Beautiful message from Elder F. Enzio Busche BYU Devotional May 14, 1996
This will give you hope....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAjZ8mfoYw
Showing posts with label Spiritual Preparedness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spiritual Preparedness. Show all posts
Friday, September 11, 2009
Raising The Bar
Raise the Bar Elder Henry B. Eyring
Brigham Young University–Idaho Devotional January 25, 2005
My beloved brothers and sisters, I am grateful to be with you again. I bring you the greetings of President Hinckley and the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve, and especially Elder Bednar. You are loved and you are known and you are trusted.
Each time I come here, I am struck by what seems to be continuous change. Many new buildings now stand where once we looked across open fields. What was a fine junior college is becoming a distinguished university. Thousands of students enroll who seem to be ever brighter and more spiritual. They study in classrooms, some of which I saw today, equipped with powerful teaching aids unknown just a few years ago. New faculty are choosing to join us who have remarkable professional preparation and great faith in the restored gospel. The rate of growth in physical structures will slow down, but spiritual and academic improvement will continue and will accelerate.
Change is also accelerating in the world around us. Some of that change, like that in this university, is for the better. But much of the acceleration in the world is in troubles long prophesied for the last days. Each time you watch the evening news, you see stark evidence of that. You remember this scripture: "For behold, at that day shall he [meaning Satan] rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good" (2 Nephi 28:20).
The Lord told us in the time of the Prophet Joseph that war would be poured out upon all nations. We see tragic fulfillment of that prophecy, bringing with it increased suffering to the innocent.
The giant earthquake, and the tsunamis it sent crashing into the coasts around the Indian Ocean, is just the beginning and a part of what is to come, terrible as it was. You remember the words from the Doctrine and Covenants which now seems so accurate:
And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people.
For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand.
And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.
And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people (Doctrine and Covenants 88: 88-91).
Fear shall come upon all people. But you and I know that the Lord has prepared places of safety to whiHe is eager to guide us. I think of that often. A few days ago, I heard two accounts of God leading His children to safety on the coast of Thailand when that monstrous tsunami wave struck.
One was of people who accepted His apparently routine invitation to a Church meeting on a Sunday. The meeting was called by ordinary men who hold the priesthood of God. The meeting place was on higher ground, away from the coast. The people who gathered with the Saints were spared from physical death, while the places on the coast where they would have been were destroyed. As they were spared physical death, they were being strengthened against spiritual temptation and the wave of eternal tragedy it will bring to those who are disobedient.
The other account I heard was related to me by a Latter-day Saint who was led to safety by the Holy Ghost. He checked into a hotel on the ocean front in Thailand the day before the wave struck. He walked out on the beach. He felt uneasy. He went back to his hotel determined to check out. The hotel staff, I think worried that he didn’t like the hotel, pressed him for a reason. They only reluctantly agreed to his leaving. He moved to another hotel, away from the beach. It was on higher ground. Because of that, he not only survived but stayed to serve the survivors.
The Lord is anxious to lead us to the safety of higher ground, away from the path of physical and spiritual danger. His upward path will require us to climb. My mother used to say to me when I complained that things were hard, "If you are on the right path, it will always be uphill." And as the world becomes darker and more dangerous, we must keep climbing. It will be our choice whether or not to move up or to stay where we are. But the Lord will invite and guide us upward by the direction of the Holy Ghost, which He sends to His leaders and to His people who will receive it.
The mists of spiritual darkness will become more dense as we climb. They are described in the Book of Mormon this way: "And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost" (1 Nephi 12:17).
But the word of God will guide those who develop the capacity to receive it through the ministrations of the Holy Ghost. A clear light piercing the darkness will show the way to those who have taken the Holy Ghost as a trusted and constant traveling companion.
Now my purpose today is to share with you what I have learned over the years about getting and keeping the companionship of the Holy Ghost. It isn’t easy, but it is possible.
The foundation is a burning desire to qualify for that gift. Most of us who are members of the restored Church have enough faith to want the Holy Ghost at times. That desire may be weak and intermittent, but it comes, usually when we are in trouble. For us to be led upward to safety in the times ahead, it must become steady and intense.
The problem for most human beings is that when things go well, we feel self-sufficient. You remember the warning:
"And others will he pacify, [again speaking of Satan] and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell" (2 Nephi 28:21).
And later comes the warning:
"Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost" (2 Nephi 28:31).
If you examine your own experience carefully and honestly, you will see that you tend to seek the Holy Ghost most fervently when you are humbled by difficult circumstances or life-changing decisions. Remember the time you faced the prospect of teaching the gospel as a missionary perhaps in a new language where you couldn’t understand what people were saying and you couldn’t put a sentence together. Or, remember a time you had to make choices that might lead you toward, or away from, marrying someone. Those moments probably brought a great desire for the faith and the capacity to get the help of the Holy Ghost.
But if we have to be in trouble to want the Holy Ghost as a constant companion, then to have that steady desire we will have to be in steady trouble. There has to be a better way.
Happily, there is. Now you will have to find your own. I’ll tell you mine. There is one for me that works: I choose to remind myself about my experience with what prophets have said about the peace and happiness that comes with the visitation of the Holy Ghost. It has been true in my life. Wilford Woodruff described it this way:
You may surround any man or woman with all the wealth and glory that the imagination of man can grasp, and are they satisfied? No. There is still an aching void. On the other hand, show me a beggar upon the streets, who has the Holy Ghost, whose mind is filled with that Spirit and power, and I will show you a person who has peace of mind, who possesses true riches, and those enjoyments that no man can obtain from any other source (Journal of Discourses, Vo. 2, p. 199, Wilford Woodruff, February 25, 1855).
That has been true for me. One of the ways I know that I’m feeling the influence of the Holy Ghost is that I feel a light and I am happy. When the Holy Ghost seems far from me, I feel a darkness and I am not happy. I have felt that ebb and flow of light and happiness in my life and so have you.
I like to feel of that light and I like to be happy. I don’t have to wait for troubles and tests to make me want the help of the Holy Ghost. I can choose to remember what that companionship has been like, and whenever I do, I want that blessing again with my whole heart.
When we want the Holy Ghost and the peace of mind and enjoyment that comes with it, we know what to do. We plead with God for it in faith. It takes the prayer of faith to bring the companionship of the Holy Ghost. That faith has to be that God the Father, the Creator of all things, lives and wants us to have the Holy Ghost and wants to send us the Comforter. It takes faith that Jesus is the Christ and that He atoned for our sins and broke the bands of death. With that faith we approach our Father in reverence and with confidence that He will answer. With that faith we close our prayer in the name of Jesus Christ as His true disciples, confident that our deep repentance, our baptism by His servants, and our faithful service in His cause have purified us and made us clean and worthy of the blessing we seek, the companionship of the Holy Ghost.
I have found myself setting a higher standard for my prayers for the Holy Ghost to guide me because of the great examples of others. A favorite for me is in 3 Nephi. Jesus had chosen disciples who would need the Holy Ghost as their companion when He was gone. Their example lifts me every time I read it and could lift you: "And they did pray for that which they most desired; and they desired that the Holy Ghost should be given unto them" (3 Nephi 19:9). It helps me to plead with more desire and faith when I read again the answer to their prayer:
"The Holy Ghost did fall upon them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and with fire. And behold, they were encircled about as if it were by fire; and it came down from heaven, and the multitude did witness it, and did bear record" (3 Nephi 19:13-14).
My prayers to receive the help of the Holy Ghost have been strengthened by pondering the record of the scriptures. And so has been my ability to recognize the message which the Holy Ghost brings. The scriptures tell us why that is so. The scripture declares:
Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.
Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark.
For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do (2 Nephi 32: 3-5).
I have found that is true: the words of inspiration from the Holy Ghost are words the Savior used. When I read the words spoken by the Savior in the scriptures, I grow in my capacity to recognize inspiration from the Holy Ghost. For that reason my personal scriptures tend to wear out unevenly. I go most often to those places in the Book of Mormon, in the Doctrine and Covenants, and in the Bible where the Lord is speaking. By doing that I can better recognize the voice of the Spirit when the Savior’s words echo easily in my mind.
Just as pondering the scriptures invites the companionship of the Holy Ghost, so does doing the things we have been told to do and doing them promptly. We are promised that the scriptures and the Holy Ghost will tell us all things that we should do. When we go and do what we have been told and do it the best we can, we qualify for more instructions of what to do. If we do not act, we will not receive further instructions. My hero in this is the prophet Nephi, described in the book of Helaman. He is my example for "Go and do."
And behold, now it came to pass that when the Lord had spoken these words unto Nephi, he did stop and did not go unto his own house, but did return unto the multitudes who were scattered about upon the face of the land, and began to declare unto them the word of the Lord which had been spoken unto him, concerning their destruction if they did not repent (Helaman 10:12).
His immediate obedience brought him the companionship of the Holy Ghost, just as it will for you and me. Here is the account:
The power of God was with him, and they could not take him to cast him into prison, for he was taken by the Spirit and conveyed away out of the midst of them.
And it came to pass that thus he did go forth in the Spirit, from multitude to multitude, declaring the word of God, even until he had declared it unto them all, or sent it forth among all the people (Helaman 10:16-17).
Now, there is a wonderful way in which all the things about which we have spoken work together. Desire for the Holy Ghost leads us to the prayer of faith. Pondering the words of the Savior in the scriptures increases our capacity to recognize the voice of the Spirit. The Spirit and the words of Christ tell us all things that we must do. And as we do those things, we qualify for further inspiration by the Spirit. And, in time, that companionship of the Holy Ghost changes us. We feel the effects of the Atonement. Our desire for light increases, and so we pray with greater faith that our prayers will be answered. The scriptures open up to us more clearly, our power to obey becomes greater, and we are drawn ever upward, higher and higher, toward purity and happiness and eternal safety (see 3 Nephi 27:20; Alma 19:33; 3 Nephi 9:20).
Now, all this has some practical applications for each of us. One is that we can repent and be cleansed to qualify for the gift of the Holy Ghost. That makes us optimists. We can be forgiven and be worthy to receive the Holy Ghost. With that gift, things will work out. The Holy Ghost has a sanctifying influence. So, people can improve. Tomorrow will be better. We can have rising expectations.
You can set the bar for yourself a little higher and then a little higher, again and again.
For instance, you returned missionaries can set your goal not to maintain the spirituality you felt in the mission field, but to rise higher. That will take work and determination but you can do it. Other people did some of your work for you, which you must now do for yourself. For instance, the Church set the bar higher for the standard to become a full-time missionary. Your mission president urged and lifted you to higher standards. Now, it is your responsibility to set the bar higher for yourself, not once, but again and again.
That is true for all of us, not just for those who have been missionaries. The faculty of this university face the daunting reality that here there will be perpetual education innovation. What we have gone through was not only a transition from two to four years. It was a transformation into another kind of university, where education will be constantly getting better.
I’ve taught in such a place. In my ten years on the faculty at Stanford, I was blessed never to teach the same course twice. I moved from field to field and changed every course I taught, every time. I remember the nights when I was still working when the dawn came. I remember the adrenaline pumping when I stood to face students with material as new to me as it was to them. I know that I got help from the Holy Ghost. If that help came to me there, it will surely come in greater power here. So, while I appreciate the challenge the faculty and staff face in this university, I await the future with happy anticipation.
As the challenges around us increase, we must commit to do more to qualify for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Casual prayer won’t be enough. Reading a few verses of the scripture won’t be enough. Doing the minimum of what the Lord asks of us won’t be enough. Hoping that we will have the Atonement work in our lives and that we will perhaps sometimes feel the influence of the Holy Ghost won’t be enough. And one great burst of effort won’t be enough.
Only a steady, ever-increasing effort will allow the Lord to take us to higher ground. I know what some of you are tempted to think: "I’ll have to be careful not to set the bar for myself too high. I wouldn’t want to fail and be disappointed."
I did a little high-jumping over a bar in high school and in college. I know what it is like to be running toward the bar and see that it is higher than when you jumped last and that you are now looking way up at the bar. Some of you have been high-jumpers so that you know that it is very different when you come toward it so that you can look over it. I know what happens when you look up at that bar. You think, "That bar is over my head. Is it physically possible to put my whole body over a bar above my head?" As I look back, remember I was a physics student, I realized that I must have decided that some law of physics limited me. Well, the laws of physics did apply, but the limits were more in my mind than in reality. When I now see junior high school students, some of them girls, jumping higher than my best, I wish that I were young again. I’d set my expectations higher. More was possible than I thought, and more is possible spiritually for you and for me. And more is necessary. Set the bar a little higher for yourself. And then set it a little higher. In spiritual things you have a heavenly power lifting you beyond where you are now. The Lord promises that unending rise in his own voice in the Doctrine and Covenants: "That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day" (Doctrine and Covenants 50:24).
You can set the bar higher for yourself to get more power of faith to pray for the gift of the Holy Ghost. You can set it higher for yourself to have the scriptures opened so that you will come to know the Savior’s voice. You can set it higher for yourself to be obedient in the things He asks of you. And you can set the bar higher in your expectation for peace in this life and your hope, even your assurance of eternal life in the world to come. You can set your expectations for yourself a little higher and then a little higher, with confidence that a loving Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son will send you the Holy Ghost and lift you higher and higher, toward Them.
I testify that God the Father lives and hears our prayers. He loves us. He loves His Son, our Savior, and He loves those who love and serve His Son. The Holy Ghost is real and constant in His service. I testify that the keys which unlock the gift of the Holy Ghost were restored through the Prophet Joseph and are now exercised by President Gordon B. Hinckley. When the Lord’s authorized servants say the words, "Receive the Holy Ghost," I know that God honors that promise, as we honor our covenants with Him.
Now as I leave you I would like to tell you something personal about you. I have been away from here a long time. If you had told me that an institution and students and the faculty could rise as high as they have risen spiritually in so short a time, I would have said, "It is not possible." Just as I used to wonder if I could possibly keep going higher and higher jumping over a striped bar in a track field.
I can’t imagine where this University will be in just a little while. I pray with all my heart that you know that I gave this message to you with a feeling of optimism, not of pessimism. I did not plan to speak to you about the hard times that are ahead and they are real, and they are coming. But as I prepared to come here I was given a feeling of light and confidence about you, that somehow the people I would be speaking to today were special, brought here and chosen because of your capacity to rise higher than you yourself would think even possible spiritually.
As I was preparing to come, I was awakened, I will even tell you the time of day, at 1:00 in the morning. I had slept for only two or three hours and I think the Holy Ghost did it by telling me, "You’re rested," which didn’t seem reasonable at that hour. "It is time to go."
So, I got up. In a period of five hours, when I planned to talk about quite a different thing, I wrote what I have given you. I was surprised. I thought that this isn’t the kind of thing you talk to young people about. You should tell more stories, or tell them something amusing, or try to catch their attention.
But know you are special. Heavenly Father is inviting you upward, and you can move there if you have the determination and the grit to say to yourself, "I don’t have to be forced by circumstances to seek the Holy Ghost."
There will be some private things that you need to repent of. There will be some things you need to begin to do that you haven’t been doing. The Holy Ghost will tell you what those are and tell you all things that you must do. And I have every confidence you will not be overwhelmed, that Heavenly Father and the Savior will lift you up, and the Holy Ghost will be your companion in a more constant and powerful way.
There is a God. He is our Father. He really knows us. He knows the future. I don’t know how He knows it in such detail, but He knows the future. He knows every challenge ahead of you. He knows every opportunity ahead of you. He knows your power and wants to lift you to every opportunity and to be able to go through every trial that may be ahead of you, and to go through, smiling. You will hear President Hinckley say, "I’m an optimist." That is not just in his personality, that’s a fruit of having the Holy Ghost as a companion.
I testify to you that the Holy Ghost can speak to your heart and your mind. And you can train yourselves to know that voice in such a way that you might move away from the beach as that man did in Thailand, or might be impressed to go to a sacrament meeting when you are on vacation, as people did in Thailand. They could have easily said, "Well, we are on vacation." But no, they went to where the Lord wanted them to go.
You will be the ones who will be able to hear the voice of the Spirit, and it will bless you in the times ahead. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Brigham Young University–Idaho Devotional January 25, 2005
My beloved brothers and sisters, I am grateful to be with you again. I bring you the greetings of President Hinckley and the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve, and especially Elder Bednar. You are loved and you are known and you are trusted.
Each time I come here, I am struck by what seems to be continuous change. Many new buildings now stand where once we looked across open fields. What was a fine junior college is becoming a distinguished university. Thousands of students enroll who seem to be ever brighter and more spiritual. They study in classrooms, some of which I saw today, equipped with powerful teaching aids unknown just a few years ago. New faculty are choosing to join us who have remarkable professional preparation and great faith in the restored gospel. The rate of growth in physical structures will slow down, but spiritual and academic improvement will continue and will accelerate.
Change is also accelerating in the world around us. Some of that change, like that in this university, is for the better. But much of the acceleration in the world is in troubles long prophesied for the last days. Each time you watch the evening news, you see stark evidence of that. You remember this scripture: "For behold, at that day shall he [meaning Satan] rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good" (2 Nephi 28:20).
The Lord told us in the time of the Prophet Joseph that war would be poured out upon all nations. We see tragic fulfillment of that prophecy, bringing with it increased suffering to the innocent.
The giant earthquake, and the tsunamis it sent crashing into the coasts around the Indian Ocean, is just the beginning and a part of what is to come, terrible as it was. You remember the words from the Doctrine and Covenants which now seems so accurate:
And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people.
For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand.
And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.
And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people (Doctrine and Covenants 88: 88-91).
Fear shall come upon all people. But you and I know that the Lord has prepared places of safety to whiHe is eager to guide us. I think of that often. A few days ago, I heard two accounts of God leading His children to safety on the coast of Thailand when that monstrous tsunami wave struck.
One was of people who accepted His apparently routine invitation to a Church meeting on a Sunday. The meeting was called by ordinary men who hold the priesthood of God. The meeting place was on higher ground, away from the coast. The people who gathered with the Saints were spared from physical death, while the places on the coast where they would have been were destroyed. As they were spared physical death, they were being strengthened against spiritual temptation and the wave of eternal tragedy it will bring to those who are disobedient.
The other account I heard was related to me by a Latter-day Saint who was led to safety by the Holy Ghost. He checked into a hotel on the ocean front in Thailand the day before the wave struck. He walked out on the beach. He felt uneasy. He went back to his hotel determined to check out. The hotel staff, I think worried that he didn’t like the hotel, pressed him for a reason. They only reluctantly agreed to his leaving. He moved to another hotel, away from the beach. It was on higher ground. Because of that, he not only survived but stayed to serve the survivors.
The Lord is anxious to lead us to the safety of higher ground, away from the path of physical and spiritual danger. His upward path will require us to climb. My mother used to say to me when I complained that things were hard, "If you are on the right path, it will always be uphill." And as the world becomes darker and more dangerous, we must keep climbing. It will be our choice whether or not to move up or to stay where we are. But the Lord will invite and guide us upward by the direction of the Holy Ghost, which He sends to His leaders and to His people who will receive it.
The mists of spiritual darkness will become more dense as we climb. They are described in the Book of Mormon this way: "And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost" (1 Nephi 12:17).
But the word of God will guide those who develop the capacity to receive it through the ministrations of the Holy Ghost. A clear light piercing the darkness will show the way to those who have taken the Holy Ghost as a trusted and constant traveling companion.
Now my purpose today is to share with you what I have learned over the years about getting and keeping the companionship of the Holy Ghost. It isn’t easy, but it is possible.
The foundation is a burning desire to qualify for that gift. Most of us who are members of the restored Church have enough faith to want the Holy Ghost at times. That desire may be weak and intermittent, but it comes, usually when we are in trouble. For us to be led upward to safety in the times ahead, it must become steady and intense.
The problem for most human beings is that when things go well, we feel self-sufficient. You remember the warning:
"And others will he pacify, [again speaking of Satan] and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell" (2 Nephi 28:21).
And later comes the warning:
"Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost" (2 Nephi 28:31).
If you examine your own experience carefully and honestly, you will see that you tend to seek the Holy Ghost most fervently when you are humbled by difficult circumstances or life-changing decisions. Remember the time you faced the prospect of teaching the gospel as a missionary perhaps in a new language where you couldn’t understand what people were saying and you couldn’t put a sentence together. Or, remember a time you had to make choices that might lead you toward, or away from, marrying someone. Those moments probably brought a great desire for the faith and the capacity to get the help of the Holy Ghost.
But if we have to be in trouble to want the Holy Ghost as a constant companion, then to have that steady desire we will have to be in steady trouble. There has to be a better way.
Happily, there is. Now you will have to find your own. I’ll tell you mine. There is one for me that works: I choose to remind myself about my experience with what prophets have said about the peace and happiness that comes with the visitation of the Holy Ghost. It has been true in my life. Wilford Woodruff described it this way:
You may surround any man or woman with all the wealth and glory that the imagination of man can grasp, and are they satisfied? No. There is still an aching void. On the other hand, show me a beggar upon the streets, who has the Holy Ghost, whose mind is filled with that Spirit and power, and I will show you a person who has peace of mind, who possesses true riches, and those enjoyments that no man can obtain from any other source (Journal of Discourses, Vo. 2, p. 199, Wilford Woodruff, February 25, 1855).
That has been true for me. One of the ways I know that I’m feeling the influence of the Holy Ghost is that I feel a light and I am happy. When the Holy Ghost seems far from me, I feel a darkness and I am not happy. I have felt that ebb and flow of light and happiness in my life and so have you.
I like to feel of that light and I like to be happy. I don’t have to wait for troubles and tests to make me want the help of the Holy Ghost. I can choose to remember what that companionship has been like, and whenever I do, I want that blessing again with my whole heart.
When we want the Holy Ghost and the peace of mind and enjoyment that comes with it, we know what to do. We plead with God for it in faith. It takes the prayer of faith to bring the companionship of the Holy Ghost. That faith has to be that God the Father, the Creator of all things, lives and wants us to have the Holy Ghost and wants to send us the Comforter. It takes faith that Jesus is the Christ and that He atoned for our sins and broke the bands of death. With that faith we approach our Father in reverence and with confidence that He will answer. With that faith we close our prayer in the name of Jesus Christ as His true disciples, confident that our deep repentance, our baptism by His servants, and our faithful service in His cause have purified us and made us clean and worthy of the blessing we seek, the companionship of the Holy Ghost.
I have found myself setting a higher standard for my prayers for the Holy Ghost to guide me because of the great examples of others. A favorite for me is in 3 Nephi. Jesus had chosen disciples who would need the Holy Ghost as their companion when He was gone. Their example lifts me every time I read it and could lift you: "And they did pray for that which they most desired; and they desired that the Holy Ghost should be given unto them" (3 Nephi 19:9). It helps me to plead with more desire and faith when I read again the answer to their prayer:
"The Holy Ghost did fall upon them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and with fire. And behold, they were encircled about as if it were by fire; and it came down from heaven, and the multitude did witness it, and did bear record" (3 Nephi 19:13-14).
My prayers to receive the help of the Holy Ghost have been strengthened by pondering the record of the scriptures. And so has been my ability to recognize the message which the Holy Ghost brings. The scriptures tell us why that is so. The scripture declares:
Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.
Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark.
For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do (2 Nephi 32: 3-5).
I have found that is true: the words of inspiration from the Holy Ghost are words the Savior used. When I read the words spoken by the Savior in the scriptures, I grow in my capacity to recognize inspiration from the Holy Ghost. For that reason my personal scriptures tend to wear out unevenly. I go most often to those places in the Book of Mormon, in the Doctrine and Covenants, and in the Bible where the Lord is speaking. By doing that I can better recognize the voice of the Spirit when the Savior’s words echo easily in my mind.
Just as pondering the scriptures invites the companionship of the Holy Ghost, so does doing the things we have been told to do and doing them promptly. We are promised that the scriptures and the Holy Ghost will tell us all things that we should do. When we go and do what we have been told and do it the best we can, we qualify for more instructions of what to do. If we do not act, we will not receive further instructions. My hero in this is the prophet Nephi, described in the book of Helaman. He is my example for "Go and do."
And behold, now it came to pass that when the Lord had spoken these words unto Nephi, he did stop and did not go unto his own house, but did return unto the multitudes who were scattered about upon the face of the land, and began to declare unto them the word of the Lord which had been spoken unto him, concerning their destruction if they did not repent (Helaman 10:12).
His immediate obedience brought him the companionship of the Holy Ghost, just as it will for you and me. Here is the account:
The power of God was with him, and they could not take him to cast him into prison, for he was taken by the Spirit and conveyed away out of the midst of them.
And it came to pass that thus he did go forth in the Spirit, from multitude to multitude, declaring the word of God, even until he had declared it unto them all, or sent it forth among all the people (Helaman 10:16-17).
Now, there is a wonderful way in which all the things about which we have spoken work together. Desire for the Holy Ghost leads us to the prayer of faith. Pondering the words of the Savior in the scriptures increases our capacity to recognize the voice of the Spirit. The Spirit and the words of Christ tell us all things that we must do. And as we do those things, we qualify for further inspiration by the Spirit. And, in time, that companionship of the Holy Ghost changes us. We feel the effects of the Atonement. Our desire for light increases, and so we pray with greater faith that our prayers will be answered. The scriptures open up to us more clearly, our power to obey becomes greater, and we are drawn ever upward, higher and higher, toward purity and happiness and eternal safety (see 3 Nephi 27:20; Alma 19:33; 3 Nephi 9:20).
Now, all this has some practical applications for each of us. One is that we can repent and be cleansed to qualify for the gift of the Holy Ghost. That makes us optimists. We can be forgiven and be worthy to receive the Holy Ghost. With that gift, things will work out. The Holy Ghost has a sanctifying influence. So, people can improve. Tomorrow will be better. We can have rising expectations.
You can set the bar for yourself a little higher and then a little higher, again and again.
For instance, you returned missionaries can set your goal not to maintain the spirituality you felt in the mission field, but to rise higher. That will take work and determination but you can do it. Other people did some of your work for you, which you must now do for yourself. For instance, the Church set the bar higher for the standard to become a full-time missionary. Your mission president urged and lifted you to higher standards. Now, it is your responsibility to set the bar higher for yourself, not once, but again and again.
That is true for all of us, not just for those who have been missionaries. The faculty of this university face the daunting reality that here there will be perpetual education innovation. What we have gone through was not only a transition from two to four years. It was a transformation into another kind of university, where education will be constantly getting better.
I’ve taught in such a place. In my ten years on the faculty at Stanford, I was blessed never to teach the same course twice. I moved from field to field and changed every course I taught, every time. I remember the nights when I was still working when the dawn came. I remember the adrenaline pumping when I stood to face students with material as new to me as it was to them. I know that I got help from the Holy Ghost. If that help came to me there, it will surely come in greater power here. So, while I appreciate the challenge the faculty and staff face in this university, I await the future with happy anticipation.
As the challenges around us increase, we must commit to do more to qualify for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Casual prayer won’t be enough. Reading a few verses of the scripture won’t be enough. Doing the minimum of what the Lord asks of us won’t be enough. Hoping that we will have the Atonement work in our lives and that we will perhaps sometimes feel the influence of the Holy Ghost won’t be enough. And one great burst of effort won’t be enough.
Only a steady, ever-increasing effort will allow the Lord to take us to higher ground. I know what some of you are tempted to think: "I’ll have to be careful not to set the bar for myself too high. I wouldn’t want to fail and be disappointed."
I did a little high-jumping over a bar in high school and in college. I know what it is like to be running toward the bar and see that it is higher than when you jumped last and that you are now looking way up at the bar. Some of you have been high-jumpers so that you know that it is very different when you come toward it so that you can look over it. I know what happens when you look up at that bar. You think, "That bar is over my head. Is it physically possible to put my whole body over a bar above my head?" As I look back, remember I was a physics student, I realized that I must have decided that some law of physics limited me. Well, the laws of physics did apply, but the limits were more in my mind than in reality. When I now see junior high school students, some of them girls, jumping higher than my best, I wish that I were young again. I’d set my expectations higher. More was possible than I thought, and more is possible spiritually for you and for me. And more is necessary. Set the bar a little higher for yourself. And then set it a little higher. In spiritual things you have a heavenly power lifting you beyond where you are now. The Lord promises that unending rise in his own voice in the Doctrine and Covenants: "That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day" (Doctrine and Covenants 50:24).
You can set the bar higher for yourself to get more power of faith to pray for the gift of the Holy Ghost. You can set it higher for yourself to have the scriptures opened so that you will come to know the Savior’s voice. You can set it higher for yourself to be obedient in the things He asks of you. And you can set the bar higher in your expectation for peace in this life and your hope, even your assurance of eternal life in the world to come. You can set your expectations for yourself a little higher and then a little higher, with confidence that a loving Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son will send you the Holy Ghost and lift you higher and higher, toward Them.
I testify that God the Father lives and hears our prayers. He loves us. He loves His Son, our Savior, and He loves those who love and serve His Son. The Holy Ghost is real and constant in His service. I testify that the keys which unlock the gift of the Holy Ghost were restored through the Prophet Joseph and are now exercised by President Gordon B. Hinckley. When the Lord’s authorized servants say the words, "Receive the Holy Ghost," I know that God honors that promise, as we honor our covenants with Him.
Now as I leave you I would like to tell you something personal about you. I have been away from here a long time. If you had told me that an institution and students and the faculty could rise as high as they have risen spiritually in so short a time, I would have said, "It is not possible." Just as I used to wonder if I could possibly keep going higher and higher jumping over a striped bar in a track field.
I can’t imagine where this University will be in just a little while. I pray with all my heart that you know that I gave this message to you with a feeling of optimism, not of pessimism. I did not plan to speak to you about the hard times that are ahead and they are real, and they are coming. But as I prepared to come here I was given a feeling of light and confidence about you, that somehow the people I would be speaking to today were special, brought here and chosen because of your capacity to rise higher than you yourself would think even possible spiritually.
As I was preparing to come, I was awakened, I will even tell you the time of day, at 1:00 in the morning. I had slept for only two or three hours and I think the Holy Ghost did it by telling me, "You’re rested," which didn’t seem reasonable at that hour. "It is time to go."
So, I got up. In a period of five hours, when I planned to talk about quite a different thing, I wrote what I have given you. I was surprised. I thought that this isn’t the kind of thing you talk to young people about. You should tell more stories, or tell them something amusing, or try to catch their attention.
But know you are special. Heavenly Father is inviting you upward, and you can move there if you have the determination and the grit to say to yourself, "I don’t have to be forced by circumstances to seek the Holy Ghost."
There will be some private things that you need to repent of. There will be some things you need to begin to do that you haven’t been doing. The Holy Ghost will tell you what those are and tell you all things that you must do. And I have every confidence you will not be overwhelmed, that Heavenly Father and the Savior will lift you up, and the Holy Ghost will be your companion in a more constant and powerful way.
There is a God. He is our Father. He really knows us. He knows the future. I don’t know how He knows it in such detail, but He knows the future. He knows every challenge ahead of you. He knows every opportunity ahead of you. He knows your power and wants to lift you to every opportunity and to be able to go through every trial that may be ahead of you, and to go through, smiling. You will hear President Hinckley say, "I’m an optimist." That is not just in his personality, that’s a fruit of having the Holy Ghost as a companion.
I testify to you that the Holy Ghost can speak to your heart and your mind. And you can train yourselves to know that voice in such a way that you might move away from the beach as that man did in Thailand, or might be impressed to go to a sacrament meeting when you are on vacation, as people did in Thailand. They could have easily said, "Well, we are on vacation." But no, they went to where the Lord wanted them to go.
You will be the ones who will be able to hear the voice of the Spirit, and it will bless you in the times ahead. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Fighting Pornography and Other Evils
The Lighted Candle Society-May 3, 2006
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland-Let There Be Light
I am honored to be with you this evening. For some time I have heard of the Lighted Candle Society and particularly of the leadership John Harmer has given to this effort. Furthermore, Jim and Metta Christensen have been dear friends for more than 25 years. But until tonight it has not been my good fortune to see them or you or your group in action.
As you know and surely would assume, we in the leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been intensifying our efforts regarding the modern plague of pornography. Indeed, I suppose it was in a meeting in my office on this problem in which Jack Sunderlage of your board was present that the possibility of my participation on your program tonight was born. In any case I salute all good people and all good agencies everywhere who are doing battle against this insidious modern enemy. Your mission statement speaks of this as a "war against the production and distribution of pornography." It is that; it is a war and we are happy to join arms with any who are willing to honorably and resolutely fight this. Your use of "five smooth stones" sounds good to one who loves the Old Testament and admires what a sling, accurately aimed, can do to bring down a very large enemy.
And I am honored to be here on an evening when JoAnn Hibbert Hamilton and Dr. Judith Reisman have been so appropriately honored. Congratulations-again-to these two exceptional women. And any evening is wonderful that features the marvelous Michael Ballam.
Let me fulfill my assignment to say something on the topic at hand. The evening has already been a success.will try to add to that success by being brief.
What may be the most disturbing fact of all for us in a world as repulsive as the world of pornography is the reach of pornography into the lives of those least prepared to resist it-our children. As you know, reliable statistics accessing the online use of pornography are hard to come by, but a few years ago a Kaiser Family Foundation/NPR survey found that 31 percent of children aged 10 to 17 with computers at home had seen a pornographic Web site. In another study by the Kaiser Foundation, 70 percent of teens aged 15 to 17 said they had accidentally come across pornography on the Web. A survey revealed that, nationally, 5 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 17 using the Internet had received a solicitation for sex in the past year (see The National Academy of Sciences, Youth, Pornography, and the Internet, 2002, 132-33).
Since these studies, now dated only by a few years, the problem has become worse. The number of homes with Internet access has increased dramatically, and cell phones and other technology popular with youth can now connect with the Web. Blogs, chat rooms, and community Web sites like Myspace.com have proliferated, along with the potential for contact with online sexual predators.
But of course we must always be vigilant to note that the problem is so much larger than this. As much as there is at least something of a national consensus on the evils of child pornography, there is, sadly, none whatever-yet-on pornography for and featuring adults. The scope and significance of the problem in the adult world is more pervasive than ever.
The simple fact of the matter is pornography victimizes everyone-those who are addicted to it, those who live with them, a society that fosters it, a society that is trying to oppose it, even those who create it. It contaminates everyone.
Not long ago a Protestant periodical gave an account of a woman, now a believing, practicing Christian, who at one time acted in the kind of films a generation ago were found only in back alley movie theaters and are now openly sold in stores and shown on cable TV. She writes: "[Pornography is] one of the greatest deceptions of all time. Trust me, I know. I did it all the time, and I did it for the lust of power and the love of money. I never liked [men or] sex. . . . In fact I was more apt to spend time with Jack Daniels than [any other man of my choosing. Who wouldn't] hate being touched by strangers who care nothing about [you. Who wouldn't] hate being degraded. . . . Some women hate it so much you can hear them vomiting in the bathroom between scenes. . . . One of my friends went home after a long night of numbing her pain and put a pistol to her head and pulled the trigger. That was her way out.
"The truth is there is no fantasy in porn. It's all a lie. A closer look into the scenes of a porn star's life will show you a movie [that] industry doesn't want you to see. The real truth is [if] actresses want to end the shame and trauma of our lives [in that world] we can't do it alone. We need you . . . to fight for our freedom and give us back our honor. . . . We [need] you to throw out our movies and help [us] piece together the shattered fragments of our lives. We need you to pray for us . . . so God will hear and repair our ruined lives" (Shelley Lubben, www.blazingrace.org/thetruth.htm).
Did you catch her references to money and power? The industry we're fighting is not about men or women or love or intimacy-it's about money, and the power money supposedly brings. The tragedy here is that the human soul is not a commodity of exchange, not a thing to be consumed and discarded, a thing one can buy for $19.99 plus tax and then, when tired or ashamed of it, throw in the trash bin.
And deep-down everyone knows that, even those who are mired into the depths of this. One of our national associates in this fight wrote, "When I ask men who are sex addicts if they would want their wife or daughter to be in porn, 100 percent say, 'No,'" she said. "All of them say, 'No.' They want it to be somebody else's wife or daughter. They know this material is damaging [and the practice degrading.]"
Years ago one of my personal LDS heroes made this observation: "'We have witnessed the reduction of persons to things in a code number, a subscriber, a punched card. Each reduction indicates that the person is expendable, replaceable.' This renders men [and women as] functionaries and destroys their being and loses for them their self. . . . This is hauntingly true as people are 'used' to gratify physical passions in illegitimacy.
"We really do not 'love' things. We use things like doormats, automobiles, clothing, machines; but we love people by serving them and contributing to their permanent good" (Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, 155-56; emphasis added).
I really don't intend to document the problem ad nauseam for this audience because you are documenting it far more skillfully than I ever could. I also don't want to be guilty of simply "wringing my hands and shaking my head," a rather useless response decried in your founding documents. So let me light a candle or two.
Of all the characteristics ascribed to Jesus Christ-whom the scriptures call the Light of the World-love is His most fundamental and most enduring virtue. We must remember that not only those who view pornography but also those who perform it are children of God, and furthermore are someone's son, someone's daughter here on earth as well. For all their sin we need to love them, serve them, save them if we can, and contribute to their permanent good. We can do that, in the spirit of your society, by following the pattern set by God at the outset of our earthly experience.
The book held sacred by Jews and Christians worldwide begins with these words:
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. . . .
"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
"And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness" (Genesis 1:1, 3-4).
Our work is to divide the light from the darkness by lighting more and more candles. I can think of a few ways we could begin to do that.
First, let us be clear about the holder of the candles. I find it interesting that the first thing light reveals when a candle is lighted is the hand holding it. The Lord made this fascinating observation about personal light.
"The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.
"Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.
"If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light" (Luke 11:33-36).
The candles we hold up for others to see ought to be extensions of the light within ourselves. What we are shines more brightly than anything we say or do. If we are to fill the world with light, we must first face any tattered remnant of darkness that remains in our own souls. Tonight, I invite each of you to join me in regularly turning inward to confront there anything we wouldn't want others to see. It may not be pornography. I am assuming it wouldn't be pornography for us, but it may be arrogance or unkindness, impatience or vanity, or any number of other flaws we need to remedy. Whatever it is let us trim our lamps, add oil, and make those changes necessary that allow us to hold up a brighter candle, a purer light. Christ focused some of His most pointed opprobrium for the hypocrite. We must never be guilty of that in this battle. We must be the best person we can be in every way we can.
Second, let us educate ourselves. Light is not the absence of darkness; rather, darkness is the absence of light. Light and truth exist independently. This being the case, the more light we have, the more independent we are. The freer we are to choose. With truth lighting the way, we are able to see and make choices we otherwise couldn't make.
Since we are agents with the ability to choose, the responsibility for our education rests first with us. Others may help-teachers, parents, leaders, friends, even those who are not friends but whose negative examples and misguided perspectives serve to instruct what not to do or what not to believe. Ultimately, however, the responsibility for getting the facts straight is ours. The work is ours. The choices are ours.
Keep in mind that any knowledge we gather can be both negative and positive. Yes, we will gather statistics and horror stories about the impact of the darkness on our society. But more important, we must also fill our hearts and minds with truth and light, with love and the Spirit of God. Too often we allow ourselves to be forced into a defensive, remedial position when we could be more effective by taking positive, constructive action. And nothing is more constructive than a good, powerful, pure personal life.
Third, as we educate ourselves, we need to educate others. The promoters of darkness often seem to have direct access to the media microphone. We may not be able to take that away from them, but we can at least raise our own voices. We can teach correct principles often and in as many ways as possible.
Since darkness is the absence of light, surely the most powerful way to counter darkness is to fill the world with light. One of my associates observed recently:
"Light and darkness cannot occupy the same space at the same time.
"Light dispels darkness. When light is present, darkness is vanquished and must depart. More importantly, darkness cannot conquer light unless the light is diminished or departs" (Robert D. Hales, in Conference Report, Apr. 2002, 80-81; or Ensign, May 2002, 70).
Is it not part of our work as sons and daughters of God to encourage creative efforts that dispel darkness and replace it with light? Indeed, one objective of the Lighted Candle Society is to promote "positive and uplifting . . . education and entertainment." How powerful a force for good would be a renaissance in literature, art, technology, and science that adds light rather than takes it away! Such a renaissance is possible. There are among us artists and artisans who need only to receive a little more support and encouragement from men and women of conscience to produce works that could rival those that half a millennium ago marked the end of Europe's Dark Age and the rise of a wonderful new cultural and spiritual Renaissance.
As we fill the earth with art (and media) that is good and uplifting-as we fill the earth with light and knowledge-our children will see the darkness for what it is. They will see that it is counterfeit, that it brings only sorrow, pain, and emptiness. They will come to prefer light and be attracted to that which is good and true.
Fourth, we can be vigilant. Some of the most effective work we can do, as was said about the Watergate scandal, is "follow the money." We can keep money out of the pockets of the merchants of immorality. Owners perspire when profits fail. We can work against the profitability of those who merchandise in human suffering and degradation. We can alert media moguls that we will ignore their services and the products they advertise as long as they remain in league with those who abuse the individual, undermine the structure of the family, and attack the moral fiber of society.
But again, if that is all we do, we have not filled the void with light. We must also support, encourage, and finance that which is positive and life-affirming, art and beauty-in short, truth-that encourages people to come out of the darkness into the light.
Lastly, as parents we must control use of the Internet in our own homes. We need to set and enforce family rules that protect us and our children from those who would sneak into our homes and there replace light with darkness. As citizens, we can seek controls on Internet use in public places. We can understand and teach others how to use the Internet safely. This wonderful tool is too valuable to all of us to let greedy individuals use it for their own selfish ends.
You are well aware of the Harry Potter books and movies by J. K. Rowling. One of the reasons the books are so popular, I think, is that they show children victorious in battle against dark forces. They give readers hope that, even in total darkness, there is that spark of light. Despite the powerful evil arrayed against them, they know they can defeat the darkness.
But fundamental to the message of the Harry Potter books is the idea that children don't-indeed, can't-fight their battles alone. In fact, the one gift that saves Harry over and over again is the love of his mother, who died protecting him from evil. Without any question one of those best "defenses against the dark arts"-to use a phrase from the Harry Potter books-is close family ties. Parental love, family activity, gentle teaching, and respectful conversation-sweet time together-can help keep the generations close and build bonds that will never be broken. A strong home and the love of parents is not infallible; we all know of children and teachers who give in to the darkness despite the best efforts of their loved ones. But both research and experience show that parental love and a happy home is the strongest defense our children have against anything the lords of darkness can throw at them.
In this regard, recent findings bring good news: "The use of filters in families with teens has grown 65% in four years, from around 7 million users at the end of 2000, to close to 12 million today. Of all families in the United States connected to the Internet, 54% use Internet filters" (Amanda Lenhart, "Protecting Teens Online," Pew Internet and American Life Project, March 17, 2005, i).
These and similar statistics are encouraging. More parents are recognizing the need to protect their families. Most teens (73%) report that "their household computer is located in a public place inside the house," and most parents (64%) reported that they set rules about what their children do on the Internet. Unfortunately, 65% of all parents and 64% of all teens say that teens do things online that they wouldn't want their parents to know about" ("Protecting Teens Online," ii).
We still have work to do.
In my attempt this evening to add to the lighted candles you share so generously, I hope something of what I have said finds a place in your hearts. The second greatest poet in the English language once wrote:
He that has light within his own clear breast
May sit i ' the centre, and enjoy bright day:
But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts
Benighted walks under the mid-day sun;
Himself his own dungeon. (Milton)
Lighting candles can be a great adventure. Whatever else is revealed by the light, nothing becomes as clear as what we find in our own souls.
May our journey into light be inspirational. And may the light you share show others the way to pure light, Eternal Light, God's light. Thank you and God bless you.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland-Let There Be Light
I am honored to be with you this evening. For some time I have heard of the Lighted Candle Society and particularly of the leadership John Harmer has given to this effort. Furthermore, Jim and Metta Christensen have been dear friends for more than 25 years. But until tonight it has not been my good fortune to see them or you or your group in action.
As you know and surely would assume, we in the leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been intensifying our efforts regarding the modern plague of pornography. Indeed, I suppose it was in a meeting in my office on this problem in which Jack Sunderlage of your board was present that the possibility of my participation on your program tonight was born. In any case I salute all good people and all good agencies everywhere who are doing battle against this insidious modern enemy. Your mission statement speaks of this as a "war against the production and distribution of pornography." It is that; it is a war and we are happy to join arms with any who are willing to honorably and resolutely fight this. Your use of "five smooth stones" sounds good to one who loves the Old Testament and admires what a sling, accurately aimed, can do to bring down a very large enemy.
And I am honored to be here on an evening when JoAnn Hibbert Hamilton and Dr. Judith Reisman have been so appropriately honored. Congratulations-again-to these two exceptional women. And any evening is wonderful that features the marvelous Michael Ballam.
Let me fulfill my assignment to say something on the topic at hand. The evening has already been a success.will try to add to that success by being brief.
What may be the most disturbing fact of all for us in a world as repulsive as the world of pornography is the reach of pornography into the lives of those least prepared to resist it-our children. As you know, reliable statistics accessing the online use of pornography are hard to come by, but a few years ago a Kaiser Family Foundation/NPR survey found that 31 percent of children aged 10 to 17 with computers at home had seen a pornographic Web site. In another study by the Kaiser Foundation, 70 percent of teens aged 15 to 17 said they had accidentally come across pornography on the Web. A survey revealed that, nationally, 5 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 17 using the Internet had received a solicitation for sex in the past year (see The National Academy of Sciences, Youth, Pornography, and the Internet, 2002, 132-33).
Since these studies, now dated only by a few years, the problem has become worse. The number of homes with Internet access has increased dramatically, and cell phones and other technology popular with youth can now connect with the Web. Blogs, chat rooms, and community Web sites like Myspace.com have proliferated, along with the potential for contact with online sexual predators.
But of course we must always be vigilant to note that the problem is so much larger than this. As much as there is at least something of a national consensus on the evils of child pornography, there is, sadly, none whatever-yet-on pornography for and featuring adults. The scope and significance of the problem in the adult world is more pervasive than ever.
The simple fact of the matter is pornography victimizes everyone-those who are addicted to it, those who live with them, a society that fosters it, a society that is trying to oppose it, even those who create it. It contaminates everyone.
Not long ago a Protestant periodical gave an account of a woman, now a believing, practicing Christian, who at one time acted in the kind of films a generation ago were found only in back alley movie theaters and are now openly sold in stores and shown on cable TV. She writes: "[Pornography is] one of the greatest deceptions of all time. Trust me, I know. I did it all the time, and I did it for the lust of power and the love of money. I never liked [men or] sex. . . . In fact I was more apt to spend time with Jack Daniels than [any other man of my choosing. Who wouldn't] hate being touched by strangers who care nothing about [you. Who wouldn't] hate being degraded. . . . Some women hate it so much you can hear them vomiting in the bathroom between scenes. . . . One of my friends went home after a long night of numbing her pain and put a pistol to her head and pulled the trigger. That was her way out.
"The truth is there is no fantasy in porn. It's all a lie. A closer look into the scenes of a porn star's life will show you a movie [that] industry doesn't want you to see. The real truth is [if] actresses want to end the shame and trauma of our lives [in that world] we can't do it alone. We need you . . . to fight for our freedom and give us back our honor. . . . We [need] you to throw out our movies and help [us] piece together the shattered fragments of our lives. We need you to pray for us . . . so God will hear and repair our ruined lives" (Shelley Lubben, www.blazingrace.org/thetruth.htm).
Did you catch her references to money and power? The industry we're fighting is not about men or women or love or intimacy-it's about money, and the power money supposedly brings. The tragedy here is that the human soul is not a commodity of exchange, not a thing to be consumed and discarded, a thing one can buy for $19.99 plus tax and then, when tired or ashamed of it, throw in the trash bin.
And deep-down everyone knows that, even those who are mired into the depths of this. One of our national associates in this fight wrote, "When I ask men who are sex addicts if they would want their wife or daughter to be in porn, 100 percent say, 'No,'" she said. "All of them say, 'No.' They want it to be somebody else's wife or daughter. They know this material is damaging [and the practice degrading.]"
Years ago one of my personal LDS heroes made this observation: "'We have witnessed the reduction of persons to things in a code number, a subscriber, a punched card. Each reduction indicates that the person is expendable, replaceable.' This renders men [and women as] functionaries and destroys their being and loses for them their self. . . . This is hauntingly true as people are 'used' to gratify physical passions in illegitimacy.
"We really do not 'love' things. We use things like doormats, automobiles, clothing, machines; but we love people by serving them and contributing to their permanent good" (Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, 155-56; emphasis added).
I really don't intend to document the problem ad nauseam for this audience because you are documenting it far more skillfully than I ever could. I also don't want to be guilty of simply "wringing my hands and shaking my head," a rather useless response decried in your founding documents. So let me light a candle or two.
Of all the characteristics ascribed to Jesus Christ-whom the scriptures call the Light of the World-love is His most fundamental and most enduring virtue. We must remember that not only those who view pornography but also those who perform it are children of God, and furthermore are someone's son, someone's daughter here on earth as well. For all their sin we need to love them, serve them, save them if we can, and contribute to their permanent good. We can do that, in the spirit of your society, by following the pattern set by God at the outset of our earthly experience.
The book held sacred by Jews and Christians worldwide begins with these words:
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. . . .
"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
"And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness" (Genesis 1:1, 3-4).
Our work is to divide the light from the darkness by lighting more and more candles. I can think of a few ways we could begin to do that.
First, let us be clear about the holder of the candles. I find it interesting that the first thing light reveals when a candle is lighted is the hand holding it. The Lord made this fascinating observation about personal light.
"The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.
"Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.
"If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light" (Luke 11:33-36).
The candles we hold up for others to see ought to be extensions of the light within ourselves. What we are shines more brightly than anything we say or do. If we are to fill the world with light, we must first face any tattered remnant of darkness that remains in our own souls. Tonight, I invite each of you to join me in regularly turning inward to confront there anything we wouldn't want others to see. It may not be pornography. I am assuming it wouldn't be pornography for us, but it may be arrogance or unkindness, impatience or vanity, or any number of other flaws we need to remedy. Whatever it is let us trim our lamps, add oil, and make those changes necessary that allow us to hold up a brighter candle, a purer light. Christ focused some of His most pointed opprobrium for the hypocrite. We must never be guilty of that in this battle. We must be the best person we can be in every way we can.
Second, let us educate ourselves. Light is not the absence of darkness; rather, darkness is the absence of light. Light and truth exist independently. This being the case, the more light we have, the more independent we are. The freer we are to choose. With truth lighting the way, we are able to see and make choices we otherwise couldn't make.
Since we are agents with the ability to choose, the responsibility for our education rests first with us. Others may help-teachers, parents, leaders, friends, even those who are not friends but whose negative examples and misguided perspectives serve to instruct what not to do or what not to believe. Ultimately, however, the responsibility for getting the facts straight is ours. The work is ours. The choices are ours.
Keep in mind that any knowledge we gather can be both negative and positive. Yes, we will gather statistics and horror stories about the impact of the darkness on our society. But more important, we must also fill our hearts and minds with truth and light, with love and the Spirit of God. Too often we allow ourselves to be forced into a defensive, remedial position when we could be more effective by taking positive, constructive action. And nothing is more constructive than a good, powerful, pure personal life.
Third, as we educate ourselves, we need to educate others. The promoters of darkness often seem to have direct access to the media microphone. We may not be able to take that away from them, but we can at least raise our own voices. We can teach correct principles often and in as many ways as possible.
Since darkness is the absence of light, surely the most powerful way to counter darkness is to fill the world with light. One of my associates observed recently:
"Light and darkness cannot occupy the same space at the same time.
"Light dispels darkness. When light is present, darkness is vanquished and must depart. More importantly, darkness cannot conquer light unless the light is diminished or departs" (Robert D. Hales, in Conference Report, Apr. 2002, 80-81; or Ensign, May 2002, 70).
Is it not part of our work as sons and daughters of God to encourage creative efforts that dispel darkness and replace it with light? Indeed, one objective of the Lighted Candle Society is to promote "positive and uplifting . . . education and entertainment." How powerful a force for good would be a renaissance in literature, art, technology, and science that adds light rather than takes it away! Such a renaissance is possible. There are among us artists and artisans who need only to receive a little more support and encouragement from men and women of conscience to produce works that could rival those that half a millennium ago marked the end of Europe's Dark Age and the rise of a wonderful new cultural and spiritual Renaissance.
As we fill the earth with art (and media) that is good and uplifting-as we fill the earth with light and knowledge-our children will see the darkness for what it is. They will see that it is counterfeit, that it brings only sorrow, pain, and emptiness. They will come to prefer light and be attracted to that which is good and true.
Fourth, we can be vigilant. Some of the most effective work we can do, as was said about the Watergate scandal, is "follow the money." We can keep money out of the pockets of the merchants of immorality. Owners perspire when profits fail. We can work against the profitability of those who merchandise in human suffering and degradation. We can alert media moguls that we will ignore their services and the products they advertise as long as they remain in league with those who abuse the individual, undermine the structure of the family, and attack the moral fiber of society.
But again, if that is all we do, we have not filled the void with light. We must also support, encourage, and finance that which is positive and life-affirming, art and beauty-in short, truth-that encourages people to come out of the darkness into the light.
Lastly, as parents we must control use of the Internet in our own homes. We need to set and enforce family rules that protect us and our children from those who would sneak into our homes and there replace light with darkness. As citizens, we can seek controls on Internet use in public places. We can understand and teach others how to use the Internet safely. This wonderful tool is too valuable to all of us to let greedy individuals use it for their own selfish ends.
You are well aware of the Harry Potter books and movies by J. K. Rowling. One of the reasons the books are so popular, I think, is that they show children victorious in battle against dark forces. They give readers hope that, even in total darkness, there is that spark of light. Despite the powerful evil arrayed against them, they know they can defeat the darkness.
But fundamental to the message of the Harry Potter books is the idea that children don't-indeed, can't-fight their battles alone. In fact, the one gift that saves Harry over and over again is the love of his mother, who died protecting him from evil. Without any question one of those best "defenses against the dark arts"-to use a phrase from the Harry Potter books-is close family ties. Parental love, family activity, gentle teaching, and respectful conversation-sweet time together-can help keep the generations close and build bonds that will never be broken. A strong home and the love of parents is not infallible; we all know of children and teachers who give in to the darkness despite the best efforts of their loved ones. But both research and experience show that parental love and a happy home is the strongest defense our children have against anything the lords of darkness can throw at them.
In this regard, recent findings bring good news: "The use of filters in families with teens has grown 65% in four years, from around 7 million users at the end of 2000, to close to 12 million today. Of all families in the United States connected to the Internet, 54% use Internet filters" (Amanda Lenhart, "Protecting Teens Online," Pew Internet and American Life Project, March 17, 2005, i).
These and similar statistics are encouraging. More parents are recognizing the need to protect their families. Most teens (73%) report that "their household computer is located in a public place inside the house," and most parents (64%) reported that they set rules about what their children do on the Internet. Unfortunately, 65% of all parents and 64% of all teens say that teens do things online that they wouldn't want their parents to know about" ("Protecting Teens Online," ii).
We still have work to do.
In my attempt this evening to add to the lighted candles you share so generously, I hope something of what I have said finds a place in your hearts. The second greatest poet in the English language once wrote:
He that has light within his own clear breast
May sit i ' the centre, and enjoy bright day:
But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts
Benighted walks under the mid-day sun;
Himself his own dungeon. (Milton)
Lighting candles can be a great adventure. Whatever else is revealed by the light, nothing becomes as clear as what we find in our own souls.
May our journey into light be inspirational. And may the light you share show others the way to pure light, Eternal Light, God's light. Thank you and God bless you.
Seek Learning By Faith -Elder Bednar
Seek Learning by Faith-February 3, 2006-Address to CES Religious Educators
Elder David A. Bednar-Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
I express my love to and for you—and the gratitude of the Brethren for the righteous influence you have upon the youth of the Church throughout the world. Thank you for blessing and strengthening the rising generation.
I pray that the Holy Ghost will bless and edify us as we share this special time together.
Companion Principles: Preaching by the Spirit and Learning by Faith
We are admonished repeatedly in the scriptures to preach the truths of the gospel by the power of the Spirit (see D&C 50:14). I believe the vast majority of us as parents and teachers in the Church are aware of this principle and generally strive appropriately to apply it. As important as this principle is, however, it is only one element of a much larger spiritual pattern. We also frequently are taught to seek learning by faith (see D&C 88:118). Preaching by the spirit and learning by faith are companion principles that we should strive to understand and apply concurrently and consistently.
I suspect we emphasize and know much more about a teacher teaching by the Spirit than we do about a learner learning by faith. Clearly, the principles and processes of both teaching and learning are spiritually essential. However, as we look to the future and anticipate the ever more confused and turbulent world in which we will live, I believe it will be essential for all of us to increase our capacity to seek learning by faith. In our personal lives, in our families, and in the Church, we can and will receive the blessings of spiritual strength, direction, and protection as we seek by faith to obtain and apply spiritual knowledge.
Nephi teaches us, “When a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth [the message] unto the hearts of the children of men” (2 Nephi 33:1). Please notice how the power of the Spirit carries the message unto but not necessarily into the heart. A teacher can explain, demonstrate, persuade, and testify, and do so with great spiritual power and effectiveness. Ultimately, however, the content of a message and the witness of the Holy Ghost penetrate into the heart only if a receiver allows them to enter.
Brothers and sisters, learning by faith opens the pathway into the heart. Tonight we will focus upon the individual responsibility each of us has to seek learning by faith. We also will consider the implications of this principle for us as teachers.
The Principle of Action: Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
The Apostle Paul defined faith as “the substance of things hoped for, [and] the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Alma declared that faith is not a perfect knowledge; rather, if we have faith, we “hope for things which are not seen, [but] are true” (Alma 32:21). Additionally, we learn in the Lectures on Faith that faith is “the first principle in revealed religion, and the foundation of all righteousness” and that it is also “the principle of action in all intelligent beings” (Joseph Smith, comp., Lectures on Faith [1985], 1).
These teachings of Paul and of Alma and from the Lectures on Faith highlight three basic elements of faith: (1) faith as the assurance of things hoped for which are true, (2) faith as the evidence of things not seen, and (3) faith as the principle of action in all intelligent beings. I describe these three components of faith in the Savior as simultaneously facing the future, looking to the past, and initiating action in the present.
Faith as the assurance of things hoped for looks to the future. This assurance is founded upon a correct understanding about and trust in God and enables us to “press forward” (2 Nephi 31:20) into uncertain and often challenging situations in the service of the Savior.
For example, Nephi relied upon precisely this type of future-facing spiritual assurance as he returned to Jerusalem to obtain the plates of brass—“not knowing beforehand the things which [he] should do. Nevertheless [he] went forth” (1 Nephi 4:6–7).
Faith in Christ is inextricably tied to and results in hope in Christ for our redemption and exaltation. And assurance and hope make it possible for us to walk to the edge of the light and take a few steps into the darkness—expecting and trusting the light to move and illuminate the way (see Boyd K. Packer, “The Candle of the Lord,” Ensign, Jan. 1983, 54). The combination of assurance and hope initiates action in the present.
Faith as the evidence of things not seen looks to the past and confirms our trust in God and our confidence in the truthfulness of things not seen. We stepped into the darkness with assurance and hope, and we received evidence and confirmation as the light in fact moved and provided the illumination we needed. The witness we obtained after the trial of our faith (see Ether 12:6) is evidence that enlarges and strengthens our assurance.
Assurance, action, and evidence influence each other in an ongoing process. This helix is like a coil, and as it spirals upward it expands and grows wider. These three elements of faith—assurance, action, and evidence—are not separate and discrete; rather, they are interrelated and continuous and cycle upward. And the faith that fuels this ongoing process develops and evolves and changes. As we again turn and face forward toward an uncertain future, assurance leads to action and produces evidence, which further increases assurance. Our confidence waxes stronger, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little.
We find a powerful example of the interaction among assurance, action, and evidence as the children of Israel transported the ark of the covenant under the leadership of Joshua (see Joshua 3:7–17). Recall how the Israelites came to the river Jordan and were promised the waters would part, or “stand upon an heap” (Joshua 3:13), and they would be able to cross over on dry ground. Interestingly, the waters did not part as the children of Israel stood on the banks of the river waiting for something to happen; rather, the soles of their feet were wet before the water parted. The faith of the Israelites was manifested in the fact that they walked into the water before it parted. They walked into the river Jordan with a future-facing assurance of things hoped for. As the Israelites moved forward, the water parted, and as they crossed over on dry land, they looked back and beheld the evidence of things not seen. In this episode, faith as assurance led to action and produced the evidence of things not seen which were true.
True faith is focused in and on the Lord Jesus Christ and always leads to action. Faith as the principle of action is highlighted in many scriptures with which we are all familiar:
“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26; italics added).
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22; italics added). “But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith” (Alma 32:27; italics added). And it is faith as the principle of action that is so central to the process of learning and applying spiritual truth.
Learning by Faith: To Act and Not to Be Acted Upon
How is faith as the principle of action in all intelligent beings related to gospel learning? And what does it mean to seek learning by faith?
In the grand division of all of God’s creations, there are things to act and things to be acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:13–14). As sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, we have been blessed with the gift of agency—the capacity and power of independent action. Endowed with agency, we are agents, and we primarily are to act and not only to be acted upon— especially as we seek to obtain and apply spiritual knowledge.
Learning by faith and from experience are two of the central features of the Father’s plan of happiness. The Savior preserved moral agency through the Atonement and made it possible for us to act and to learn by faith. Lucifer’s rebellion against the plan sought to destroy the agency of man, and his intent was that we as learners would only be acted upon.
Consider the question posed by Heavenly Father to Adam in the Garden of Eden, “Where art thou?” (Genesis 3:9). Obviously the Father knew where Adam was hiding, but He, nonetheless, asked the question. Why? A wise and loving Father enabled His child to act in the learning process and not merely be acted upon. There was no one-way lecture to a disobedient child, as perhaps many of us might be inclined to deliver. Rather, the Father helped Adam as a learner to act as an agent and appropriately exercise his agency.
Recall how Nephi desired to know about the things his father, Lehi, had seen in the vision of the tree of life. Interestingly, the Spirit of the Lord begins the tutorial with Nephi by asking the following question, “Behold, what desirest thou?” (1 Nephi 11:2). Clearly the Spirit knew what Nephi desired. So why ask the question? The Holy Ghost was helping Nephi to act in the learning process and not simply be acted upon. (I encourage you at a later time to study chapters 11–14 in 1 Nephi and notice how the Spirit both asked questions and encouraged Nephi to “look” as active elements in the learning process.)
From these examples we recognize that as learners, you and I are to act and be doers of the word and not simply hearers who are only acted upon. Are you and I agents who act and seek learning by faith, or are we waiting to be taught and acted upon? Are the students we serve acting and seeking to learn by faith, or are they waiting to be taught and acted upon? Are you and I encouraging and helping those whom we serve to seek learning by faith? You and I and our students are to be anxiously engaged in asking, seeking, and knocking (see 3 Nephi 14:7).
A learner exercising agency by acting in accordance with correct principles opens his or her heart to the Holy Ghost—and invites His teaching, testifying power, and confirming witness. Learning by faith requires spiritual, mental, and physical exertion and not just passive reception. It is in the sincerity and consistency of our faith-inspired action that we indicate to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, our willingness to learn and receive instruction from the Holy Ghost. Thus, learning by faith involves the exercise of moral agency to act upon the assurance of things hoped for and invites the evidence of things not seen from the only true teacher, the Spirit of the Lord.
Consider how missionaries help investigators to learn by faith. Making and keeping spiritual commitments, such as studying and praying about the Book of Mormon, attending Church meetings, and keeping the commandments, require an investigator to exercise faith and to act. One of the fundamental roles of a missionary is to help an investigator make and honor commitments—to act and learn by faith. Teaching, exhorting, and explaining, as important as they are, can never convey to an investigator a witness of the truthfulness of the restored gospel. Only as an investigator’s faith initiates action and opens the pathway to the heart can the Holy Ghost deliver a confirming witness. Missionaries obviously must learn to teach by the power of the Spirit. Of equal importance, however, is the responsibility missionaries have to help investigators learn by faith.
The learning I am describing reaches far beyond mere cognitive comprehension and the retaining and recalling of information. The type of learning about which I am speaking causes us to put off the natural man (see Mosiah 3:19), to change our hearts (see Mosiah 5:2), and to be converted unto the Lord and to never fall away (see Alma 23:6). Learning by faith requires both “the heart and a willing mind” (D&C 64:34). Learning by faith is the result of the Holy Ghost carrying the power of the word of God both unto and into the heart. Learning by faith cannot be transferred from an instructor to a student through a lecture, a demonstration, or an experiential exercise; rather, a student must exercise faith and act in order to obtain the knowledge for himself or herself.
The young boy Joseph Smith instinctively understood what it meant to seek learning by faith. One of the most well-known episodes in the life of Joseph Smith was his reading of verses about prayer and faith in the book of James in the New Testament (see James 1:5–6). This text inspired Joseph to retire to a grove of trees near his home to pray and to seek for spiritual knowledge. Please note the questions Joseph had formulated in his mind and felt in his heart—and which he took into the grove. He clearly had prepared himself to “ask in faith” (James 1:6) and to act.
“In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it? . . .
“My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right . . . and which I should join” (Joseph Smith—History 1:10, 18).
Notice that Joseph’s questions focused not just on what he needed to know but also on what he needed to do. And his very first question centered on action and what was to be done! His prayer was not simply which church is right. His question was which church should he join. Joseph went to the grove to learn by faith. He was determined to act.
Ultimately, the responsibility to learn by faith and apply spiritual truth rests upon each of us individually. This is an increasingly serious and important responsibility in the world in which we do now and will yet live. What, how, and when we learn is supported by— but is not dependent upon—an instructor, a method of presentation, or a specific topic or lesson format.
Truly, one of the great challenges of mortality is to seek learning by faith. The Prophet Joseph Smith best summarizes the learning process and outcomes I am attempting to describe. In response to a request by the Twelve Apostles for instruction, Joseph taught, “The best way to obtain truth and wisdom is not to ask it from books, but to go to God in prayer, and obtain divine teaching” (History of the Church, 4:425).
And on another occasion, the Prophet Joseph explained that “reading the experience of others, or the revelation given to them, can never give us a comprehensive view of our condition and true relation to God” (History of the Church, 6:50).
Implications for Us as Teachers
The truths about learning by faith we have discussed thus far have profound implications for us as teachers. Let us now consider together three of these implications.
Implication 1. The Holy Ghost is the only true teacher.
The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead, and He is the teacher and witness of all truth. Elder James E. Talmage explained: “The office of the Holy Ghost in His ministrations among men is described in scripture. He is a teacher sent from the Father; and unto those who are entitled to His tuition He will reveal all things necessary for the soul’s advancement” (The Articles of Faith, 12th ed. [1924], 162).
We should always remember that the Holy Ghost is the teacher who, through proper invitation, can enter into a learner’s heart. Indeed, you and I have the responsibility to preach the gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter, as a prerequisite for the learning by faith that can be achieved only by and through the Holy Ghost (see D&C 50:14). In this regard, you and I are much like the long, thin strands of glass used to create the fiber-optic cables through which light signals are transmitted over very long distances. Just as the glass in these cables must be pure to conduct the light efficiently and effectively, so we should become and remain worthy conduits through whom the Spirit of the Lord can operate.
But brothers and sisters, we must be careful to remember in our service that we are conduits and channels; we are not the light. “For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you” (Matthew 10:20). It is never about me and it is never about you. In fact, anything you or I do as an instructor that knowingly and intentionally draws attention to self—in the messages we present, in the methods we use, or in our personal demeanor—is a form of priestcraft that inhibits the teaching effectiveness of the Holy Ghost. “Doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? And if it be by some other way it is not of God” (D&C 50:17–18).
Implication 2. We are most effective as instructors when we encourage and facilitate learning by faith.
We are all familiar with the adage that giving a man a fish feeds him for one meal. Teaching the man to fish, on the other hand, feeds him for a lifetime. As gospel instructors, you and I are not in the business of distributing fish; rather, our work is to help individuals learn to “fish” and to become spiritually self-reliant. This important objective is best accomplished as we encourage and facilitate learners acting in accordance with correct principles—as we help them to learn by doing. “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God” (John 7:17).
Please notice this implication in practice in the counsel given to Junius F. Wells by Brigham Young as Brother Wells was called in 1875 to organize the young men of the Church:
“At your meetings you should begin at the top of the roll and call upon as many members as there is time for to bear their testimonies and at the next meeting begin where you left off and call upon others, so that all shall take part and get into the practice of standing up and saying something. Many may think they haven’t any testimony to bear, but get them to stand up and they will find the Lord will give them utterance to many truths they had not thought of before. More people have obtained a testimony while standing up trying to bear it than down on their knees praying for it” (in Junius F. Wells, “Historic Sketch of the YMMIA,” Improvement Era, June 1925, 715).
President Boyd K. Packer has given similar counsel in our day:
“Oh, if I could teach you this one principle. A testimony is to be found in the bearing of it! Somewhere in your quest for spiritual knowledge, there is that ‘leap of faith,’ as the philosophers call it. It is the moment when you have gone to the edge of the light and stepped into the darkness to discover that the way is lighted ahead for just a footstep or two. ‘The spirit of man, ‘ as the scripture says, indeed ‘is the candle of the Lord.’ (Prov. 20:27.)
“It is one thing to receive a witness from what you have read or what another has said; and that is a necessary beginning. It is quite another to have the Spirit confirm to you in your bosom that what you have testified is true. Can you not see that it will be supplied as you share it? As you give that which you have, there is a replacement, with increase!” (Ensign, Jan. 1983, 54–55).
I have observed a common characteristic among the instructors who have had the greatest influence in my life. They have helped me to seek learning by faith. They refused to give me easy answers to hard questions. In fact, they did not give me any answers at all. Rather, they pointed the way and helped me take the steps to find my own answers. I certainly did not always appreciate this approach, but experience has enabled me to understand that an answer given by another person usually is not remembered for very long, if remembered at all. But an answer we discover or obtain through the exercise of faith, typically, is retained for a lifetime. The most important learnings of life are caught—not taught.
The spiritual understanding you and I have been blessed to receive, and which has been confirmed as true in our hearts, simply cannot be given to another person. The tuition of diligence and learning by faith must be paid to obtain and personally “own” such knowledge. Only in this way can what is known in the mind be transformed into what is felt in the heart. Only in this way can a person move beyond relying upon the spiritual knowledge and experience of others and claim those blessings for himself or herself. Only in this way can we be spiritually prepared for what is coming. We are to “seek learning, even by study and also by faith” (D&C 88:118).
Implication 3. An instructor’s faith is strengthened as he or she helps others seek learning by faith.
The Holy Ghost, who can “teach [us] all things, and bring all things to [our] remembrance” (John 14:26), is eager to help us learn as we act and exercise faith in Jesus Christ. Interestingly, this divine learning assistance is perhaps never more apparent than when we are teaching, either at home or in Church assignments. As Paul made clear to the Romans, “Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?” (Romans 2:21).
Please notice in the following verses from the Doctrine and Covenants how teaching diligently invites heavenly grace and instruction:
“And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom.
“Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand” (D&C 88:77–78; italics added).
Consider that the blessings described in these scriptures are intended specifically for the teacher: “Teach . . . diligently and my grace shall attend you”—that you, the teacher, may be instructed!
The same principle is evident in verse 122 from the same section of the Doctrine and Covenants:
“Appoint among yourselves a teacher, and let not all be spokesmen at once; but let one speak at a time and let all listen unto his sayings, that when all have spoken that all may be edified of all, and that every man may have an equal privilege” (D&C 88:122; italics added).
As all speak and as all listen in a dignified and orderly way, all are edified. The individual and collective exercise of faith in the Savior invites instruction and strength from the Spirit of the Lord.
Seek Learning by Faith: A Recent Example
All of us were blessed by the challenge from the First Presidency last August to read the Book of Mormon by the end of 2005. In extending the challenge, President Gordon B. Hinckley promised that faithfully observing this simple reading program would bring into our lives and into our homes “an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God” (“A Testimony Vibrant and True,” Ensign, Aug. 2005, 6).
Please note how this inspired challenge is a classic example of learning by faith.
First, you and I were not commanded, coerced, or required to read. Rather, we were invited to exercise our agency as agents and act in accordance with correct principles. President Hinckley, as an inspired teacher, encouraged us to act and not just be acted upon. Each of us, ultimately, had to decide if and how we would respond to the challenge—and if we would endure to the end of the task.
Second, in proffering the invitation to read and to act, President Hinckley was encouraging each of us to seek learning by faith. No new study materials were distributed to members of the Church, and no additional lessons, classes, or programs were created by the Church. Each of us had our copy of the Book of Mormon—and a pathway into our heart opened wider through the exercise of our faith in the Savior as we responded to the First Presidency challenge. Thus, we were prepared to receive instruction from the only true teacher, the Holy Ghost.
In recent weeks I have been greatly impressed by the testimonies of so many members concerning their recent experiences reading the Book of Mormon. Important and timely spiritual lessons have been learned, lives have been changed for the better, and the promised blessings have been received. The Book of Mormon, a willing heart, and the Holy Ghost—it really is that simple. My faith and the faith of the other Brethren have been strengthened as we have responded to President Hinckley’s invitation and as we have observed so many of you acting and learning by faith.
As I stated earlier, the responsibility to seek learning by faith rests upon each of us individually, and this obligation will become increasingly important as the world in which we live grows more confused and troubled. Learning by faith is essential to our personal spiritual development and for the growth of the Church in these latter days. May each of us truly hunger and thirst after righteousness and be filled with the Holy Ghost (see 3 Nephi 12:6)—that we might seek learning by faith.
I witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Only Begotten Son of the Eternal Father. He is our Savior and Redeemer. I testify that as we learn of Him, listen to His words, and walk in the meekness of His Spirit (see D&C 19:23), we will be blessed with spiritual strength, protection, and peace.
As a servant of the Lord, I invoke this blessing upon each of you: even that your desire and capacity to seek learning by faith—and to appropriately help others to seek learning by faith—will increase and improve. This blessing will be a source of great treasures of spiritual knowledge in your personal life, for your family, and to those whom you instruct and serve. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Elder David A. Bednar-Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
I express my love to and for you—and the gratitude of the Brethren for the righteous influence you have upon the youth of the Church throughout the world. Thank you for blessing and strengthening the rising generation.
I pray that the Holy Ghost will bless and edify us as we share this special time together.
Companion Principles: Preaching by the Spirit and Learning by Faith
We are admonished repeatedly in the scriptures to preach the truths of the gospel by the power of the Spirit (see D&C 50:14). I believe the vast majority of us as parents and teachers in the Church are aware of this principle and generally strive appropriately to apply it. As important as this principle is, however, it is only one element of a much larger spiritual pattern. We also frequently are taught to seek learning by faith (see D&C 88:118). Preaching by the spirit and learning by faith are companion principles that we should strive to understand and apply concurrently and consistently.
I suspect we emphasize and know much more about a teacher teaching by the Spirit than we do about a learner learning by faith. Clearly, the principles and processes of both teaching and learning are spiritually essential. However, as we look to the future and anticipate the ever more confused and turbulent world in which we will live, I believe it will be essential for all of us to increase our capacity to seek learning by faith. In our personal lives, in our families, and in the Church, we can and will receive the blessings of spiritual strength, direction, and protection as we seek by faith to obtain and apply spiritual knowledge.
Nephi teaches us, “When a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth [the message] unto the hearts of the children of men” (2 Nephi 33:1). Please notice how the power of the Spirit carries the message unto but not necessarily into the heart. A teacher can explain, demonstrate, persuade, and testify, and do so with great spiritual power and effectiveness. Ultimately, however, the content of a message and the witness of the Holy Ghost penetrate into the heart only if a receiver allows them to enter.
Brothers and sisters, learning by faith opens the pathway into the heart. Tonight we will focus upon the individual responsibility each of us has to seek learning by faith. We also will consider the implications of this principle for us as teachers.
The Principle of Action: Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
The Apostle Paul defined faith as “the substance of things hoped for, [and] the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Alma declared that faith is not a perfect knowledge; rather, if we have faith, we “hope for things which are not seen, [but] are true” (Alma 32:21). Additionally, we learn in the Lectures on Faith that faith is “the first principle in revealed religion, and the foundation of all righteousness” and that it is also “the principle of action in all intelligent beings” (Joseph Smith, comp., Lectures on Faith [1985], 1).
These teachings of Paul and of Alma and from the Lectures on Faith highlight three basic elements of faith: (1) faith as the assurance of things hoped for which are true, (2) faith as the evidence of things not seen, and (3) faith as the principle of action in all intelligent beings. I describe these three components of faith in the Savior as simultaneously facing the future, looking to the past, and initiating action in the present.
Faith as the assurance of things hoped for looks to the future. This assurance is founded upon a correct understanding about and trust in God and enables us to “press forward” (2 Nephi 31:20) into uncertain and often challenging situations in the service of the Savior.
For example, Nephi relied upon precisely this type of future-facing spiritual assurance as he returned to Jerusalem to obtain the plates of brass—“not knowing beforehand the things which [he] should do. Nevertheless [he] went forth” (1 Nephi 4:6–7).
Faith in Christ is inextricably tied to and results in hope in Christ for our redemption and exaltation. And assurance and hope make it possible for us to walk to the edge of the light and take a few steps into the darkness—expecting and trusting the light to move and illuminate the way (see Boyd K. Packer, “The Candle of the Lord,” Ensign, Jan. 1983, 54). The combination of assurance and hope initiates action in the present.
Faith as the evidence of things not seen looks to the past and confirms our trust in God and our confidence in the truthfulness of things not seen. We stepped into the darkness with assurance and hope, and we received evidence and confirmation as the light in fact moved and provided the illumination we needed. The witness we obtained after the trial of our faith (see Ether 12:6) is evidence that enlarges and strengthens our assurance.
Assurance, action, and evidence influence each other in an ongoing process. This helix is like a coil, and as it spirals upward it expands and grows wider. These three elements of faith—assurance, action, and evidence—are not separate and discrete; rather, they are interrelated and continuous and cycle upward. And the faith that fuels this ongoing process develops and evolves and changes. As we again turn and face forward toward an uncertain future, assurance leads to action and produces evidence, which further increases assurance. Our confidence waxes stronger, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little.
We find a powerful example of the interaction among assurance, action, and evidence as the children of Israel transported the ark of the covenant under the leadership of Joshua (see Joshua 3:7–17). Recall how the Israelites came to the river Jordan and were promised the waters would part, or “stand upon an heap” (Joshua 3:13), and they would be able to cross over on dry ground. Interestingly, the waters did not part as the children of Israel stood on the banks of the river waiting for something to happen; rather, the soles of their feet were wet before the water parted. The faith of the Israelites was manifested in the fact that they walked into the water before it parted. They walked into the river Jordan with a future-facing assurance of things hoped for. As the Israelites moved forward, the water parted, and as they crossed over on dry land, they looked back and beheld the evidence of things not seen. In this episode, faith as assurance led to action and produced the evidence of things not seen which were true.
True faith is focused in and on the Lord Jesus Christ and always leads to action. Faith as the principle of action is highlighted in many scriptures with which we are all familiar:
“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26; italics added).
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22; italics added). “But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith” (Alma 32:27; italics added). And it is faith as the principle of action that is so central to the process of learning and applying spiritual truth.
Learning by Faith: To Act and Not to Be Acted Upon
How is faith as the principle of action in all intelligent beings related to gospel learning? And what does it mean to seek learning by faith?
In the grand division of all of God’s creations, there are things to act and things to be acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:13–14). As sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, we have been blessed with the gift of agency—the capacity and power of independent action. Endowed with agency, we are agents, and we primarily are to act and not only to be acted upon— especially as we seek to obtain and apply spiritual knowledge.
Learning by faith and from experience are two of the central features of the Father’s plan of happiness. The Savior preserved moral agency through the Atonement and made it possible for us to act and to learn by faith. Lucifer’s rebellion against the plan sought to destroy the agency of man, and his intent was that we as learners would only be acted upon.
Consider the question posed by Heavenly Father to Adam in the Garden of Eden, “Where art thou?” (Genesis 3:9). Obviously the Father knew where Adam was hiding, but He, nonetheless, asked the question. Why? A wise and loving Father enabled His child to act in the learning process and not merely be acted upon. There was no one-way lecture to a disobedient child, as perhaps many of us might be inclined to deliver. Rather, the Father helped Adam as a learner to act as an agent and appropriately exercise his agency.
Recall how Nephi desired to know about the things his father, Lehi, had seen in the vision of the tree of life. Interestingly, the Spirit of the Lord begins the tutorial with Nephi by asking the following question, “Behold, what desirest thou?” (1 Nephi 11:2). Clearly the Spirit knew what Nephi desired. So why ask the question? The Holy Ghost was helping Nephi to act in the learning process and not simply be acted upon. (I encourage you at a later time to study chapters 11–14 in 1 Nephi and notice how the Spirit both asked questions and encouraged Nephi to “look” as active elements in the learning process.)
From these examples we recognize that as learners, you and I are to act and be doers of the word and not simply hearers who are only acted upon. Are you and I agents who act and seek learning by faith, or are we waiting to be taught and acted upon? Are the students we serve acting and seeking to learn by faith, or are they waiting to be taught and acted upon? Are you and I encouraging and helping those whom we serve to seek learning by faith? You and I and our students are to be anxiously engaged in asking, seeking, and knocking (see 3 Nephi 14:7).
A learner exercising agency by acting in accordance with correct principles opens his or her heart to the Holy Ghost—and invites His teaching, testifying power, and confirming witness. Learning by faith requires spiritual, mental, and physical exertion and not just passive reception. It is in the sincerity and consistency of our faith-inspired action that we indicate to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, our willingness to learn and receive instruction from the Holy Ghost. Thus, learning by faith involves the exercise of moral agency to act upon the assurance of things hoped for and invites the evidence of things not seen from the only true teacher, the Spirit of the Lord.
Consider how missionaries help investigators to learn by faith. Making and keeping spiritual commitments, such as studying and praying about the Book of Mormon, attending Church meetings, and keeping the commandments, require an investigator to exercise faith and to act. One of the fundamental roles of a missionary is to help an investigator make and honor commitments—to act and learn by faith. Teaching, exhorting, and explaining, as important as they are, can never convey to an investigator a witness of the truthfulness of the restored gospel. Only as an investigator’s faith initiates action and opens the pathway to the heart can the Holy Ghost deliver a confirming witness. Missionaries obviously must learn to teach by the power of the Spirit. Of equal importance, however, is the responsibility missionaries have to help investigators learn by faith.
The learning I am describing reaches far beyond mere cognitive comprehension and the retaining and recalling of information. The type of learning about which I am speaking causes us to put off the natural man (see Mosiah 3:19), to change our hearts (see Mosiah 5:2), and to be converted unto the Lord and to never fall away (see Alma 23:6). Learning by faith requires both “the heart and a willing mind” (D&C 64:34). Learning by faith is the result of the Holy Ghost carrying the power of the word of God both unto and into the heart. Learning by faith cannot be transferred from an instructor to a student through a lecture, a demonstration, or an experiential exercise; rather, a student must exercise faith and act in order to obtain the knowledge for himself or herself.
The young boy Joseph Smith instinctively understood what it meant to seek learning by faith. One of the most well-known episodes in the life of Joseph Smith was his reading of verses about prayer and faith in the book of James in the New Testament (see James 1:5–6). This text inspired Joseph to retire to a grove of trees near his home to pray and to seek for spiritual knowledge. Please note the questions Joseph had formulated in his mind and felt in his heart—and which he took into the grove. He clearly had prepared himself to “ask in faith” (James 1:6) and to act.
“In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it? . . .
“My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right . . . and which I should join” (Joseph Smith—History 1:10, 18).
Notice that Joseph’s questions focused not just on what he needed to know but also on what he needed to do. And his very first question centered on action and what was to be done! His prayer was not simply which church is right. His question was which church should he join. Joseph went to the grove to learn by faith. He was determined to act.
Ultimately, the responsibility to learn by faith and apply spiritual truth rests upon each of us individually. This is an increasingly serious and important responsibility in the world in which we do now and will yet live. What, how, and when we learn is supported by— but is not dependent upon—an instructor, a method of presentation, or a specific topic or lesson format.
Truly, one of the great challenges of mortality is to seek learning by faith. The Prophet Joseph Smith best summarizes the learning process and outcomes I am attempting to describe. In response to a request by the Twelve Apostles for instruction, Joseph taught, “The best way to obtain truth and wisdom is not to ask it from books, but to go to God in prayer, and obtain divine teaching” (History of the Church, 4:425).
And on another occasion, the Prophet Joseph explained that “reading the experience of others, or the revelation given to them, can never give us a comprehensive view of our condition and true relation to God” (History of the Church, 6:50).
Implications for Us as Teachers
The truths about learning by faith we have discussed thus far have profound implications for us as teachers. Let us now consider together three of these implications.
Implication 1. The Holy Ghost is the only true teacher.
The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead, and He is the teacher and witness of all truth. Elder James E. Talmage explained: “The office of the Holy Ghost in His ministrations among men is described in scripture. He is a teacher sent from the Father; and unto those who are entitled to His tuition He will reveal all things necessary for the soul’s advancement” (The Articles of Faith, 12th ed. [1924], 162).
We should always remember that the Holy Ghost is the teacher who, through proper invitation, can enter into a learner’s heart. Indeed, you and I have the responsibility to preach the gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter, as a prerequisite for the learning by faith that can be achieved only by and through the Holy Ghost (see D&C 50:14). In this regard, you and I are much like the long, thin strands of glass used to create the fiber-optic cables through which light signals are transmitted over very long distances. Just as the glass in these cables must be pure to conduct the light efficiently and effectively, so we should become and remain worthy conduits through whom the Spirit of the Lord can operate.
But brothers and sisters, we must be careful to remember in our service that we are conduits and channels; we are not the light. “For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you” (Matthew 10:20). It is never about me and it is never about you. In fact, anything you or I do as an instructor that knowingly and intentionally draws attention to self—in the messages we present, in the methods we use, or in our personal demeanor—is a form of priestcraft that inhibits the teaching effectiveness of the Holy Ghost. “Doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? And if it be by some other way it is not of God” (D&C 50:17–18).
Implication 2. We are most effective as instructors when we encourage and facilitate learning by faith.
We are all familiar with the adage that giving a man a fish feeds him for one meal. Teaching the man to fish, on the other hand, feeds him for a lifetime. As gospel instructors, you and I are not in the business of distributing fish; rather, our work is to help individuals learn to “fish” and to become spiritually self-reliant. This important objective is best accomplished as we encourage and facilitate learners acting in accordance with correct principles—as we help them to learn by doing. “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God” (John 7:17).
Please notice this implication in practice in the counsel given to Junius F. Wells by Brigham Young as Brother Wells was called in 1875 to organize the young men of the Church:
“At your meetings you should begin at the top of the roll and call upon as many members as there is time for to bear their testimonies and at the next meeting begin where you left off and call upon others, so that all shall take part and get into the practice of standing up and saying something. Many may think they haven’t any testimony to bear, but get them to stand up and they will find the Lord will give them utterance to many truths they had not thought of before. More people have obtained a testimony while standing up trying to bear it than down on their knees praying for it” (in Junius F. Wells, “Historic Sketch of the YMMIA,” Improvement Era, June 1925, 715).
President Boyd K. Packer has given similar counsel in our day:
“Oh, if I could teach you this one principle. A testimony is to be found in the bearing of it! Somewhere in your quest for spiritual knowledge, there is that ‘leap of faith,’ as the philosophers call it. It is the moment when you have gone to the edge of the light and stepped into the darkness to discover that the way is lighted ahead for just a footstep or two. ‘The spirit of man, ‘ as the scripture says, indeed ‘is the candle of the Lord.’ (Prov. 20:27.)
“It is one thing to receive a witness from what you have read or what another has said; and that is a necessary beginning. It is quite another to have the Spirit confirm to you in your bosom that what you have testified is true. Can you not see that it will be supplied as you share it? As you give that which you have, there is a replacement, with increase!” (Ensign, Jan. 1983, 54–55).
I have observed a common characteristic among the instructors who have had the greatest influence in my life. They have helped me to seek learning by faith. They refused to give me easy answers to hard questions. In fact, they did not give me any answers at all. Rather, they pointed the way and helped me take the steps to find my own answers. I certainly did not always appreciate this approach, but experience has enabled me to understand that an answer given by another person usually is not remembered for very long, if remembered at all. But an answer we discover or obtain through the exercise of faith, typically, is retained for a lifetime. The most important learnings of life are caught—not taught.
The spiritual understanding you and I have been blessed to receive, and which has been confirmed as true in our hearts, simply cannot be given to another person. The tuition of diligence and learning by faith must be paid to obtain and personally “own” such knowledge. Only in this way can what is known in the mind be transformed into what is felt in the heart. Only in this way can a person move beyond relying upon the spiritual knowledge and experience of others and claim those blessings for himself or herself. Only in this way can we be spiritually prepared for what is coming. We are to “seek learning, even by study and also by faith” (D&C 88:118).
Implication 3. An instructor’s faith is strengthened as he or she helps others seek learning by faith.
The Holy Ghost, who can “teach [us] all things, and bring all things to [our] remembrance” (John 14:26), is eager to help us learn as we act and exercise faith in Jesus Christ. Interestingly, this divine learning assistance is perhaps never more apparent than when we are teaching, either at home or in Church assignments. As Paul made clear to the Romans, “Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?” (Romans 2:21).
Please notice in the following verses from the Doctrine and Covenants how teaching diligently invites heavenly grace and instruction:
“And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom.
“Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand” (D&C 88:77–78; italics added).
Consider that the blessings described in these scriptures are intended specifically for the teacher: “Teach . . . diligently and my grace shall attend you”—that you, the teacher, may be instructed!
The same principle is evident in verse 122 from the same section of the Doctrine and Covenants:
“Appoint among yourselves a teacher, and let not all be spokesmen at once; but let one speak at a time and let all listen unto his sayings, that when all have spoken that all may be edified of all, and that every man may have an equal privilege” (D&C 88:122; italics added).
As all speak and as all listen in a dignified and orderly way, all are edified. The individual and collective exercise of faith in the Savior invites instruction and strength from the Spirit of the Lord.
Seek Learning by Faith: A Recent Example
All of us were blessed by the challenge from the First Presidency last August to read the Book of Mormon by the end of 2005. In extending the challenge, President Gordon B. Hinckley promised that faithfully observing this simple reading program would bring into our lives and into our homes “an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God” (“A Testimony Vibrant and True,” Ensign, Aug. 2005, 6).
Please note how this inspired challenge is a classic example of learning by faith.
First, you and I were not commanded, coerced, or required to read. Rather, we were invited to exercise our agency as agents and act in accordance with correct principles. President Hinckley, as an inspired teacher, encouraged us to act and not just be acted upon. Each of us, ultimately, had to decide if and how we would respond to the challenge—and if we would endure to the end of the task.
Second, in proffering the invitation to read and to act, President Hinckley was encouraging each of us to seek learning by faith. No new study materials were distributed to members of the Church, and no additional lessons, classes, or programs were created by the Church. Each of us had our copy of the Book of Mormon—and a pathway into our heart opened wider through the exercise of our faith in the Savior as we responded to the First Presidency challenge. Thus, we were prepared to receive instruction from the only true teacher, the Holy Ghost.
In recent weeks I have been greatly impressed by the testimonies of so many members concerning their recent experiences reading the Book of Mormon. Important and timely spiritual lessons have been learned, lives have been changed for the better, and the promised blessings have been received. The Book of Mormon, a willing heart, and the Holy Ghost—it really is that simple. My faith and the faith of the other Brethren have been strengthened as we have responded to President Hinckley’s invitation and as we have observed so many of you acting and learning by faith.
As I stated earlier, the responsibility to seek learning by faith rests upon each of us individually, and this obligation will become increasingly important as the world in which we live grows more confused and troubled. Learning by faith is essential to our personal spiritual development and for the growth of the Church in these latter days. May each of us truly hunger and thirst after righteousness and be filled with the Holy Ghost (see 3 Nephi 12:6)—that we might seek learning by faith.
I witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Only Begotten Son of the Eternal Father. He is our Savior and Redeemer. I testify that as we learn of Him, listen to His words, and walk in the meekness of His Spirit (see D&C 19:23), we will be blessed with spiritual strength, protection, and peace.
As a servant of the Lord, I invoke this blessing upon each of you: even that your desire and capacity to seek learning by faith—and to appropriately help others to seek learning by faith—will increase and improve. This blessing will be a source of great treasures of spiritual knowledge in your personal life, for your family, and to those whom you instruct and serve. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Face Perilous Times With Safe Harbors
Face Perilous Times with “Safe Harbors” Says Elder Ronald A. Rasband
by D. Louise Brown
Safe harbors are critical for those facing the buffetings of today’s calamitous environment said Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of Seventy to LDS Business College students during a devotional address delivered Nov. 30, 2005. He explained that his son, returning from a two-year mission to Russia just the day before, had many questions about life, including how to find balance between following the commandments of marrying and starting a family with trying to exist in a worldly environment.
Elder Rasband directed students to Mosiah 2:5-6. There he related the story of how the gathered multitude pitched their tents with the doors facing the temple to hear King Benjamin’s address. “But the sad footnote is found a generation later in Mosiah 26:1,” Elder Rasband said: “Now it came to pass that there were many of the rising generation that could not understand the words of King Benjamin, being little children at the time he spake unto his people; and they did not believe the tradition of their fathers.” Though these families had been there at the temple site, the young children playing in the tents did not understand the message and a generation later, did not accept it, Elder Rasband said. “Do we have reason to be concerned today?” he asked, adding, “You are the rising generation. You are the generation of my children. What about your rising generation? What about your children’s generation? We have reason to be concerned.”
Elder Rasband taught of warnings from prophets, both ancient and modern. He noted that two General Conferences ago, the scripture most often quoted was II Timothy 3:1: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” Verses two through five continue: “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.”
“Did Paul have a vision of our day, or what?” Elder Rasband said, adding, “This is part of the environment the ‘rising generation’ faces every day.” He also noted that Nephi spoke of this same environment in II Nephi 28:20: “For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.” And in D&C 1:17, the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote of the “calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth.”
Elder Rasband acknowledged that facing such an environment could easily cause people to wonder if they should marry and bring children into this world. “Let’s shift now to today’s counsel and comfort,” he said, suggesting that by following the words of the apostles and prophets, students can develop for themselves “four safe harbors.”
Home and family are the first harbor, Elder Rasband said as he explained his gratitude for a childhood where his mother was able to stay at home with the children while his father drove a truck for a living. “Money made no difference in the happiness of a wonderful family. I was grateful and always will be for the home I grew up in,” he said.
Wards and stakes are the second harbor. “The safety net of the ward [or stake] provides a safe harbor environment,” Elder Rasband said. He quoted D&C 115:6: “And that the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth.”
Temples provide the third safe harbor. Elder Rasband noted that in several temple dedicatory prayers, President Gordon B. Hinckley said the temple would shine as a bright light, as “a refuge from the storms and stresses of the world.” He also noted that in Alma 26:5-6, Ammon rejoiced at the thousands of converts who were brought into the fold as “sheaves,” and gathered into “garners,” or temples, for safety. Verse six explains the temple harbor: “Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the storm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them.”
The final harbor is a testimony grounded in the Lord Jesus Christ, Elder Rasband taught. Nephi understood the safety in such a testimony when he wrote in II Nephi 25:23: “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”
“We talk, rejoice and preach so you and your children and grandchildren can know to what source they may look in these perilous times,” Elder Rasband said. He urged, “Go forward with confidence, go forward in an appropriate time to find that eternal companion, and then feel free to bring children into this world, knowing you have these safe harbors of home and family, wards and stakes, temple, and testimony…. Move forward to build and establish this Church. You will be able to bring this rising generation along safely.”
by D. Louise Brown
Safe harbors are critical for those facing the buffetings of today’s calamitous environment said Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of Seventy to LDS Business College students during a devotional address delivered Nov. 30, 2005. He explained that his son, returning from a two-year mission to Russia just the day before, had many questions about life, including how to find balance between following the commandments of marrying and starting a family with trying to exist in a worldly environment.
Elder Rasband directed students to Mosiah 2:5-6. There he related the story of how the gathered multitude pitched their tents with the doors facing the temple to hear King Benjamin’s address. “But the sad footnote is found a generation later in Mosiah 26:1,” Elder Rasband said: “Now it came to pass that there were many of the rising generation that could not understand the words of King Benjamin, being little children at the time he spake unto his people; and they did not believe the tradition of their fathers.” Though these families had been there at the temple site, the young children playing in the tents did not understand the message and a generation later, did not accept it, Elder Rasband said. “Do we have reason to be concerned today?” he asked, adding, “You are the rising generation. You are the generation of my children. What about your rising generation? What about your children’s generation? We have reason to be concerned.”
Elder Rasband taught of warnings from prophets, both ancient and modern. He noted that two General Conferences ago, the scripture most often quoted was II Timothy 3:1: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” Verses two through five continue: “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.”
“Did Paul have a vision of our day, or what?” Elder Rasband said, adding, “This is part of the environment the ‘rising generation’ faces every day.” He also noted that Nephi spoke of this same environment in II Nephi 28:20: “For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.” And in D&C 1:17, the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote of the “calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth.”
Elder Rasband acknowledged that facing such an environment could easily cause people to wonder if they should marry and bring children into this world. “Let’s shift now to today’s counsel and comfort,” he said, suggesting that by following the words of the apostles and prophets, students can develop for themselves “four safe harbors.”
Home and family are the first harbor, Elder Rasband said as he explained his gratitude for a childhood where his mother was able to stay at home with the children while his father drove a truck for a living. “Money made no difference in the happiness of a wonderful family. I was grateful and always will be for the home I grew up in,” he said.
Wards and stakes are the second harbor. “The safety net of the ward [or stake] provides a safe harbor environment,” Elder Rasband said. He quoted D&C 115:6: “And that the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth.”
Temples provide the third safe harbor. Elder Rasband noted that in several temple dedicatory prayers, President Gordon B. Hinckley said the temple would shine as a bright light, as “a refuge from the storms and stresses of the world.” He also noted that in Alma 26:5-6, Ammon rejoiced at the thousands of converts who were brought into the fold as “sheaves,” and gathered into “garners,” or temples, for safety. Verse six explains the temple harbor: “Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the storm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them.”
The final harbor is a testimony grounded in the Lord Jesus Christ, Elder Rasband taught. Nephi understood the safety in such a testimony when he wrote in II Nephi 25:23: “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”
“We talk, rejoice and preach so you and your children and grandchildren can know to what source they may look in these perilous times,” Elder Rasband said. He urged, “Go forward with confidence, go forward in an appropriate time to find that eternal companion, and then feel free to bring children into this world, knowing you have these safe harbors of home and family, wards and stakes, temple, and testimony…. Move forward to build and establish this Church. You will be able to bring this rising generation along safely.”
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
We live in the Days just as the time of Noah: LDS Mormon Prophets and Leaders warn and prepare us-Elder W.Don Lund. Amazing Preparedness video- only 3 minutes. This is truly a beautiful video . It may be the motivation that you need to help you to gain the strength to be prepared spiritually, emotionally and physically.
“Make Thee an Ark”
Elder W. Don LaddOf the Seventy
W. Don Ladd, “‘Make Thee an Ark’,” Ensign, Nov 1994, 28
“There are … so many kinds of voices in the world,” said the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians two thousand years ago (1 Cor. 14:10). They seemed to be troubled by the same conflicting messages we hear today, and it can be frightening when you consider how fragile and fickle the fabric of our society really is.
There have always been strident sounds and discordant voices, and our day is no exception. Every day in the newspapers, over television, in movies and magazines, we are bombarded with violence and immorality clothed in the enticing voices of permissiveness.
In His sermon on the mount, the Master admonished, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matt. 6:34).
Sufficient, indeed, is the evil thereof unto this day in which we live. There seems to be a rising tide of evil, a flood of iniquity spreading throughout the world. Crime and violence are increasing at an alarming rate. Fear openly stalks our streets and invades our homes.
It has been said that you can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements, and many of the ones I see do not speak well of us. Someone said there was a time when movies were rated on how good they were, not on who was allowed to see them.
According to the Book of Mormon, the devil “seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself” (2 Ne. 2:27). The evidence of his handiwork is certainly about us. Elder Richard L. Evans once said, “If we don’t change direction, we will arrive at where we are going” (Richard Evans’ Quote Book, Salt Lake City: Publishers Press, 1971, p. 244).
It is not in idleness that our prophets admonish again and again to strengthen ourselves and our families—to hold family home evenings, to read and study the scriptures, to have daily personal and family prayers, and, to quote our prophet, Howard W. Hunter, to “treat each other with more kindness, more courtesy, more humility and patience and forgiveness” (Ensign, July 1994, p. 4).
The immoral influences of the world are especially destructive to children. But our children, like ourselves, aren’t going to live in a vacuum. They never have and they never will. In all their growing and developing, we can do much to help them, to protect them, and to guide them. But we cannot isolate them from the influences of their own time and generation. There will be times when other voices are in their ears, when other hands are on their shoulders, and when they are away from home.
We would do well, then, while ours is still the strongest influence in their lives, to give them a sure set of standards and a firm foundation of safe and sound principles.
The Lord said to Noah, “Make thee an ark” and “with thee will I establish my covenant” (Gen. 6:14, 18).
“And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him. …
“And Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark” (Gen. 7:5, 23).
We all need to build a personal ark, to fortify ourselves against this rising tide of evil, to protect ourselves and our families against the floodwaters of iniquity around us. And we shouldn’t wait until it starts raining, but prepare in advance. This has been the message of all the prophets in this dispensation, including President Hunter, as well as the prophets of old.
Unfortunately we don’t always heed the clear warnings of our prophets. We coast complacently along until calamity strikes, and then we panic.
When it starts raining, it is too late to begin building the ark. However, we do need to listen to the Lord’s spokesmen. We need to calmly continue to move ahead and to prepare for what will surely come. We need not panic or fear, for if we are prepared, spiritually and temporally, we and our families will survive any flood. Our arks will float on a sea of faith if our works have been steadily and surely preparing for the future.
The key is to accept the invitation of our prophet, whom we sustained this morning, “to live with ever more attention to the life and example of the Lord Jesus Christ, especially the love and hope and compassion He displayed” (Ensign, July 1994, p. 4).
The most important thing we can do—young or old—is develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If we do, we will always be comfortable with ourselves. Any questions of self-esteem and self-worth will diminish, and we will have a quiet confidence that will see us through any trial. And the Savior’s promise to us is “Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world” (D&C 50:41).
Whatever the anxiety or fear or frustration, we have only to remember the Lord’s comforting words to the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Liberty Jail: “My son, peace be unto thy soul” (D&C 121:7). To each of us, He will always be there to say, “My son, my daughter, my child, peace be unto thy soul.”
And in return we should pledge, as did the poet George Herbert:
Sev’n whole dayes, not one in seven, I will praise thee. … Ev’n eternitie is too short To extoll thee. (“Praise [II],” The Works of George Herbert, ed. F. D. Hutchinson, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971, p. 146)
My brothers and sisters, I bear you my witness that Jesus is the Christ, that He indeed overcame the world through His atonement, and that He will always be there to comfort us if we will follow His example and do the will of the Father. And I do so in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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