy 5:27; Moses 5:11), and obedience enhances knowledge (see John 7:17; D&C 93:1).

We all act upon or give obedience to knowledge. Whether in science or religion, our obedience is not blind when we act upon knowledge suited to the subject of our action. A scientist receives and acts upon a trusted certification of the content or conditions of a particular experiment. In matters of religion, a believer’s source of knowledge is spiritual, but the principle is the same. In the case of Latter-day Saints, when the Holy Ghost gives our souls a witness of the truth of the restored gospel and the calling of a modern prophet, our choice to follow those teachings is not blind obedience.

-Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "Testimony," CR April 2008.

Brigham Young on Imperfect Scriptures

...I do not even believe that there is a single revelation, among the many God has given to the Church, that is perfect in its fulness. The revelations of God contain correct doctrine and principle, so far as they go; but it is impossible for the poor, weak, low, groveling, sinful inhabitants of the earth to receive a revelation from the Almighty in all its perfections. He has to speak to us in a manner to meet the extent of our capacities. . . .

If an angel should come into this congregation, or visit any individual of it, and use the language he uses in heaven, what would we be benefited? Not any, because we could not understand a word he said. When angels come to visit mortals, they have to condescend to and assume, more or less, the condition of mortals, they have to descend to our capacities in order to communicate with us. I make these remarks to show you that the kingdom of heaven is not yet complete upon the earth. Why? Because the people are not  prepared to receive it in its completeness, for they are not complete or perfect themselves.

The laws that the Lord has given are not fully perfect, because the people could not receive them in their perfect fulness; but they can receive a little here and a little there, a little today and a little tomorrow, a little more next week, and a little more in advance of that next year, if they make a wise improvement upon every little they receive; if they do not, they are left in the shade, and the light which the Lord reveals will appear darkness to them, and the kingdom of heaven will travel on and leave them groping. Hence, if we wish to act upon the fulness of the knowledge that the Lord designs to reveal, little by little, to the inhabitants of the earth, we must improve upon every little as it is revealed.

-Journal of Discourses, 2:314

More Scripture Study Quotes

And now... an old Sunday School handout!  (I am really trying to purge things, and it's a good opportunity to review and record the ones I want to store in my brain and in my heart.) Beware, it is lengthy.

Russell M. Nelson:
Truth given by revelation can only be understood by revelation.  (CR Oct 2000)

Ezra Taft Benson:
The scriptures are called 'the words of life' (D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance.

. . .
The Book of Mormon was written for us today. God is the author of the book... God, who knows the end from the beginning, told [Mormon] what to include in his abridgment that we would need for our day.

. . . 
If they saw our day and chose those things which would be of greatest worth to us, is not that how we should study the Book of Mormon? We should constantly ask ourselves, 'Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his record?'  (CR Oct 1986)

Joseph Fielding Smith:
Our attitude..toward the scriptures should be in harmony with the purposes for which they were written. They are intended to enlarge man's spiritual endowments and to reveal and intensify the bond of relationship between him and his God. (Juvenile Instructor, April 1912, 204)

Bruce R. McConkie:
Each pronouncement in the holy scriptures...is so written as to reveal little or much, depending on the spiritual capacity of the student. (NWAF 1985, 71)

In the final analysis, there is no way--absolutely none (and this cannot be stated too strongly!)--to understand any Messianic prophecy, or any other scripture, except to have the same spirit of prophecy that rested upon the one who uttered the truth in its original form. Scripture comes from God by the power of the Holy ghost. It does not originate with man. It means what the Holy Ghost thinks it means. To interpret it, we must be enlightened by the power of the Holy Spirit. (The Promised Messiah, 44)

Cheryl C. Lant:
When we read the scriptures we are hearing the voice of the Savior. He is not absent from our lives. He is actively positioned in the verses of these holy books. (CR Oct 2005)

Dallin H. Oaks:
Our belief in an open canon also includes private revelations to individual seekers of the meaning of existing scriptures.  (Ensign Jan 1995, 7)

...
The idea that scripture reading can lead to inspiration and revelation opens the door to the truth that a scripture is not limited to what it meant when it was written but may also include what that scripture means to the reader today. Even more, scripture reading may also lead to current revelation on whatever else the Lord wishes to communicate to the reader at that time. We do not overstate the point when we say that the scriptures can be a Urim and Thummim to assist each of us to receive personal revelation. (id., 8)

We need ot know that the Lord rarely speaks loudly. His messages almost always come in a whisper. (Ensign, March 1997, 12)

Russell M. Nelson:
Motivation for scriptural guidance comes when important choices must be made--even between options that are equally right. The Brethren are often faced with these kind of decisions. On such occasions, we turn to the scriptures. We may read all of the standard works afresh, looking for insights relative to a specific issue.

...
Time for scripture study requires a schedule that will be honored.

. . . 
To feast means more than to taste. To feast means to savor. We savor the scriptures by studying them in a spirit of delightful discovery and faithful obedience.  (CR Oct 2000)

Boyd K. Packer:
While we may invite this communication, it can never be forced! If we try to force it we may be deceived.

. . .
No one of us survive in the world today, much less in what it soon will become, without personal inspiration. The spirit of reverence can and should be evident in every organization in the Church and in the lives of every member. (CR Oct 1991)

There isn't a major problem we face that we can't be immunized against if we know the revelations. ("Teach the Scriptures," [address to religious educators], 14, Oct. 1977, 7)

For His own reasons, the Lord provides answers to some questions, with pieces placed here and there throughout the scriptures. We are to find them; we are to earn them. In that way sacred things are hidden from the insincere. (Cr Oct. 1983)

Henry B. Eyring:
Going to the scriptures to lkearn what to do makes all the difference... We will find answers in the scriptures. The Lord seemed to anticipate all of our problems and all of our needs, and He put help in the scriptures for us--if only we seek it. (Ensign, July 2005, 24)

David A. Bednar:
The scriptures, in essence, are a written 'recording' of the voice of the Lord--a voice we feel in our hearts more than we hear with our ears. and as we study the content and feel the spirit of the written word of God, we learn to hear His voice in the words we read and to understand the means whereby the words are given to us by the Holy Ghost. (New Era, April 2006, 5)

Sheri L. Dew:
Some of the clearest promptings I have ever received have come while being immersed in the scriptures. They are a conduit for revelation. They teach us the language of the Spirit. (CR Oct 1998)

D. Todd Christofferson:
I see you sometimes reading a few verses, stopping to ponder them, carefully reading the verses again, and as you think about what they mean, praying for understanding, asking questions in your mind, waiting for spiritual impressions, and writing down the impressions and insights that come so you can remember and learn more. Studying in this way, you may not read a lot of chapters or verses in a half hour, but you will be giving place in your heart for the word of God, and He will be speaking to you. (CR April 2004)

Richard G. Scott:
There is a power that can change lives in the specific words recorded in the standard works. That power is weakened when we paraphrase or alter the actual wording. I therefore suggest that you encourage students to cite scripture content with precision. ("Four Fundamentals for Those Who Teach and Inspire Youth," OT Synmposium Speeches, 1987, 5)

I suggest that you memorize scriptures that touch your heart and fill your soul with understanding. When scriptures are used as the Lord has caused them to be recorded, they have intrinsic power that is not communicated when paraphrased. (CR Oct 1999)

Brigham Young:
Stop! Wait! When you get up in the morning, before you suffer yourselves to eat one mouthful of food, . . . bow down before the Lord, ask him to forgive your sins, and protect you through the day, to preserve you from temptation and all evil, to guide your steps aright, that you may do something that day that shall be beneficial to the kingdom of God on the earth. Have you time to do this? . . . This is the counsel I have for the Latter-day Saints to-day. Stop, do not be in a hurry. . . You are in too much of a hurry; you do not go to meeting enough, you do not pray enough, you do not read the Scriptures enough, you do not meditate enough, you are all the time on the wing, and in such a hurry that yu do not know what to do first. . .l Let me reduce this to a simple saying--one of the most simple and homely that can be used--'Keep your dish right side up,' s that when the shower of porridge does come, you can catch your dish full. (Journal of Discourses, 15:37-38)

Knowledge and Spiritual Death

I had noticed this verse before, but it struck me again this time what a unique clarification of the meaning of spiritual death Alma gives to the people of Ammonihah:

And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.

And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.

. . . 

And now behold, I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second death, which is a spiritual death, then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness.

-Alma 12:10-11, 16

Joseph Smith taught, "A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge." I find it really interesting that the process Alma describes captivity as losing knowledge of God. It makes sense that if knowing Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ constitutes life eternal, that losing knowledge of them would constitute spiritual death, or hardening the heart such that there is no room for righteousness. More than the quantity of our studies, the condition of our hearts will determine the portion of eternal knowledge that we will have the capacity to receive, and that in turn will determine our eternal destiny.

The Book of Revelation

I am starting on the Book of Revelation, and going through my old institute handouts I came across this talk by Elder Bruce R. McConkie. It makes the book sound much more exciting than I have experienced it in the past!

http://www.lds.org/ensign/1975/09/understanding-the-book-of-revelation?lang=eng

A favorite excerpt:

In the answer to these queries we find the real genius of John’s apocalyptic writing. Gospel truths are and should be variously worded, variously described, and variously adorned with literary attraction—all to the end that they will appeal, in one form or another, to every heart that can be touched. The book of Revelation takes an approach to the plan of salvation that is found nowhere else in all of our inspired writings. The language and imagery is so chosen as to appeal to the maturing gospel scholar, to those who already love the Lord and have some knowledge of his goodness and grace.

I like that it points out that there is no scripture given that we aren't expected to study, understand, and from which we cannot profit. That is why they are given! It seems to me that the scriptures that are the most difficult for us to understand (i.e. Revelation, Isaiah) are the ones that the Lord tells us specifically to study for our day.

Line upon Line

This article was posted over at Middle-Age Mormon Man today, and I love it. It talks about how we receive revelation (usually not as one huge, overwhelming experience), and how we can grow to discern between the Spirit and our own thoughts and emotions. I need to study it again because my 4-year-old was asking me to play on the computer the whole time I was reading it!

Line upon Line, Precept upon Precept

Solving everyday problems through temple worship

More from Elder Widtsoe's talk on Temple Worship:

I believe that the busy person on the farm, in the shop, in the office, or in the household, who has his worries and troubles, can solve his problems better and more quickly in the house of the Lord than anywhere else. If he will … [do] the temple work for himself and for his dead, he will confer a mighty blessing upon those who have gone before, and … a blessing will come to him, for at the most unexpected moments, in or out of the temple will come to him, as a revelation, the solution of the problems that vex his life. That is the gift that comes to those who enter the temple properly.

Drawing Revelation

From Elder John A. Widtsoe's talk on “Temple Worship” given at a meeting of the Genealogical Society of Utah at the Assembly Hall in Salt Lake on October 12, 1920:

But whether in the temple or elsewhere, how do men receive revelations? How did the Prophet Joseph Smith obtain his first revelation, his first vision? He desired something. In the woods, away from human confusion, he summoned all the strength of his nature; there he fought the demon of evil, and, at length, because of the strength of his desire and the great effort that he made, the Father and the Son descended out of the heavens and spoke eternal truth to him. So revelation always comes; it is not imposed upon a person; it must be drawn to us by faith, seeking and working. 

With reference to the temple specifically, he says,

The endowment which was given by revelation can best be understood by revelation; and to those who seek most vigorously, with pure hearts, will the revelation be greatest.

I question whether I have ever had the level of desire and effort that Elder Widtsoe has described. If so, it has surely been too scarce, but I am inspired to try harder and seek more after those things that are so eternally important.

Seeing God.

From David B. Haight, October 1990, "Temples and Work Therein":

At Kirtland, the Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph:

“And inasmuch as my people build a house unto me in the name of the Lord, and do not suffer any unclean thing to come into it, that it be not defiled, my glory shall rest upon it;

“… and my presence shall be there, for I will come into it, and all the pure in heart that shall come into it shall see God.” (D&C 97:15–16.)

It is true that some have actually seen the Savior, but when one consults the dictionary, he learns that there are many other meanings of the word see, such as coming to know Him, discerning Him, recognizing Him and His work, perceiving His importance, or coming to understand Him.

Such heavenly enlightenment and blessings are available to each of us.

Special Witnesses

I am currently reading A Light Unto the World, which is a collection of discourses of Elder David B. Haight. The very first excerpt is from his 1989 talk "The Sacrament and the Sacrifice." He shares his experience during a health crisis where he lost consciousness for several days, and, in the interim, had some very sacred experiences, including being "shown a panoramic view of [Christ's] earthly ministry." He goes on to tell details of that ministry and testify of Christ.

Of course I know that the Apostles are called as special witnesses, to be prophets, seers, and revelators, but somehow I still forget sometimes when I hear them or read their words that they really have seen and they really do know. I was reminded of President Eyring's words in this last Conference (April 2013):

I am a witness of the Resurrection of the Lord as surely as if I had been there in the evening with the two disciples in the house on Emmaus road. I know that He lives as surely as did Joseph Smith when he saw the Father and the Son in the light of a brilliant morning in a grove of trees in Palmyra.

And of President Packer:

Of all that I have read and taught and learned, the one most precious and sacred truth that I have to offer is my special witness of Jesus Christ. He lives. I know He lives. I am His witness. And of Him I can testify. He is our Savior, our Redeemer. Of this I am certain. 

And, of course, Elder Holland:

These things I declare to you with the conviction Peter called the “more sure word of prophecy.” What was once a tiny seed of belief for me has grown into the tree of life...

These are examples of what I imagine Mormon meant in Alma 4:19 when he explained why Alma left the judgment seat to testify to the people:

And this he did that he himself might go forth among his people, or among the people of Nephi, that he might preach the word of God unto them, to stir them up in remembrance of their duty, and that he might pull down, by the word of God, all the pride and craftiness and all the contentions which were among his people, seeing no way that he might reclaim them save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them.

These are powerful testimonies of the Savior. They pull down pride and craftiness and contention and leave the hearer with one question: They know Him--do I?

I am grateful for these special witnesses whose testimonies have had such a profound and lasting impact on my life. In this increasingly wicked world, it so clear that we need these voices of firmness, of surety, of powerful witness against evil and for good. I am grateful for that simple question that brings me back to what it is all about.

How I know the Book of Mormon is true.

I am writing a talk for a speaking assignment in Church tomorrow, and I felt like I should go back and read the last talk I gave, which was in January of last year. On this blog I have shared some thoughts and collected some interesting quotes, but haven't recorded a lot of my testimony. Perhaps that is the most valuable thing I can preserve and share.

I was asked to speak about my testimony of the Book of Mormon. It’s kind of funny; my gut feeling about this topic has always been one of inadequacy. I don’t have a impressive story about how I came to know that the Book is true. I don’t have a whole list of evidences or of striking experiences. I can’t pinpoint exactly when I got a testimony. And yet, I can say with truth that I know that the Book of Mormon is true, that it was prepared by true prophets for our day and brought forth by another true prophet by the power of God. And so it is that process of gaining a testimony that I want to talk about, because I think that it might be something that many of us share, and is also instructive in a practical way for those who have doubts and want to gain a testimony.

President Packer of the Quorum of the 12 described his experience this way, and it was very similar to my own:

"When I first read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover, I read the promise that if I “would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if [the things I had read were] true; and if [I would] ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he [would] manifest the truth of it unto [me], by the power of the Holy Ghost” ( Moro. 10:4 ). I tried to follow those instructions, as I understood them.

If I expected a glorious manifestation to come at once as an overpowering experience, it did not happen. Nevertheless, it felt good, and I began to believe."

He continued,

My experience has been that a testimony does not burst upon us suddenly. Rather it grows, as Alma said, from a seed of faith. “It will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow” ( Alma 32:30 ). If you nourish it, it will grow; and if you do not nourish it, it will wither (see Alma 32:37–41 ).

Do not be disappointed if you have read and reread and yet have not received a powerful witness. You may be somewhat like the disciples spoken of in the Book of Mormon who were filled with the power of God in great glory “and they knew it not” ( 3 Ne. 9:20 ).
(Source here)

That is kind of how I felt during my mission. I hadn’t had one single powerful witness that I could relate to others, yet I found that I could testify with power and truth. My testimony hadn’t come suddenly, but it was there nonetheless.

Most of us are all too familiar with the promise made by Moroni that Elder Packer mentioned. That is the part that I always focused on growing up: if we ask sincerely, we will get a testimony. But when you look at the chapter as a whole, you see that Moroni gives a lot of other instructions that teach us how to gain a testimony.

Jumping back to verse 3:

“Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, ... that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.”

What I get from that is that Moroni wants us to come to know the nature and workings of God. That isn’t a one-time exercise; it’s something we continually study and ponder. How has He shown mercy to His children in the past? How has he answered them? For Elijah, God didn’t speak in a rushing wind or an earthquake or a fire, but in a still small voice. How has He shown mercy to me in my life? When I ponder all of this, a lot of good feelings come. They aren’t strong, overpowering feelings. I feel uplifted, loved, peaceful, and grateful. That helps me to recognize the kind of feelings that Moroni wants me to look for in my answer.

It helps me to record these feelings and thoughts in my journeal when I study, so that I can heed Moroni’s counsel to remember and also show the Lord that I value what He is teaching me.

Back to Moroni: After making his famous promise, he explains more about how the power of the Holy Ghost works. In verse 6, he says “whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is.

In reading the Book of Mormon, I do feel like its contents are just and true. So many verses have helped me to understand Christ and His Atonement and to feel His love for me. Just a few nights ago some of the words of Abinadi taught me new things about Christ that I hadn’t really focused in on before:

He “suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people. And after all this, after working many mighty miracles among the children of men, he shall be ... led, crucified, and slain...

“And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men—Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice.”

When I read that, I imagined Christ having willingly done all of that for me so that he could stick up for me. He could understand me. He could represent me at the bar of God, having Atoned for my sins so that I could inherit all that He has. That is so powerful and humbling. I was brought closer to Christ through reading that in the Book of Mormon.

Going on, in verses 7 and 8, Moroni gives another criteria:

“And ye may know that he is, by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow, and forever.

“And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not he gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them.”

So now I have to ask myself, have I experienced the gifts of the Spirit through the Book of Mormon? It certainly teaches about them—who exhibited greater faith than Nephi? Greater knowledge and wisdom than King Benjamin? The gift to translate and see like Mosiah? The ministering of angels like the children who were there during Christ’s visit?

Then as I read the Book of Mormon, I experience these gifts myself. I gain knowledge as I study and recognize areas in my life that I would be wise to change. My faith increases as I read about others who so boldly followed the Savior. I grow to understand things in new ways. I gain foresight into my future and where my choices will lead me. I have moments where I get lost in the stories and can almost feel what those people would have felt. And since Moroni tells me in verse 18 that “every good gift cometh of Christ,” I know that these gifts come because the Book of Mormon truly testifies of Christ.

All of these help me to recognize those simple, quiet ways that the Spirit tells me that the Book is true. They don’t all happen all at once, and sometimes I don’t even recognize them while they are happening, but I can recognize the accumulation of those things as a strong testimony of truth.

As powerful as all of those things are, I think that Moroni closes the chapter describing an even more powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon. In verses 32 and 33, the third and second-to-last verse of the whole book, he says this:

“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

“And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.”

These verses describe action and change, not just asking and receiving.

The strongest testimony that I have from the Book of Mormon is that it has changed my life, and continues to change my life. As I have studied in the Book of Mormon, I have learned principles. When I try them out in my life, I have gained greater peace and happiness, and seen that the results were exactly as the Book promised. It is this process that Alma talks about; he describes the Word, in this case the Book of Mormon, as a seed. He doesn’t say that we simply have to ask whether the seed is good. Rather, we have to exercise faith to plant it and nurture it and water it and feed it and really try it out—experiment upon it. Then when it grows, our faith turns to knowledge, or testimony.

In a talk to seminary teachers, Elder Eyring described the process this way:

“[The] challenge is not to prove that the Book of Mormon is true but to prove to God that they —the students—are true. When they do this, they will know the book is true. And when they prove that they will do what the book says, God will tell them more:

“And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them.” ( 3 Ne. 26:9).

He went on,

“[Y]ou will realize you do not prove [the Book of Mormon] through arguments. You do not even prove it through great examples or stories. Those will help, but your students will prove the Book of Mormon by saying, “I believe it is true; I will try it.” Once they have proved themselves to God, then the proof will come to them because they will see the spiritual fruit."

"The Book of Mormon is about people proving their belief to God little by little. And then He confirms their belief and gives them more."

This, to me, is how you gain a true testimony of the Book of Mormon. No amount of grand spiritual experiences will be stronger than the evidence of our changed lives and hearts. If I had an angel come tell me it was true, you may or may not believe me when I told you. But if you can see my life, my choices, and the results of those choices, you will see clearly why I know that book is true.

Elder Eyring continues:

"“And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters;

“And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.”

Now, that is the change. It is not to be a little better. It is not to know a little more. It is to be born again, to be changed by the power of the Atonement.

You and I know that if a person will read the Book of Mormon, it will describe that change and how to have it.”

Having experienced these kinds of changes in my own life, I have gained that witness that the Book of Mormon is true. I feel that I could say what Elder Holland said in his memorable October 2009 Conference talk:

"Now, I did not sail with the brother of Jared in crossing an ocean, settling in a new world. I did not hear King Benjamin speak his angelically delivered sermon. I did not proselyte with Alma and Amulek nor witness the fiery death of innocent believers. I was not among the Nephite crowd who touched the wounds of the resurrected Lord, nor did I weep with Mormon and Moroni over the destruction of an entire civilization. But my testimony of this record and the peace it brings to the human heart is as binding and unequivocal as was theirs. Like them, “[I] give [my name] unto the world, to witness unto the world that which [I] have seen. ” And like them, “[I] lie not, God bearing witness of it.”"  -Jeffrey R. Holland

The main message I want to convey is that for me, and I think for a lot of us, getting a testimony of the Book of Mormon isn't about pursuing one convincing experience. It is about recognizing how the book shapes our lives on a daily basis when we invite it in and try out its precepts. It is about allowing it to change your life. Then, when we see that our life is transformed, we will know without a doubt that the Book is true and that it really was divinely inspired and prepared for our day. We will know that Joseph Smith was who he said he was and did what he said he did. We will know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true and living Church upon the earth. And we will be on the path to return Home to our Father, having the image of Christ in our countenances.

I bear this testimony in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.