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!"

You Should Not Have Feared Man More Than God

 D&C 3:7 For, behold, you should not have ^afeared man more than God. Although men set at naught the counsels of God, and ^bdespise his words—

 8 Yet you should have been faithful; and he would have extended his arm and ^asupported you against all the fiery ^bdarts of the ^cadversary; and he would have been with you in every time of ^dtrouble.

This scripture hits home with me.  I'm a white personality, meaning I'm concerned with pleasing people and having people like me.  Even strangers who I will never see again should think that I'm a good and smart person.  I envy those who don't care what anyone else thinks.

But that should not be my primary concern.  First I should think about what the Lord thinks.  I so empathize with the prophet Joseph in this trial because I could see myself doing the same thing.  Martin Harris was pressuring Joseph to let him show the 116 pages of manuscript to his wife and a few other people.  We all know the story of how they were lost or stolen.

This was a time of great suffering for Joseph, but also great growth.  We now know that the Lord had already prepared a greater record to replace that which was withdrawn.  So it seems to me that the purpose of this trial was to teach Joseph this very lesson.  If he would fear God first before man, the Lord would support him and protect him against the adversary.  He would be with him in every time of trouble.

I'm sure there were many times when that lesson was tested in the years before Joseph's death, but he never again slipped up, never faltered.  He always trusted the Lord first and stood strong against the influence of men.  It was a hard and painful lesson for him, but such an important one!

I'm so grateful for his example and his life.   I pray that I may always be as strong.

The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn to Their Fathers

D&C 2:2  And ^ahe shall plant in the hearts of the children the ^bpromises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.

One of the things I pray about pretty regularly is my gratitude for parents and grandparents and great-grandparents who sacrificed so that I could be handed the Gospel on a silver platter.  To be raised in the Gospel is a great blessing.  To grow up with the teachings and have a testimony, to have righteous parents who set an example is such a wonderful thing.  And thinking about my ancestors who recognized the truth of the Gospel and accepted it, leaving behind everything to cross oceans and the plains in difficult conditions just fills me with gratitude and joy.

But my earlier ancestors didn't have the benefit of the Gospel, and as I studied this verse in the D&C, I realized that my heart has been turned to only some of my fathers.  I'm interested in learning more about researching and doing family history, but haven't really got into it.  Is the time right that now I should devote more of my time to researching my ancestors?  I don't know.  Maybe.  Carma is going to be teaching a Sunday School class in family history.  Maybe that will get us both started.