During
General Conference in April of this year, President Boyd K. Packer gave a talk
titled “The Witness.” He begins by sharing a story about leaving home to serve
in the military during WWII. He says: “I
had left my home in Brigham City, Utah, with only embers of a testimony, and I
felt the need for something more…I wanted a personal testimony of the gospel. I
wanted to know!” He continues by talking about a time when he
left his bunk late at night and knelt to pray
“Almost
mid-sentence it happened. I could not describe to you what happened if I were
determined to do so. It is beyond my power of expression, but it is as clear
today as it was that night more than 65 years ago. I knew it to be a very
private, very individual manifestation. At last I knew for myself.
I knew for a certainty, for it had been given to me. After some time,
I crawled from that bunker and walked, or floated, back to my bed. I spent the
rest of the night in a feeling of joy and awe.
“Far from
thinking I was someone special, I thought that if such a thing came to me, that
it could come to anyone. I still believe that.”
I echo
that sentiment. If I was able to receive the answers I sought, anyone can. And
it’s not just anyone, we can receive personal revelation about anything. It
requires some effort on our part, but it is absolutely worth it. As President
Packer puts it:
“Like most
things of great worth, knowledge which is of eternal value comes only through
personal prayer and pondering. These, joined with fasting and scripture study,
will invite impressions and revelations and the whisperings of the Holy Spirit.
This provides us with instruction from on high as we learn precept upon
precept.”
We are all
unique individuals living unique lives under unique circumstances. No two of us
are in the same situation or at the same point in our lives. Which means no two of us are at the same point in our testimonies or eternal progression, but ALL
of us have some room for improvement. As far as I know, no one in this room has
yet achieved perfection. Some of us may fancy ourselves close, but we’re not
there yet. So we all have some room to learn and grow and we all need the
continued presence of the Holy Ghost in our lives and the promise of
“instruction from on high as we learn precept upon precept.”
Many moons
ago when I was a recent high school grad, I was getting ready to leave for
college in Rexburg and I wasn't totally pumped about it. Aside from the fact
that BYU-Idaho wasn't my first choice of schools, I just wasn't really feeling
like I was ready to be there. As the summer wore on, it just got worse. I wasn't nervous about starting college per say, I wasn't nervous about classes
or professors, or living on my own, I was nervous because I had somehow convinced
myself that I would get there and find out that everybody on campus had more
gospel knowledge and a stronger testimony than me. I grew up in the church, I
had always been active, I was really good at scripture mastery, and looking
back, I think I probably did have a testimony, but I think I was kind of
waiting for a big a-ha moment. Like, something big would happen and then
suddenly—TA-DA! Testimony! So I spent an inordinate amount feeling really
inadequate until I realized that gaining a testimony is not an event, but a
process.
As we
proceed along those unique paths through this life, we will have the
opportunity to learn and grow and build our testimonies as we seek to be more
like our Savior, Jesus Christ, and our Father in Heaven. In order to become
more like them, we must come to know them.
I think
it’s pretty amazing that of all the other titles He could have used, God chose
to be called Father.
And we aren't told just once, but multiple times. I was thinking about a story
found in Moses chapter 1. Moses is “caught up in an exceedingly high mountain
(Moses 1:1-8)” where he is transfigured and is then able to see God face to
face. God calls Moses by name and
repeatedly refers to him as “my son.” So Moses has this incredible experience
where he sees and is told many things, but at pretty regular intervals in the
conversation he is reminded that he is a son of God.
We too are
reminded over and over again. I mean, we don’t have the same experience (we’re
not often transfigured) but we are reminded that we are children of God. It is
in the scriptures we read, it’s in the hymns we sing, it’s in lessons we’re
taught, and it’s in every prayer we utter. We are constantly reminded that He
is our Father and that He loves us. He has clearly defined our relationship to
Him, but it is up to each of us individually to come to an understanding of
that relationship. As we seek to do so, the Holy Ghost will testify of that
truth. We will feel peace, reassurance and comfort in confirmation of the
understanding we seek.
The Holy
Ghost is real. His mission is to testify of truth and righteousness. Our Father
in Heaven loves us and so He has provided a way by which we may know for
ourselves the truths which are contained in the Gospel. The companionship of
the Holy Ghost is just one of the many blessings which we might receive and is
a direct result of our own righteous living. President Packer put it like this:
“The gift
of the Holy Ghost is conferred through an ordinance of the gospel. One with
authority lays his hands on the head of a new member of the Church and says
words such as these: “Receive the Holy Ghost.
“This
ordinance alone does not change us in a noticeable way, but if we listen and
follow the promptings, we will receive the blessing of the Holy Ghost.”
It is
through this blessing that the promise found in Moroni 10:5 is fulfilled
Through
the Holy Ghost, we may know the truth of all things. So it is through the Holy
Ghost that we may come to know and understand our relationship to our Savior,
Jesus Christ. He is the Savior and Redeemer of the world, the Only Begotten of
the Father, our Advocate. He too has many titles, all of which tell us
something about Him, but perhaps more important than those titles, we know His
name—Jesus Christ. It is that name which we promise to take upon ourselves each
week when we partake of the sacrament, and it is that name we use each time we
close our prayers or bear our testimony, it that name that is the only name
given under heaven by which we may be saved. In President Packer’s words:
“Foremost
and underpinning all that we do, anchored throughout the revelations, is the
Lord’s name, which is the authority by which we act in the Church. Every prayer
offered, even by little children, ends in the name of Jesus Christ. Every
blessing, every ordinance, every ordination, every official act is done in the
name of Jesus Christ. It is His Church, and it is named for Him—The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (see D&C 115:4).
“Each of
us must come to our own personal testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. We then
share that testimony with our family and others.”
As we seek
a personal testimony of these things, we will be met by the adversary. It is
his intent to disrupt the work of the Lord and that means he will seek to
disrupt us. If look back on our Moses story…
So, Moses
has all of this revelation and then he is left alone to recover from the
experience. He comes to some conclusions (Moses 1:10-11) and then Satan shows
up. “Moses, son of man, worship me (Moses 1:12). Satan wants to negate
everything Moses has just learned so he tells him the exact opposite.
Does that
seem familiar to anybody else? Satan does not want us to understand or develop
our relationship with our Father in Heaven. He doesn't want us to know our
Savior, Jesus Christ. He doesn't want us to build our testimonies, so when we
have experiences or gain knowledge that would serve that purpose, he swoops in
and tries to cut us off at the knees. I mean, I've never had a face to face conversation with Satan (and I’m totally okay with that), but I have felt the
Spirit and then, almost immediately thereafter, felt as if Satan was attacking
those feelings. Moses has the perfect response to that situation
He
basically looks Satan in the face and says “Who are you? I am a son of God. I
know who He is and I know who I am and I want nothing to do with you. Get thee
hence.”
Again,
I’ve never seen Satan face to face, so I’m not literally going to look him in
the eye and say “get thee hence,” but as we face various temptations (and we
will face them), or feelings of doubt begin to creep in, we must remember who
we really are and who we have chosen to follow. In those situations we can
absolutely respond with a “get thee hence, I know who I am and I want nothing
to do with you.”
President
Packer closes his talk with his testimony:
“I believe
and I am sure that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that He
lives. He is the Only Begotten of the Father, and “by him, and through him, and
of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are
begotten sons and daughters unto God” (D&C 76:24).
I bear my
witness that the Savior lives. I know the Lord. I am His witness. I know
of His great sacrifice and eternal love for all of Heavenly Father’s children.
I bear my special witness in all humility but with absolute certainty”
I would
like to add my own testimony that I know that I am a daughter of God. I know
that He loves me. I know that He sent His Only Begotten Son to take upon
himself the sins and afflictions of the world. I know that my Savior willingly
did so. I know that He willingly suffered and died for me, that I might return
to live with them again and I know that He did the same for each and every one
of God’s children. I know that our Father has sent the Holy Ghost to comfort
and guide us as we learn and grow and try to make our way back to Him. of these
things I am certain and I bear my witness in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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