I gave a talk at church in January. I got to choose my own topic and had lots of time to prepare for it. I really enjoyed reflecting on my experiences with living the gospel.
Talk on obedience and recognizing
light and truth
How do you know what is true? Can you recognize light and truth?
One of the first things that God did in the
creation of the earth was to divide the light from the darkness. “And God said, Let there be light: and there
was light.” We love the light. We love the warmth and light of the sun and
the ability to see. It’s a great feeling. Contrast the darkness and cold and how that
makes you feel. I’m a runner, and I
sometimes have to run in the early morning hours before the sun comes up. As a young girl, I remember running in the
dark with my dad and brother. I stuck
close to my dad because I was afraid of the dark and what I couldn’t see out
there. My heart beat a little faster,
and I got particularly scared about the dogs that barked at us. I still run in the mornings, but I still don’t
like to run in the dark. Sometimes I have to start my run in the dark,
but as the sun comes up it’s so comforting to feel the warmth of the sun and be
able to see my path and surroundings.
I compare this feeling to times of
spiritual light, when we’re filled with warmth, light, and inspiration and the Spirit
clearly lights our path. We know that
God’s word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path (as it says in
Psalms). “The path of the just is as the
shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” (Proverbs 4:18-19)
We know that Jesus Christ is the light
of the world – “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the
world: he that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12) We all have the light of Christ within us,
whether we recognize it or not. It
becomes our objective to seek out and gain as much light and truth that we can
and to share this light with others.
We just got done with Christmas – a
time filled with giving and light and joy.
One of my favorite things about Christmas is the lights. I love sitting there staring at the magical lights
on the tree. We have the tradition of
reading the Christmas story and singing by candlelight, followed by thoughts or
testimonies. The flames from the candles
are mesmerizing in itself, but we are really filled with the light of Christ as
we sing and read about his birth. We
also had the opportunity to participate in the Light the World program – I did
some of the suggested service ideas, and I had some opportunities that just
came up. One of those happened one
morning at the thrift store that gives out shop dollars that you can redeem on
a designated day. I had 10 shop dollars
that I was excited to use AND I remembered which day I needed to use it. I was standing in the line, holding my shop
dollars, excited that I was going to get about $20 worth of items for $10. The guy in front of me was having trouble
getting his debit card to work, and he didn’t have enough cash to pay for his
items. I looked at my shop dollars and
knew I should give it to him, and so I did.
I was a little bit sad to part with my savings, but it felt so good to
help someone else. It really filled me
with light. I noticed that in my efforts
to light the world, I was the one filled with light.
We can easily understand the
difference between physical light and darkness and the way we feel when we
serve. But is recognizing truth always
that easy? The scriptures teach us that
we’re given the Spirit of God to help us discern between truth and error.
Moroni 7 V 15 “…it is given unto you
to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain,
that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark
night. (We can know as clearly as night
and day)
V 16 “…I show unto you the way to
judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in
Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore, ye may know
with a perfect knowledge it is of God.”
The Spirit inspires us to do good
continually and to love and serve God. It
is our source of inspiration and key to our ability to recognize truth.
And with the increasing darkness in
the world, we are warned that we need this guidance even more. President Nelson said, “…In coming days, it will not be
possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and
constant influence of the Holy Ghost.” And he pleads with us to increase our spiritual capacity to receive revelation… Choose to do the spiritual work
required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost and hear the voice of the Spirit
more frequently and more clearly.”
Notice how he says we must choose to do the spiritual work required to
increase our capacity to receive light.
How do we increase our ability to receive light?
One of my favorite stories in the Book
of Mormon is the Brother of Jared and his process of getting light for their
barges to cross the sea. They were given
instructions on how to build the barges and how to have air in them, but weren’t
given instruction for light. The Brother
of Jared had to come up with a plan on his own and ask the Lord for help. He had to DO something, to ACT and show
faith, by preparing stones and bringing them unto the Lord. The Lord did touch
the stones and provided light, not only physically, but also spiritually
rewarded his faith with being able to see Jesus Christ. This experience is symbolic for us in our
spiritual journey. We must also come in
faith unto Christ with our spiritual stones to light our own spiritual vessels.
We may not simply be provided light, but
it is through acting on our faith and on our efforts to obey that we receive
light. The scriptures teach that the
foundation stones are faith, hope, and charity.
Faith and hope are closely related,
but hope is simply a desire for things unseen.
We hope for better days (we can’t see the days ahead), we hope we play
well in a basketball game (we don’t know the result yet), we hope our child
will find the missing shoe, the only one acceptable to wear (we don’t know if they’ll
find it in time…), we hope the kids will do their chores (we don’t know if they
will…). We can always hope. In Alma 32, we read about this desire. “Even if ye can no more desire to believe,
let this desire work in you”. Hope is
simply a desire, but it can become like an anchor, sure and steadfast (Ether
12:4) that creates stillness and peace. “Be
still and know that I am God.” At times
you might feel like hope is all you have.
If that’s all you have at certain moments, cling to it and hold on until
you get the faith or further light and knowledge to move forward. We can also get to a perfect brightness of
hope, which is unwavering and allows us to press forward with a steadfastness
in Christ. This hope leads us to act in
faith.
Faith is a principle of action that leads
us to go and DO something about our hopes and desires. The theme for the youth this year is “Go and
do.” I will go and do the things which
the Lord hath commanded. If we want to
know truth, we must obey. “If any man
will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine” (John 7:17) and “…he that
keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light” (D&C 93:28)
Elder Uchtdorf says, “It is by
obedience that we gather light into our souls.”
Sometimes we just want to hope or
believe, but don’t act on those beliefs.
We just hope light and knowledge will come or pray for a miracle. The Lord does do miraculous things for us,
but sometimes we fail to recognize the help we received. Here’s a personal example of this. One Sunday recently, I started making
rolls. I thought I had enough flour, but
after I’d already started, I realized I needed about 2 cups of flour. Not wanting to run to the store on the
Sabbath day, I thought maybe if I had enough faith, the flour would somehow be
enough, that maybe a miracle would occur.
As I got to the very bottom of the flour, I realized that wasn’t going
to happen. But a quick message to our friends and within about 5 minutes, I had the flour I needed. I was a little bit disappointed that my faith
wasn’t enough to make flour magically appear, but then I stopped and looked at
my dough that was rising and thought, “Wow.
That was really fast Lord. Thanks
for providing.” So many of you are
answers to prayers, ready and willing to help.
How many times do we try to have faith
to do miracles and not recognize how the Lord provided? We may not be able to make our flour
multiply, our sickness or disability go away, get the job or house we want,
have a wayward child return back to the gospel, or whatever other miracle we
want - but the Lord answers our prayers, maybe not in the way we expected or in
our timing, but light and help are on the way and the Lord will provide a way
for what we need and to accomplish His will.
1 Nephi 17:13 the Lord promises, “And I will…be your light in the
wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall
keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye
shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that
ye are led.”
We must continue to press forward in
faith, with a perfect brightness of hope, to be still and know that it is God
that leads and lights our way.
We can’t keep the dark moments from
coming – we all have moments of darkness – feelings of fear, loneliness, grief,
anxiety, or just lost and unsure of the way.
Satan wants us to be in a constant state of darkness. That’s not part of God’s plan, but opposition
is a part of the journey. When I think
back on some moments of darkness in my life, it’s interesting to also see the
presence of light that accompanied my experience or the light that followed
later. Joseph Smith also experienced
darkness just before he saw the bright pillar of light that was God the Father
and Jesus Christ and that opened up the Restoration of the Gospel.
{Experience from my life:
- Before Nathan was born, I had 2
miscarriages. The first one was at the
end of Alex’s 9 week trip to Antarctica.
He was already on the flights home, before we had cell phones, and I had
no way of getting ahold of him. I ended
up going to the hospital, in lots of pain, staying overnight. I had to leave a message on our answering
machine at home for Alex, telling him that I was at the hospital and lost the
baby. Lonely, dark, and painful
night.
However, I was given a priesthood
blessing that night by friends in the ward, which provided a lot of comfort in
hearing the words “after a time of healing, a miracle would occur in our
lives.” Alex and I received comfort and
light again in the temple one year later, when we both felt the spirit confirm
that my current pregnancy would be successful.
Nathan was born about 7.5 months later – our first miracle and gift from
God. Nathan just turned 16 this week,
our oldest of 5 kids. The light surely
followed that first moment of darkness 18 years ago. }
God’s plan involves times of darkness,
but His light and love are always there.
We can choose God’s path and trust in Him and His wisdom, even and
especially during times of darkness, or we can choose our own path without the
Lord’s guidance.
In my patriarchal blessing, it says if
I strive to keep the commandments, I would be blessed with inspiration, wisdom,
understanding, and the necessities of life.
It also says two times to accept and apply the principles of truth in my
life. I have seen this as I have lived the principles and been filled with
light. I recognize principles of truth
in how they lead and inspire me to do good and follow Jesus Christ.
Simply live the gospel and you will
know truth.
Are there certain principles that you
have come to know as true, that have become easy for you to live, that you
don’t really have to think much about it?
Some of these principles for me are:
-
Going to church –
I don’t wake up on Sunday morning and think about whether or not I want to go
to church. I’ve seen the blessings from
it, felt an abundance of the Spirit, and know that’s where I want to be. It’s
not a weekly choice.
-
Tithing
-
Word of Wisdom
-
Attending the
temple
-
Following the
prophet
There are other principles that I have
a testimony of, I have seen the blessings, but I don’t always DO. Examples of these for me are prayer and
scripture study, particularly meaningful time.
Sometimes I just go through the motions.
And then there are principles of the
gospel that are hard. Some examples of
those for me are missionary work and charity.
The principles that I find most challenging involve other people. Other people’s agency and actions affect the
way you feel and can be sources of rejection, pain, or unkind feelings. Relationships
are hard, as well as qualities required like forgiveness and compassion in
those relationships.
Many of you love and serve and magnify
these principles, and I really appreciate the examples and testimony of those
of you who seem to live so many principles well. You motivate and inspire me to do
better.
We all have different challenges,
things that are easy or hard, and at different points in our journey. But that’s okay, we can start wherever we are
and move forward.
Living the gospel is a little like the
conditioning required for running. Of
course, the first thing is having the desire to get out there, to get out of
bed or off the couch. If you have never
run before, or you don’t run for a period of time, it’s hard and painful to get
started. The first time you attempt to
run, you probably will run around the block and come back clutching your sides,
gasping for breath and feeling awful. You’ll probably say, “I’m not a runner. This isn’t for me.” It can take a while to condition your heart
to running. It does get easier.
When you think about principles of the
gospel, do you ever try to live one and essentially give up after the first run
around the block? “Family history is too
hard. I can’t learn how to navigate the
computer.” Or maybe living the word of
wisdom – I don’t know what’s it’s like to break an addiction, but I can imagine
you might give it a try and say, “This isn’t for me. It’s too hard.” Or maybe even just giving a talk in church –
imagining speaking in public might leave you “clutching your sides, gasping for
breath”, saying “Nope. I don’t do public
speaking.”
Once we get the desire and get
started, we have to be consistent in our conditioning. We get more out of running depending on how
much effort we put into it. Once you are
conditioned to running, you can basically be at a maintenance level, where
you’re just coasting, jogging at the same pace for the same distance, without a
lot of effort. If you want to get
better, you have to do something different.
You either have to change your pace or your distance. I have no particular running goals at the
moment – I’m basically at a maintenance level, but I am trying to get my kids
out running with me sometimes and creating some good habits for them. They’re not very excited about it, but
hopefully they’ll thank me later. Depending
on your goals, you might have to do additional things in conjunction with
running. You’ll probably have some
weight loss, but if you want to be firm and tone, you’ll probably have to
target certain areas with strength training or cut out the sodas and junk
food.
Living the gospel, we have to
condition ourselves, our hearts and minds, to do the daily work required to
grow. And if we want to strengthen
ourselves beyond a maintenance level (where we’re just going through the
motions), we have to do something different or put in extra effort. We might have to target certain areas or see what
things we need to change to reach our goals.
This is what President Nelson was talking about when he said we have to
increase our spiritual capacity to receive revelation.
And there may be some people that laugh or
mock you for what you’re doing, wondering why you’re putting in the effort when
you could be sleeping in or sitting on the couch… And while generally people agree that
running is good for you, there may be certain gospel principles where people may
mock you or claim your way is wrong.
I’ve seen how running is good for me
and keeps me trim. If a fitness expert
were to come out and say that running doesn’t really benefit your body and
mind, I’d have to say that my own experience tells me that it does work. Have any “experts” presented information that
claims the church isn’t true? Would you
be able to say that your own experience living the principles has led you to
believe the church is true?
Where are you at in your spiritual journey
or with certain gospel principles? Do
you need to get started? Are you just
going through the motions? Are you going
the extra mile or increasing your spiritual capacity to receive light and
truth? Helping others reach their
goals? Being persecuted for what you’re
doing?
If you want to experience some
persecution, try defending your beliefs on an anti-Church social media post! It’s tough out there, particularly if it’s
people who don’t know you. I was mocked
and ridiculed and told that my religion was false and that Joseph Smith was a
fraud. They listed several criticisms of
church history and prophets and general lack of physical proof. I asked myself the question, “Why do I
continue living my religion when I haven’t seen physical evidence of certain
key things about my religion? Jesus
Christ as one primary example – I haven’t seen him, but I believe those who
have seen him.
I realized that I didn’t need to have
a perfect understanding of the history of the church or principles of the
gospel to recognize truth. Nor did I
have to see physical proof. Living the
principles and seeing the blessings is evidence of truth.
We very much rely on faith and
spiritual inspiration in our knowledge of spiritual things. But that's hard to describe to someone who
doesn’t believe in the Spirit and personal revelation. We also rely on the fruits of the gospel,
particularly with the principles of the restored gospel. For many people, it’s not hard to recognize that
being a good person and loving and serving others is a good thing to do. When you start trying to explain why you
believe someone prayed and saw God the Father and Jesus, then translated a book
from gold plates that we don’t have access to anymore, who introduced some
principles that were hard to live and that we don’t really understand, and that
we still have prophets with authority to speak for God today asking for us to
give our time and talents and our all, and to live like our eternal salvation
is at stake, well then… that’s harder to explain how we know it’s true.
How do you know the principles of the
restored gospel are true?
I realized that it was easier for me
to describe in terms of what would happen if my religion did turn out to be
false. What then? If I got to the end of my life and discovered
that Joseph Smith was not who he claimed to be, that the Book of Mormon wasn't
authentic, and that the church wasn't true...then what? Would I regret living the principles of the
restored gospel? No. If it's not true,
then I don't regret living and receiving the blessings from it. I would still
rejoice in the way it has caused me to live my life, guided my choices, changed
me and given me hope and peace. We
believe, we hope, we endure and seek after good and virtuous things.
Let’s look at some of the light and knowledge
we have as a result of Joseph Smith and the restored gospel.
1 - Joseph Smith claimed to see God the Father and Jesus Christ while praying
for answers. This gives us a better understanding of the nature of God, a hope
that God is real, knows us personally, and answers our prayers. I would rather
go through life with this hope and belief rather than wonder if God exists or
even knows me.
2 - Book of Mormon and other scriptures - Joseph Smith claimed to translate the
Book of Mormon from gold plates. What if he made it up and wrote the book? Then
he wrote a very inspirational book with messages of peace and hope and
teachings of Jesus Christ. It helps me and leads me to do good.
3 - Priesthood authority - If it turns out that Joseph didn't really receive
authority from God, I still won't regret the time thinking about Jesus during
the sacrament, the priesthood blessings of peace and counsel I have received. I
won't regret the time spent in peaceful meditation in temples (that operate
under priesthood authority) or watching families be sealed together. Some of my
most spiritual moments have been experiences in the temple. All of these
ordinances have provided peace, encouragement, guidance, hope, and motivation
to change.
4 - Word of wisdom - provides caution and counsel on what we should take into
our bodies. If it turns out this is not divinely inspired, I won't regret the
freedom from addictive or potentially harmful substances like drugs or alcohol. I have seen the consequences of those who have
abused these and how it affected the lives of others.
5 - Modern-day prophets and continuing
revelation - If it turns out that we don't have true prophets, then I won't
regret listening to the leaders who give inspirational conference messages
twice a year and monthly messages. These leaders also meet regularly and pray
and counsel over guidance for our lives. I have been uplifted and inspired by
their guidance. I also won't regret having a hope that God knows us and wants
us to seek for guidance and answers through personal revelation. If the answers
I have received in my mind and heart aren't actually from God, then the process
of searching and making decisions is still a valuable part of my life. And I feel like I’ve made some pretty good
decisions – one of those being my husband Alex, sitting down there with our 5
children, who I love being a mother for.
Along with continued inspired
revelation comes the other programs and teachings of the church. Weekly family
nights, daily family prayer and scripture study, weekly activities for the kids
and youth and seminary. I love that Nathan goes to study scriptures at 6:30am
before he goes to school. And he WANTS to go, and he said it's to prepare for a
mission.
We also get to participate in Relief
Society, primary, and Elders Quorum, where we learn, teach, serve, and
socialize. We serve in various callings - I get to teach the 3-4 year olds and
Alex is president of the Elder's Quorum.
We get to serve others in their homes, by providing meals or childcare
or being a shoulder to cry on (and have all those things in return - a church
family that loves and supports us).
We give our time and are part of a
church with no paid clergy, but we also take care of each other through tithes
and offerings, through the humanitarian aid and church welfare program, with an
emphasis on self-reliance.
We get opportunities to do hard
things, like singing solos in church, speaking in church, teaching lessons,
serving missions, planning activities, and working in the nursery
If it turns out these programs and
teachings weren't divinely inspired, then we will have spent many hours
serving, learning, loving, and doing hard things that we didn't think we were
capable of doing.
6 - Plan of Salvation - with the
restored gospel comes additional knowledge about who we are and where we are
going, that there is life after death. We have the hope that family
relationships can continue forever. If it turns out that there's no life after
death, then I will have lived a happy life, striving to be the best I could.
But living my life with the hope of a life beyond provides so much more
motivation to develop good relationships now that will continue on after death.
And the loss of loved ones is more bearable with the hope that we will see them
again. I would rather live with the hope of eternal relationships and not until
death do us part. I have faith and hope that God does have a plan for me and my
family. I love being a part of a
religion where Jesus Christ and families are at the center of everything. We have a foundation in Christ who is our
light. The gospel fills us with light
and love of our Savior, who is always there.
These are some of the fruits of the
restored gospel and evidence of truth. Our
religion doesn't claim to be the only source of truth and goodness. I am inspired by the light and goodness of people
of other faiths. Light and truth are
everywhere. But we do need the constant
guidance of the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is a key distinguishing feature
of our church. With this gift, we can
know good from evil as clearly as day from night. As we act on our faith, obey, and live the
gospel, we recognize truth and increase our capacity to receive more light and
truth. How do we get more light?
President Faust said, “Faith is the
power, obedience is the price, love is the motive, the spirit is the key, and
Christ is the reason.”
We love the light. We love the Savior. He is the way, the truth, and the light. May we always walk in the light of His love.
Extra:
I love the lyrics to the youth theme
song for this year:
No matter where I go I know I'm not
alone
I feel my Savior there beside me
He leads me through the night
He's always been my guide
He promised He will never leave me
Though my burdens seem too much to bear He'll bless me
When I feel overcome And all my strength is gone, I think of all the ways He's
blessed me.
My journey may seem long But He'll lift me with His love, A perfect love that's
never ending.
He will give me all the strength I'm needing.
For me to cross the desert, To sail across the ocean, If that's where He sends
me, I'll follow His plan
I'll do whatever He commands me, For I know that He will lead me To the
promised land
I will go and do, I will stand for
truth
Though the world may back away, I will walk right through
I know if I follow Him, Follow Him in Faith, He will ease my burdens And He'll
provide a way
No matter where I go, I know I'm not alone
I feel my Savior there beside me
