Training From President Sperry

Scriptural Ponderings - Scriptures

President Sperry asked, What were three things that happened during the administration of Spencer W. Kimball that changed the church?

·         The Priesthood was given to all worthy males.

·         The LDS edition of the scriptures was published.

·         The quorums of the Seventy were organized.

Which of those three things was most important?

President Boyd K. Packer said:  The coming forth of the LDS edition of the scriptures will be the crowning achievement in the administration of President Kimball.

He went on to train about the Bible Dictionary and all the answers that can be found there, and encouraged us to use it.

Declare Glad Tidings

 D&C 19:29 And thou shalt ^adeclare glad tidings, yea, ^bpublish it upon the mountains, and upon every high place, and among every people that thou shalt be permitted to see.

 30 And thou shalt do it with all humility, ^atrusting in me, ^breviling not against revilers.

 31 And of ^atenets thou shalt not talk, but thou shalt declare repentance and ^bfaith on the Savior, and ^cremission of sins by ^dbaptism, and by ^efire, yea, even the ^fHoly Ghost.

This is the mandate for a missionary, to declare glad tidings.  Some zealots have got it wrong and thought their job was to frighten people with death and fire and destruction and brimstone. 

The scripture does say to declare repentance, but I think that when we teach faith in the Savior first, as the 4th Article of Faith orders them, that the other things fall into place.  If we truly have faith in Him and understand true principles, we automatically want to be clean before Him.  If we love Him, we want to have Him in our lives, but we are embarrassed and grieved to have Him see our sins, so we work to repent of them.

So I would say that we need to declare the glad tidings of Christ - His love for us, His sacrifice for us, the glad tidings of His Atonement.  And the scripture says to do it with humility, trusting in Him.  Proud missionaries do more damage than good, because pride is an enmity towards God and our fellowmen.  We must love those we teach, have humility, and trust Him and the Spirit to do the actual teaching.

Alicia Arce told us a story in Relief Society about teaching her little granddaughter about Jesus.  The child isn't getting any religious teaching in their home, so Alicia decided it was up to her to share her love for the Savior with the child.  She must have done a good job, because when Oscar came home, Alicia told the girl, "Tell Grandpa about Jesus."  And the little girl said, "Me and Grandma are crazy about that Guy!"

If we are crazy about that Guy, we'll want to share His glad tidings and bless those around us to know Him and love Him too.  That's what missionaries do.

Wherefore You Know That They Are True

 D&C 18:2 Behold, I have ^amanifested unto you, by my Spirit in many instances, that the ^bthings which you have [learned] are ^ctrue; wherefore you know that they are true.

 I've changed the scripture given to Oliver Cowdery a little.  It actually says "written", but that doesn't apply to me.  But the things that I've learned and the things that I've experienced and felt are deeply imbedded in my heart and I know they are true.

It such a blessing to me to have this testimony!  I was blessed to have a believing heart and a desire to follow and a love for the Lord.  Some of this probably is part of my personality, but some of it was taught by my faithful and devout parents.  How can I ever thank them?  Their example of sacrifice and service fills me with gratitude and love.  Oh, they weren't perfect, but they worked so hard to live the Gospel and stayed faithful and devoted to the end.

Of course, they were taught also by the example of their parents, who were taught and trained by their parents.  At this time of year (tomorrow is Pioneer Day) I'm thinking about those great-grandparents who made the trek across the plains and mountains, who left the European countries and sailed in cramped and miserable conditions across the ocean to go to Zion.  They went because the fire of the Gospel burned bright in their hearts and they were obedient.

And because of them I am here and I have that same fire burning in my heart.  

The Lord has also blessed me with many faith-building experiences.  He blessed me with Gospel teachers and examples, with the opportunity to attend college and institute classes, to be a teacher myself so that I could bear testimony to the truth.

So I feel so strongly that the Lord's words to Oliver are also meant for me.  Because He has manifested to me by His Spirit in many instances that the things which I have learned and experienced are true, wherefore I do know that they are true.

Go Get the Lost and Bring Them Back

"At the core of our leadership, as a central part of our ministry, should be the burning, driving, unrelenting resolve to go get the lost and bring them back."  Elder Tad R. Callister

We studied this talk last night in FHE and this sentence really jumped out at me.  Probably that's because it's so opposite of what I do and what my motivations are.  I do want to bring back "the lost", but it's not a burning, driving, unrelenting resolve.  Unfortunately, if the room were filled with women of the ward, I wouldn't go to those who are wandering, but to my friends with whom I am most comfortable.

I need to really pray to be filled with this desire and resolve, to be filled with charity as Moroni describes it.  I need to move outside my comfort zone and reach out to those who are lost.  Perhaps the mission will help teach me this.

Doing Much Good

D&C 11:8  Verily, verily, I say unto you, even as you desire of me so it shall be done unto you; and, if you desire, you shall be the means of doing much good in this generation.

 9 ^aSay nothing but ^brepentance unto this generation. Keep my commandments, and assist to bring forth my ^cwork, ^daccording to my commandments, and you shall be blessed.

These are the words of the Lord to Hyrum Smith when he desired to know what role he should play in the developing latter-day Gospel.  But as Acell and I contemplate another mission, the words seem to have the potential to apply to us as well.

There is a reason why Acell had this prompting to go on a mission, and I've had a strong witness that this is what we should do.  I don't know what the Lord has planned for us, but He does.  

It's not as if we were doing anything wrong, or even being lazy in our lives.  We both have responsible callings in the ward, and I'm serving a church service mission.  But apparently there's more that we can contribute, and we want to respond to the Spirit and be of service where we can. 

All Things Made Known

Alma 9:20  . . . having had all things ^bmade known unto [us], according to [our] desires, and [our] faith, and prayers, of that which has been, and which is, and which is to come . . .

What a promise!  Alma is talking about the Nephites, but here is a verse we can liken unto ourselves with joy.

He's telling us that if we have righteous desires and have faith, we can pray (I'm assuming obedience fits in there somewhere), and we can have all things made known to us, things past, present, and future.  This is the spirit of revelation, and is a gift from the Holy Ghost to us.

Sometimes we don't see all things in their entirety, not because of disobedience, but because this life is meant to be a test and we're asked to move forward in faith without knowing the beginning from the end.  But we can know with perfect confidence that we are in the Lord's hands and He loves us and wants what is best for us.

 

Can Ye Feel So Now?

One of my favorite parts of the Book of Mormon is Alma 5.  I especially love verse 14, where he says, And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God?  Have ye received his image in your countenances?  Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?

His description of what it means to be converted, to be spiritually born of God and receive His image in our countenances and undergo a mighty change of heart really resonates with me.
And then in verse 26 he says, And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?

First of all, I love the imagery of singing the song of redeeming love.  But the question, "Can ye feel so now?" always brings me up short. 

I think we all have spiritual ups and downs.  At times if our lives we have great spiritual experiences and feel an outpouring of the Spirit.  But other times we feel stuck in a spiritual mire and can imagine our prayers bouncing off the ceiling, never quite making it to the Lord's ears.

In Sri Lanka we met a man who had been a Catholic priest.  He told us of how he was converted to the church, of miraculous happenings and of his conversion to the Gospel.  Of course he was kicked out of the Catholic church and stripped of his priestly robes.  He had to find another way to support himself and underwent a complete life change.  And yet at the time we met him, he never came to church.  He had let other cares of life get in the way and had become completely inactive.  He had found the pearl of great price, had grasped it and loved it, but then had let it go.

I don't want that ever to happen to me.  It's one of my greatest fears.

If you were to ask a roomful of church members how to keep hold of the pearl, you'd get a variety of answers, and they would all be worthwhile.  But I've been thinking about one particular safeguard that might help me hold onto the pearl.  Remembering.  Alma spoke of it in this very chapter, of remembering the captivity of our fathers.  In my life, my ancestors weren't in captivity, but they did have to sacrifice greatly for the Gospel, and it's important to remember those sacrifices.

But it's also important to remember the spiritual experiences and blessings that have come to me personally.  President Eyring gave a talk in October of 2007 called O Remember, Remember.  It is the one where he talked about recording our special experiences in order to bless our posterity.  In it he says:

Tonight and tomorrow night, you might pray and ponder, asking the questions:  Did God send a message that was just for me?  Did I see His hand in my life or the lives of my children?  I will do that.  And then I will find a way to preserve the memory for the day that I and those that I love will need to remember how much God loves us and how much we need Him.  I testify that He loves and blesses us, more than most of us have yet recognized.  I know that is true, and it brings me joy to remember Him.

As we record our lives and especially our spiritual experiences, we can bless our lives and the lives of our children so that if we were asked, "Can ye feel so now?", we could respond with a resounding, "Yes!"