Category Archives: Personal Revelation

Spiritual experiences as a foundation for faith

Posted on by

josephplatesI have been intrigued by Blake Ostler’s 2007 FAIR conference presentation entitled, “Spiritual Experiences as the Basis for Belief and Commitment.”  I have read it several times and have decided that Blake is on to something that I would like to develop further.  As you can see I have modified his title a little bit for use in my essay.  I highly recommend you read his essay first.

I’m going to focus on two points he made as he was answering questions towards the end of the presentation.  The first is this: “Memory, and what we do, is changed every time we think about it and remember it.”  The second is this: “All logic is ex post facto to prove what we already feel is true.”  Keep those points in mind as I advance some ideas on my experience with revelation.

Youthful revelatory experiences

Like Blake, I had some remarkable revelatory experiences when I was young that impressed me at the time but have impressed me even more as I have pondered and remembered them over the years.  I have written about them previously, but will list them here to provide some background.  Don’t think that these sacred events were easily obtained or casually absorbed.  They weren’t.

I was taught and believe that we cannot live on borrowed light.  Throughout my Seminary and Institute experience, I must have heard dozens of lessons on how vitally important it is to obtain our own witness of the spirit in order to remain committed to the church and the gospel in later years.  My teachers taught me and the spirit confirmed that I could receive personal revelation.

Foundational spiritual events

The first revelatory experience to which I’ll refer was obtained while I was a student at BYU Idaho.  I was seventeen years old and very immature but very impressed with a testimony I had heard that week from an Apostle of the Lord.  That weekend in my room I prayed fervently for many hours to know for myself that what he had said was true and important for me in my life.

The next impressive spiritual event in the development of my testimony was the next year when I was eighteen years old and preparing myself to serve a mission.  I have also shared this one in a previous essay.  The experience was equally as impressive as the first one though it was perhaps deeper in meaning and implication.  These are part of my early foundational spiritual memories.

Deep impact on my faith

These were not my only youthful revelatory experiences.  I have recorded several others in my journals that came almost unbidden during the years before my mission.  Although I received them as a result of prayer, the effort was not as intense.  In other words, I did not pray for many hours or fast for days to obtain the other experiences.  Nevertheless, they were just as powerful.

Because of these events, I was able to go through the difficult and rigorous experience of serving as a missionary without looking back and wondering why I decided to sacrifice like that for two years.  I had these sacred memories burning in my heart and being added unto with additional everyday assurances from the Lord that I was engaged in his work and that he was appreciative.

Working with imperfect people

Life marches on.  An education is obtained, a marriage is solemnized in the temple, a family is raised and increasing responsibilities in a career and in the church are rewarding and fulfilling.  As sometimes happens, I begin to learn things about my faith, and especially about the people in it that are at first disturbing and then disappointing.  I experience some logical inconsistencies.

Cognitive dissonance can be a painful experience when it includes people from our world who are in authoritative positions.  For example, a beloved bishop from my youth became inactive after he was released.  How could this happen?  He represented the Lord to me in interviews that I held sacred.  He helped me resolve several youthful problems and encouraged me to be faithful.

Imperfections even at high levels

Another bishop from my youth is disciplined after fiscal improprieties in his business dealings are revealed.  I learn of divorces of people whom I admired, some of whom were influential in my youth.  I then begin to learn of difficulties in higher levels of the church – stake presidents who lose their testimonies and announce to their congregations that they are leaving the faith.

A promising general authority is excommunicated for breaking the law of chastity.  I discover that an apostle was excommunicated for this very same reason less than forty years earlier.  How is this possible – a modern apostle excommunicated?  I can understand it happening in the early days of the church but not in our day and age.  These are men of God.  Tell me this wasn’t so!

Sacred things exposed and mocked

I discovered that a former ordinance worker in the temple had recorded the temple ceremony and then published it.  How could he do that?  I hold the temple sacred and have enjoyed so many wonderful experiences there over the years.  What could cause him to lose his faith and reveal something that means so much to me?  Did he never have any spiritual experiences of his own?

From the earliest days of the church there have been those who have not been impressed with the sacred nature of the temple and have exposed things that they have covenanted to keep sacred.  In our day there are those who claim to have received the second anointing and then describe it on the message boards of those who hate the church.  Something’s not right with this picture.

Not all members receive revelation

I used to think that everybody in the church had spiritual experiences similar to those I enjoyed in my youth.  Over the years, I have come to realize that this is not the case.  Can that be true even for those who have served as bishops, stake presidents or even general authorities?  In my opinion, yes – personal experience has shown this to be so.  Not all members receive revelation.

That has been an amazing thing for me to contemplate.  Was I just extremely lucky or blessed to believe that I could receive revelation when I was so young?  Several visitors to my blog over the years have tried to convince me that I did not receive revelation.  They have suggested that what I experienced was a form of self-hypnosis, or simply the effect of a frenzied, emotional state.

Memories can be enlarged

Back to Blake’s two points, memory first.  I have come to realize that although my early spiritual experiences occurred nearly thirty-five years ago, they are clearer in my mind now then when I first experienced them.  The combination of pondering them and writing about them has helped me to understand that there was much more detail in the experiences than what I first thought.

As Blake pointed out in his essay, this helps me to understand why Joseph Smith could recount the same First Vision experience differently in each of the accounts he relates over the years.  I was so focused on determining my own standing before God in my first youthful manifestation that I had overlooked how deeply and powerfully the Lord spoke to me about missionary labors.

How to explain all this

Blake’s second point was that all logic is created to prove what we already feel is true.  I have had prima facia experiences that overrule any logical inconsistencies I have encountered in what I have learned about the history and people of this church as I have studied it in more depth.  In effect, I have not really experienced cognitive dissonance at all because the spiritual trumps logical.

Let me restate that.  My spiritual revelatory experiences with the Holy Ghost early in my life have proven to be so powerful that it seems that no matter what kind of troubling things I may learn about the men who run or have run this church, I feel inoculated and immune to their effect.  My evangelical friends call this “living in the protective Mormon bubble of a testimony.”

Summary and conclusion

My experiences with the Holy Ghost are not going to be the same as yours.  They may be similar or they may be completely different.  For me, these revelatory events in my youth have provided a foundation for my experiences in this church thus far.  I have encountered much imperfection and weakness in the men who run it, but the spiritual witnesses of my life have protected me.

The bottom line is that I continue to believe that the LDS Church is what it claims to be when it was setup through the prophet Joseph Smith in 1830.  The simple fact is that we can know this for ourselves through revelatory encounters with the Holy Ghost.  No matter what negative things I discover, nothing can overcome the strength of that personal witness if I remain worthy.

——————————————————

Note about the illustration: This artist’s conception of Joseph translating the Book of Mormon is one that is highly criticized by some members of the church.  They feel it is disingenuous because it does not show Joseph using the seer stones in the hat.  It also shows the plates in plain view of Oliver which was not the case.  Joseph was not to show them to anyone unless commanded of the Lord.

Mormon visitors from outer space

Posted on by

spiralgalaxyI was looking for a quote today that goes something like this: “The only beings to visit our planet are those who were once inhabitants here”  (Update: Jeremy at the Seerstone provided the scripture as D&C 130:5). My search landed me on an article in the New Era from 1971 by Kent Nielsen.  Like Truman Madsen who just passed away, Dr. Nielsen is an emeritus professor of philosophy from BYU.  The article is entitled, “People on other worlds,” and is still fascinating although it was written almost forty years ago.

After a brief review of the basic cosmological configuration of our planetary neighbors, we are introduced to the simple math calculations used to deduce that we are not alone in our universe.  There are uncountable billions and billions of stars and galaxies throughout space.  If only one star in a million should have inhabitable planets, that would give us over 100,000 systems in our galaxy alone.  Galaxies like ours exist in the billions.  We are not the only life in this universe.

People on other worlds

Even with the advances of science in discovering planets around other suns that conceivably could harbor conditions favorable to human life, we simply have no way of knowing that there are any people out there besides us.  Or do we?  Latter-day Saints have known for over 170 years about the existence of people on other worlds.  In fact, we also know that people from other worlds visit the earth and have been doing so for many years to deliver important messages.

Can you imagine the impact it would have upon civilization if our scientists announced that they have detected an approaching spacecraft from outer space?  How would we be prepared for the visit of extra-terrestrial beings?  I suspect that Latter-day Saints would take it all in stride.  After all, we claim to have been the recipients of such visits for a long time.  No, the visitors did not require the use of a spacecraft to reach our planet.  Their method of travel is currently beyond us.

Prophets taught of other worlds

Brigham Young said, “…there never was a time when there were not Gods and worlds, and men were not passing through the same ordeals that we are now passing through. That course has been from all eternity, and it is and will be to all eternity.”  The Apostle Paul knew that God had created other worlds.  He wrote, “God…hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son…by whom also he made the worlds.”  Moses and Enoch revealed more in the Pearl of Great Price:

The Lord said to Moses, “The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine. And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works.”  Enoch said, “And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations…”  Joseph Smith’s witness is similar.

God created countless worlds

“And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father— That 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.”  What an amazing testimony!  But wait, there’s more.

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man. … he was once a man like us … God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth. …If Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and … God the Father of Jesus Christ had a Father, you may suppose that He had a Father also. … And where was there ever a father without first being a son? … If Jesus had a Father, can we not believe that He had a Father also?”  Now that is deep doctrine!

Purpose of all these worlds

We don’t seem to talk much about this doctrine any more – that God was once a man as we are now.  We tend to focus more on the idea that man can become like God.  We are not alone in this teaching as it gives hope and motivation to many people besides Latter-day Saints who believe it.  But the idea that God was once like us and passed through a period of mortality and testing is a bit much for some people to accept.  President Hinckley even downplayed it in a news interview.

Nevertheless, as far as I know, it remains a basic fundamental doctrine of our church that helps to explain the purpose of life and all the potential inhabitable worlds that have been created.  The worlds were created specifically to provide a home on which the posterity of the Gods could be tested and proven.  Yes, we believe in multiple Gods, but limit our worship to our own Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ his son.  We just do not teach about other Gods in our curriculum today.

Believed but not taught

I have often wondered about this unique way we have of doing things in our church.  There are many things which we believe and are written about in historical sermons of former priesthood leaders.  And yet, we do not include them in what we teach to investigators, new members, or even long-time members for that matter.  However, just like the idea of a mother in heaven we do occasionally sing about our distinctive beliefs.  A favorite hymn contains these words:

“If you could hie to Kolob
In the twinkling of an eye,
And then continue onward
With that same speed to fly,
D’ye think that you could ever,
Through all eternity,
Find out the generation
Where Gods began to be?”

We are Gods in embryo

We are of the race of Gods.  We are of his species.  God looks likes us.  We look like him.  He has two arms, two legs and a head with two eyes, two ears, a nose and a mouth.  As Jesus said, “If ye have seen me, ye have seen the Father.”  We are his sons and daughters and he loves us.  The people who populate the other worlds out there are also his sons and daughters and look just like you and me.  There are no green, bug-eyed monsters.  They are also of the race of Gods.

The people who are out there are in different stages of their existence.  Like us, some are passing through a temporal period.  Others are living in worlds that have been celestialized and yet others inhabit a lower kingdom of glory.  This process of living and dying and being resurrected has been going on forever.  I can’t fathom that with my limited mortal brain but I know it is true.  You and I are a part of that process of seeking to be like God and to inherit a glorious exaltation.

Space travel to the earth

Could a person from outer space ever come to visit the earth?  Any Latter-day Saint knows the answer.  Of course, visitors from outer space can come to earth!  They’ve been doing it for many thousands of years.  God and angels visited Adam.  They visited prophets in the Old Testament and Apostles in the New Testament.  The Book of Mormon has numerous accounts of angelic visitations and of the visit of Jesus Christ to the ancient American people.  It is quite common!

In the spring of 1820, God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ visited the boy prophet Joseph Smith in upstate New York.  Angels came to deliver keys of the priesthoodto Joseph and Oliver in the Kirtland temple in 1836.  In our temporal existence we may not be able to travel to worlds beyond out own solar system but other beings in advanced phases of existence are not so limited.  When Moroni appeared to Joseph, he saw “a conduit open right up into heaven.”  Awesome!

Communication from space

Scientists have been listening for communication from space for years but they have yet to hear anything to indicate intelligent life.  On the other hand, Latter-day Saints are very familiar with the process of receiving messages from outer space, transmitted by means that transcend beyond the normal method of communication.  This is more than a future possibility.  It is a present fact!  Beings from outer space have been making great efforts to communicate with us every day.

They have been sending messages that are filled with wisdom and great intelligence.  These are messages that come from superior beings, who have evolved way beyond our limited mortal capacities to think and to understand. They live in dimensions that we cannot begin to fathom.  But they are willing to share with us knowledge that will transform our lives if we will just listen and apply what they say.  Their intelligence is far beyond ours and yet is beneficent and kind.

They are coming to visit us

What’s even more astounding to realize is that these same intelligent beings will be visiting us very soon.  The millennium is simply a period of time when earthly civilization will be brought under the government of superior beings from another world who will visit earth frequently to direct our affairs.  “Christ and the resurrected Saints will reign over the earth during the thousand year period.  They will not probably dwell upon the earth but will visit it when they please…”

But these beings who come from outer space, or another world, will not be aliens.  They will be our brethren, who have lived upon this earth in mortality.  What’s more, we expect a return of portions of this earth that have been broken off in times past when cataclysmic events sheared off that portion of the earth on which they resided.  First the Ten Tribes, then the City of Enoch and last the portion that contains the Garden of Eden.  Don’t believe it?  Look it up in our history!

Summary and conclusion

The earth has received many visitors from outer space over the years.  They do not come in spaceships and they do not wear spacesuits.  They come from a plane of existence that we can only dream about and not yet comprehend.  These are intelligent and magnificent beings that are glorified and exalted in their appearance and in their character.  They love us.  We are their children and their brethren.  They have come to bring us messages of great joy if we but listen.

Visions of angels and Gods from other worlds are not something that I have experienced but I know such things have occurred.  The influence of these beneficent beings fills the immensity of space and dwells here among us.  These Gods have given us gifts that help us communicate with them.  One of these gifts is the gift of the Holy Ghost.  It is real and is the means by which God reveals truth to the mind and heart of man.  Of this I and millions of others are unique witnesses.

Even a child can understand

Posted on by

As a follow-up to my previous essay about how difficult it is for some people to understand or accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ because they intellectualize it way too much, I offer the following video clip of Elder Gerald Causse. It expresess beautifully how easy it really is to understand the gospel that even a child can understand it.

It reminds me of how much I loved teaching Primary a few years back because of the joy, innocence and simple faith of the 11-year old children I taught. They knew the restored gospel was true because of both the feelings they had and the whisperings of the spirit that accompanied our discussions of the gospel in their language.

You don’t know what you think you know

Posted on by

I know that some of my readers are lawyers, some are philosophers and some are very active apologists of our faith. I know this because I read your blogs and am much impressed by your sound reasoning and logical approach to questions of religion, both doctrinal and practical.

I am not trained in rhetoric, argument or apologetics. I am just your basic, average member of the LDS church who loves his religion and finds great joy in attempting to understand and to practice it better each day of my life. I love the doctrines of salvation and of the restoration.

A common understanding

My blog attracts all kinds of readers: stalwart LDS members of pioneer heritage, enthusiastic recent converts, those who are trying to become more active in the faith, those who are leaving the church and even former members who are very much opposed to the work of the church.

My dialogs with those who are members of the LDS faith or those who are former members all seem to have one thing I can rely on: we are familiar with the idea of the personal testimony and what it means to Mormons as the fundamental basis for our firm commitment to our religion.

A foreign concept to some

But when it comes to dialogs with those who are not of our faith, never have been, and who state that they have no intention of ever becoming LDS, I find myself constantly having to explain how our testimonies color our world and why they are so powerful in driving our daily lives.

I’m beginning to suspect that the ideas of having a testimony, of holding it, feeding it, losing it and regaining it are foreign concepts to my visitors who are not LDS. I wish I could come up with an analogous experience that they would understand so I could compare apples to apples.

Even Ex-Mo’s understand

I mean, even the Ex-Mormons who now mock us and our testimonies know that it is a very basic part of our faith. They know that the whole purpose of Primary, Sunday school, Seminary and just about every meeting we attend is really to strengthen our testimonies of the restored gospel.

They may say they never had one or that they were the victims of mass hypnosis or that they are so over their participation in the church because they got a “real” education when they grew up. But do members of other churches not have a similar experience growing up in their religion?

Too much logic and reason

I’m thinking that everyone has to deal with how they feel about their faith at some time in their life. It can’t all be an intellectual exercise where you learn the doctrines and history, analyze it objectively for reason and then reject every semblance of emotion that may have been involved.

Is discussing religion and understanding theology only about being objective, reasonable and purely logical? How cold and sterile that seems to me. Perhaps avoiding dialog about the subjective feeling experience that makes religion come alive is limited to the male gender.

Feelings, passion and revelation

My most poignant and revelatory prayers are those that occur when my heart is broken and I am experiencing great distress over some trial or disappointment. It is when I am clearly feeling emotional about something that I seem to reach the deepest in my communications with God.

Likewise, some of the most powerful revelations I have received have come in those moments of passionate pleading when I am explaining to the Lord my need to understand a certain part of the gospel and how it applies to my life’s circumstances at that time. Such answers are powerful.

Revelation separate from emotion

However, on every occasion where I knew I was receiving revelation, when I knew my prayer was being answered while yet on my knees, the feelings of distress and discomfort disappeared. What flowed into my soul in those moments was accompanied with peace and deep satisfaction.

Because so much of my testimony has been gained in this manner upon my knees in conjunction with much pleading and asking, I have strong emotional memories attached to the revelation that has come as a result of my prayer. But I do not confuse the emotion with the answers received.

Revelation without distress

Thus, my faith, my testimony and my understanding of God’s love for me are increased with each revelatory experience. They are not as rare as they used to be. If I pay the price in intense and passionate effort, the revelation comes, and I know things that I did not know previously.

My prayers are not always answered while I am still on my knees. And not all my prayers are full of passionate, emotional pleadings. Faith does not need to be expressed in distressed, gut-wrenching importuning. A simple, quiet, yet powerful prayer will also lead to timely answers.

I know what I know

I long ago resolved any doubts about the church, the doctrine or the history. My prayers these days are more about understanding how I can be more effective in sharing the gospel with others. So I feel extremely comfortable in my knowledge and testimony of the basic tenets of my faith.

When discussing my religion with others not of my faith, I easily express that I know certain things when they come up in our dialog. It can be a shock when the other person responds with, “You don’t know what you think you know.” Excuse me? How do you know what I know?

Attempts to disprove

I suspect that such statements don’t come from those who are sincere in wanting to understand my point of view on things. For those who view religion as only logical and always reasonable, my assertion that I know something in my soul has often been challenged with a “prove it!”

When attempting to explain that this knowledge is a part of my testimony and that the knowledge was obtained through revelation, the charge is made that I have not really received knowledge and that my experience is totally subjective and therefore must be discredited and ignored.

Summary and conclusion

If you want an example of what I am trying to explain, go read the dialog in the comments of my essay on The Only True and Living Church. Especially note the comment about “retreating into the subjective bubble of your testimony.” How do you explain a testimony in a logical manner?

A testimony is not emotion, but it is accompanied by strong feelings. It is the result of study and effort to understand, and then confirming that knowledge in prayer. It is revelation and it is real. I wish I understood better how to explain it to those who have never experienced it themselves.

Critical thinking among faithful Mormons

Posted on by

I’m motivated to share this essay based on much recent dialog between myself and a reader who calls himself Evangelical. Mr. Evangelical seems to be intelligent and writes well but also seems to be under a false impression that Mormons can’t think for themselves and that they don’t know how to think critically or objectively.

You can read some of his comments on my essays, “Are Mormons Christian?” or “The new Mormon History – Grant Palmer”, “Burning of the Bosom – Feelings from God,” and “Objections to the Book of Abraham.” I’ve enjoyed our dialogs but have been mystified by his lack of understanding of the Mormon testimony.

I have tried several times to explain and clarify the process of personal revelation but he just doesn’t seem to get it. If you want to have an intelligent conversation with Mormons, I suggest that it would be extremely helpful to understand what we mean when we refer to our testimony. He seems to equate it to emotional feeling.

The Mormon testimony

When Mormons say that they have a testimony, it is usually the culmination of several things. It is a combination of much study, intense prayer, some fasting, perhaps the giving up of some long-held habits or ideas and most importantly, the receipt of knowledge imparted directly to the spirit through the Holy Ghost.

And that’s the part on which I focus. I wonder if Mr. Evangelical thinks that we base our religious conviction purely on feelings, or more aptly, on emotions. As I tried to explain to him, feelings and emotions are two separate things. I don’t think I’m the only one that defines emotions as biological and feelings as spiritual.

It’s a difficult thing to define and even more difficult to explain the difference between the two, especially if you’ve never thought about it. We believe that one way God communicates with us is directly to our heart and mind. We call this revelation. Revelation is usually accompanied by feelings of the love of God.

The heart and mind

That’s why the sharing of a testimony by a Mormon can be such an emotional thing. It can be difficult to control the emotions when one remembers the feelings of love that accompanied the revelation received when praying about some truth. However, it is not the emotional reaction that constitutes the receipt of a testimony.

A testimony is revealed knowledge from God on some subject. We usually do not receive revelation without requesting it in prayer. When it is received, it may not come all at once. It may take hours, days or longer to have a prayer answered and to know the mind and will of the Lord on a subject that we want to understand.

We cannot pray our way to an understanding of things. We have to study things out, make a decision and then take it to God in prayer to ask for a confirmation. If it is a correct decision, we will feel it in our heart and know it in our mind. That is a different kind of knowledge that the world does not generally understand.

Inspiration and revelation

One of the best ways I can think of to describe revelation is to equate it to the process of receiving inspiration. Have you ever been faced with a problem and done some serious thinking about how to solve it? Then suddenly, perhaps when you are not thinking about it, an idea pops into your mind that helps to solve it?

We can safely call that inspiration. I attribute inspiration to God or to the influence of angels or to the Holy Ghost. Revelation is similar but in addition to studying a subject out, you then come to your own conclusion and present it to the Lord in prayer, asking specifically for a confirmation to know if it is right or wrong.

Most faithful Mormons are very familiar with this process and use it often, both in their everyday life and in their work in the church. We can pray for inspiration and ideas then come to us. We study things out, come to conclusions, and then pray for revelation. Sometimes it comes right away and sometimes we must wait patiently.

Study it out in advance

The point of this essay is that you can’t just pray your way to revelation. Although there are times when revelation comes unrequested, as in warnings, for the most part, we must study our subject, think about it, ponder it, analyze it and then come to some sort of conclusion before we ask for a confirmation of our conclusion.

That’s where the process of critical thinking comes in. Sometimes we get hung up on wanting to fully understand a subject by making sure that we read the opposing viewpoints. Strangely enough, this is not a necessary part of the process in coming to a knowledge of the things of God. And that is where we get criticized so much.

I do not need to know what the people who hated Joseph Smith had to say about him when I study his life. It helps provide background and historical context but it is not required reading to be able to say that I have critically thought about the man and his claims. I can study his work and then go directly to God for confirmation.

Criticism and critical thinking

The same is true for the process of studying the Book of Mormon. I do not need to read the criticisms of the book to be able to say that I have studied it and am ready to present it to God to know if it contains truth. The Book of Mormon should be able to stand on its own, without supporting documentation or opposing criticism.

People who are educated are used to the process of considering critical reviews as part of their objective studies of a subject. Unfortunately, sometimes they forget to include original research in their studies and never get around to actually reading the Book of Mormon, or selected portions of it, with the intent to understand it.

The Lord called the Book of Mormon a marvelous work and a wonder. I like that because it accurately identifies the method of the coming forth of the book to be very unorthodox. Angels, gold plates, Urim and Thummim, an uneducated farm boy – all these are unusual to say the least. How can one be objective about this?

Summary and conclusion

The Mormon testimony is not comprised solely of emotional feelings. Yes, it does contain that. Who could not help but be affected emotionally when God pours his love into your soul as part of the process of receiving a testimony? But the most important part of a testimony is the revealed knowledge that is spiritually received.

In order to receive the knowledge that we talk about when we bear our testimonies, we must have met the requirements of studying a subject and pondering it in our hearts and minds. Only then can we take it to God in prayer and ask for a witness of the spirit that what we have studied, pondered and concluded is God’s word.

We invite all people everywhere to study our claims objectively, listen to what we have to say about modern revelation and then to take it to God in prayer in an effort to receive the promised witness of personal revelation. I and millions of others can and do share our personal witness that this process works as promised.

————————————————-

LDS Scriptures that teach this basic doctrine:

1. Moroni 10:3-5 – The promise of a personal witness
2. D&C 8:2-3 – The spirit of revelation defined
3. D&C 9:7-9 – We must study it out first

Eight Purposes of Revelation

Posted on by

Introduction

The Lord promises gifts of the spirit to members of his church. These gifts are given for the edifying and uplifting of those who are in need of strengthening and comforting. All members of the Lord’s church are entitled to either the receipt of these gifts or to be blessed by these gifts as they are exercised by others. I hope and pray that what I am about to share will be accompanied by an outpouring of his spirit as we consider the purposes of revelation. You may recognize these teachings from Elder Dallin H. Oaks.

Revelation is communication from God to man. It can occur in many different ways. Some prophets, like Moses and Joseph Smith have talked to God face to face. Some persons have had personal communication with angels. Other revelations have come through the dreams of sleep, as with Lehi, or in waking visions of the mind. The vision of the redemption of the dead given to Joseph F. Smith in 1918 is one example of a waking vision. It usually comes after much pondering and prayer and is meant to instruct.

In their more familiar form, revelation and inspiration come by means of words or thoughts communicated to the mind. This can come as enlightenment, feelings about proposed courses of action or even by inspiring performances. I believe that most members of the church have received revelation in one form or another. It is our grand privilege to have the manifestations of the spirit every day of our lives. Remember, when we were confirmed members of this church we were commanded to receive the Holy Ghost.

1. To testify

There are times when I have sat in General Conference or in a devotional assembly at BYU or in some other setting where I knew that I was receiving revelation. The spirit of the Lord was testifying to me that the words that I was hearing were true and important to my happiness and salvation. The purpose of this revelation was to strengthen my testimony or to prepare me for some future trial or other requirement where I needed to know for certain the truths that I had heard, felt and had been taught.

I have also experienced revelation flowing through me as I have testified to others of the truthfulness of the doctrine I was teaching. This occurred to me before my mission, while on my mission and many times since then. It is in bearing testimony that the spirit has a chance to confirm our words to others. To me, this is one of the most powerful confirmations that this is the Church of Jesus Christ and that He is vitally concerned with what is taught in His Church. He sends his confirming spirit as promised when we teach truth.

In fact, it is when I have taught and testified of the truth that my own testimony has been strengthened the most. It is an act of faith to teach what others have said is the truth. Believing, we teach it ourselves and are blessed with a confirming witness that it is true. Boyd K. Packer said a testimony is to be found in the bearing of it. That’s why honest missionary work is so sanctifying to those who participate with real intent. Revelation is received and both the bearer and the hearer are edified and rejoice together.

The world in general, and non-believing apostates in particular, do not understand a testimony. To them it is illogical nonsense.

2. To prophesy

My patriarchal blessing promises me the gifts of prophecy and revelation. I have often wondered about these gifts, how I could seek and obtain them and how I could use them to bless others. The testimony of Jesus Christ is the spirit of prophecy. We can all have this spirit and use it to bless ourselves and those over whom we have stewardship. Each of us can receive prophetic revelation illuminating future events of our lives and giving us direction.

For example, on the day that I proposed to my wife, I saw in my mind’s eye a vision of us living together in happiness for many years to come. I sensed and felt what we would be like together when we were older and how we would be happy together. Some twenty-six years later, that day has come. Carol and I are living after the manner of happiness in a way that I foresaw and could have prophesied if it had been appropriate, on that day so long ago.

One of the purposes of prophecy is to speak the words of the Lord pertaining to the salvation of his children. When we teach each other the doctrines of the kingdom we are exercising the gift of prophecy. When we teach under the influence of the spirit what others need to hear to help them return to live again with Heavenly Father, we are speaking under the spirit of prophecy and revelation. I suppose that I am exercising that gift right now as I share this.

Revelation is a sacred subject and is not something that is easily explained to those who have not experienced it. Prophecy is not well understood in the church, but is a real gift that enriches our lives as we seek it and exercise it on behalf of those we love.

3. To comfort

I would hope that the most common kind of revelation enjoyed by members of the true church of Jesus Christ is to receive and to feel the revelation that we call the Comforter. Perhaps it is rarer than I think, for if we all experienced it on a regular basis, our actions would be much more in conformity with the desires of the Lord. The comforter usually accompanies the performing of ordinances or the singing of hymns or the consoling of our spirits at times of grief such as the loss of a loved one. Revelation can be comforting.

Joseph Smith received a comforting revelation while in Liberty Jail. After many months in deplorable conditions, he cried out in agony and loneliness, pleading with the Lord to remember the persecuted saints. The comforting answer came, “My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. (D&C 121:7-8)

Each of us knows other examples of revelations of comfort. Some have been comforted by visions of departed loved ones or by feeling their presence. A revelation of comfort can also come with a blessing of the priesthood, either from the words spoken or from the feeling communicated in connection with the blessing. Perhaps the greatest of these blessings of comfort can be the assurance received that our sins have been forgiven. This assurance can come as we complete all the steps of repentance and we seek it diligently.

I have felt this comforting assurance on many occasions. I know that the Lord wants to comfort us as we pass through this life.

4. To uplift

At some time in our lives each of us needs to be lifted up from a depression, from a sense of foreboding or inadequacy, or just from a plateau of spiritual mediocrity. I have experienced this feeling of uplift each and every Sunday as I listen closely to the speakers in Sacrament. I also obtain this feeling of uplift when I read the scriptures, especially as I read them out loud either with my wife or alone. We need this uplift of the spirit to empower us to resist evil and to desire to seek after and obtain good things in our lives.

I have found that wholesome music, clean entertainment, beautiful art and literature are ways to uplift my spirit. I enjoy the gifts and accomplishments of others as they seek to share their talents in a way that uplifts and invites reverence and worship of God. It is so easy to get bogged down by the cares of this world. We spend so much time either in work or school that it can become drudgery if we do not have the vision of what we are trying to accomplish. The spirit of uplift from the Lord helps us to recapture that vision.

This uplifting spirit can give us perspective. On a long hike we may experience switchbacks on the trail that seem monotonous. We will also probably encounter places in the trail that appear to be taking us downward or in the opposite direction that we want to go. With this uplifting spirit we can see that the trail leads constantly upward and towards our Heavenly Father. He sees our progress from a distance and calls out to us with words of encouragement and direction. We need this spirit of uplift to see his purposes.

I know that our Heavenly Father is willing to give us this sense of purpose and vision that comes from an uplifting spirit of revelation.

5. To inform

We can receive revelation from God that consists of inspiration. In fact, this is probably the area that most of us have experience in the area of revelation. This may consist of guidance in the choice of words to use on a particular occasion, such as priesthood blessings, and especially in patriarchal blessings. The spirit of revelation may also guide us in words to choose for a sermon or the best way to teach a lesson in a classroom setting. When we are on the Lord’s errand, he promises that he will give us words to speak as needed.

On some sacred occasions, information has been given by face to face conversations with heavenly personages, as in visions related in ancient and modern scriptures. In other circumstances, needed information is communicated by the quiet whisperings of the spirit. When acting in the capacity of a leadership calling, a church leader prays to know whom the Lord would have called to fill a position, and the spirit whispers a name. I have witnessed this revelation on numerous occasions in Bishopric and other priesthood meetings.

The Holy Ghost acts in his office as teacher and revelator as he communicates information from the Lord to man in guiding his church. However, such revelation is not limited to the business of the kingdom or only to priesthood leaders. The Lord can and does reveal information directly to his saints as needed to direct their paths through the journey of life. He can literally give words that will help in performing our duties in church, in school and work.

I have experienced this firsthand as a High Councilor when given assignments to speak on certain topics. I have also felt the hand of the Lord in giving me ideas and words to use in business proposals.

6. To restrain

Elder Oaks teaches that the revelation to restrain is one of the most common forms of revelation. It often comes by surprise, when we have not asked for revelation or guidance on a particular subject. But if we are keeping the commandments of God and living in tune with His Spirit, a restraining force will steer us away from things we should not do. Unfortunately, for many in this world who do not recognize this gift for what it is, it is easily quenched.

Restraint is not popular with the world and is not looked upon as something desirable. This spirit of restraint can warn of us danger and can save us from embarrassment or disappointment. Restraint teaches us exactly how we can better keep our covenants in such a way that we can always feel worthy to call upon the Lord when we are in need of blessings. When we accept the restraints of the Lord, we can have confidence that he will hear and answer our prayers.

In the church we call these restraints standards. In society we call them rules. In government we call them laws. Those who accept the spirit of restraint in their lives will find that their lives are more orderly, more disciplined and more open to enjoyment. They will have a sense of peace that can come in no other way. The spirit of restraint can be recognized by the feeling that something is not appropriate for us or a thought that we had better not do that.

We do not always know why we should heed the spirit of restraint but we can be sure that it comes from a loving Heavenly Father. He would not ask us to avoid certain kinds of behaviors if they were not for our good, our safety, our protection and happiness.

7. To confirm

The Lord explained the confirming type of revelation when Oliver Cowdery failed in his efforts to translate the Book of Mormon: “Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. But behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I shall cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right. (D&C 9:7-8)

Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stressed our responsibility to do all that we can before we seek a revelation: “We’re expected to use the gifts and talents and abilities, the sense and judgment and agency with which we are endowed…We’re expected to do everything in our power that we can, and then to seek an answer from the Lord, a confirming seal that we’ve reached the right conclusion.” He then shared a very personal example:

When he set out to choose a companion for eternity, he did not go to the Lord and ask whom he ought to marry. “I went out and found the girl I wanted,” he said. “She suited me;…it just seemed…as though it ought to be…[Then] all I did was pray to the Lord and ask for some guidance and direction in connection with the decision that I’d reached.” I experienced a similar confirming revelation when I asked the Lord about marrying my sweetheart.

The Lord has promised through his servants that we can make every decision in our lives correctly by following this method. Of course some decisions are trivial and do not require this formula. I know that this works from many years of personal experience.

8. To impel

The eighth purpose or type of revelation consists of those instances when the Spirit impels a person to action. This is not a case where a person proposes to take a particular action and the Spirit either restrains or confirms. This is a case where revelation comes when it is not being sought and impels some action not proposed. This type of revelation is obviously less common than other types, but its rarity makes it all the more significant. Elder Oaks has provided us a wonderful example of this kind of revelation:

“As a young girl, my grandmother, Chasty Olsen Harris, had a similar experience. She was tending some children who were playing in a dry riverbed near their home in Castle Dale, Utah. Suddenly she heard a voice that called her by name and directed her to get the children out of the riverbed and up on the bank. It was a clear day, and there was no sign of rain. She saw no reason to heed the voice and continued to play.

“The voice spoke to her again, urgently. This time she heeded the warning. Quickly gathering the children, she made a run for the bank. Just as they reached it, an enormous wall of water, originating with a cloudburst in the mountains many miles away, swept down the canyon and roared across where the children had played. Except for this impelling revelation, she and the children would have been lost.”

The prophet Joseph Smith taught that we may on occasion feel pure intelligence flowing into us. It may give us sudden strokes of ideas, sometimes with great feelings. Acting upon those ideas can bring about great blessings in our lives and in the lives of others.

Summary and conclusion

Elder Oaks taught us of eight purposes of revelation which I have reviewed. Each of these refers to revelations that are received. What about when you don’t receive revelation?

We do not always receive inspiration or revelation when we request it. Sometimes we are delayed in the receipt of revelation, and sometimes we are left to our own judgment. We cannot force spiritual things. It must be so. Our life’s purpose to obtain experience and to develop faith would be frustrated if our Heavenly Father directed us in every act, even in every important act. We must make decisions and experience the consequences in order to develop self-reliance and faith.

Even in decisions we think very important, we sometimes receive no answer to our prayers. This does not mean that our prayers have not been heard. It means only that we have prayed about a decision that, for one reason or another, we should make without guidance by revelation. Perhaps we have asked for guidance in choosing between alternatives that are equally acceptable or equally unacceptable. Similarly, the Spirit of the Lord is not likely to give us revelation on matters that are trivial.

If a matter appears of little or no consequence, we should proceed on the basis of our own judgment. If the choice is important for reasons unknown to us, the Lord will intervene and give us guidance. Where we are living in tune with the Spirit in seeking its guidance, we can be sure that we will receive guidance we need to attain our goal. The Lord will not leave us unassisted when a choice is important to our eternal welfare.

Sources:

1. Revelation by Dallin H. Oaks, BYU devotional 29 Sep 1981

2. Eight Ways God Can Speak to You, New Era, Sep 2004, p4

Burning of the bosom – feelings from God

Posted on by

Anybody who has researched The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to even a small degree has encountered this promise from the Book of Mormon as found in Moroni 10:4:

“And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”

Primary children are taught about this promise early in their youth. Investigators are presented with this challenge as part of their discussions with the missionaries. It is the subject of countless discourses in General Conference as well as lessons in Sunday School, Seminary and Institute.

The best online source to explain this promise that I have found is on lds.org. The church has done a wonderful job of expanding on how we can know for ourselves if the things that are taught by the missionaries and from official LDS sources like lds.org contain God’s truth. To quote:

How we can know for ourselves

“Your Heavenly Father is the source of all truth. He loves you and wants to answer your questions. Therefore, He will help you recognize the truth as you sincerely seek it and ask Him for guidance. You can know if the things you are learning are true if you ask your Heavenly Father in prayer. He desires for you to know the truth, and you can receive an answer from Him through the Holy Ghost.

“As taught in the Bible, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, [and] temperance” (Galatians 5:22–23). These feelings from the Holy Ghost are personal revelation to you that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is true. You will then need to choose whether you will live in harmony with the knowledge you have received.

“As the Savior taught in the Bible, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7:7). Feelings from the Holy Ghost are personal revelation to you that confirm the truth of the Book of Mormon and the gospel of Jesus Christ as restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith.”

The opposing viewpoint

A simple Google search reveals dozens of sites you can visit that present persuasive arguments why this is not a good way to ascertain truth for yourself. They offer their opinion that, “It is not a good idea to rely on our feelings.” Well, if you can’t trust your feelings, what can you trust?

Their response is that we should only trust the Bible and they then go on to quote a few Old Testament scriptures in an attempt to prove that the heart of man is unreliable and should not be trusted. That’s a very sad approach to life. I act upon my own feelings above anything else.

They also suggest that it is a bad idea to pray about the Book of Mormon by asking, “should you pray about robbing a bank or murdering someone?” They answer that you should not because it is just common sense that we don’t do those things. Sorry, that’s simply a bad analogy to me.

My personal experience

In the Fall of 1961 our family was introduced to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through the example of a co-worker. My mother was a schoolteacher in Glendora, California and the school principal was a member of the LDS Church. He was not obnoxious about it.

When a little girl in her class sharing time told about dressing in white and being baptized into the Mormon Church, mother asked the only LDS person she knew, her principal Bob Walker. She trusted him because he had always been fair and honest in dealing with her on other issues.

He asked if the Stake Missionaries could visit us and explain more. Mother agreed. They taught us the lessons and most of the family were soon baptized members of the church. I had to wait a few years until I turned eight years old. I started attending Primary and Sunday School.

Reading from the Book of Mormon

As part of our family tradition, mother read to me or had me read to her every night at bedtime. I have fond memories of Peter Rabbit and many other children’s books. About this time mother started reading the Book of Mormon in earnest and asked if I would like to read it with her.

Although I was only five years old in 1962, I remember reading the Book of Mormon with her every night for many months. We would alternate chapters. She would mark difficult words and the dates we read. I wish I still had that old copy of the Book of Mormon in the brown cover.

We would then have our nightly prayer together. I specifically remember the warm, sweet comfortable feelings I had as we read and prayed. Now you may say that I was just feeling the love of my mother, but I contest that it was the Spirit of the Lord that I was feeling.

Witnesses in my youth

We studied the Book of Mormon my first year in seminary during my High School years. I was the class president. The teacher challenged the students to put Moroni’s challenge to the test. I remember thinking I did not have to because I already knew the Book of Mormon was true.

Nevertheless, I recall kneeling in prayer one night after finishing my reading assignment. I thanked Heavenly Father for my seminary teacher and told him about the challenge. I then asked, “Is the Book of Mormon true?” The answer was immediate, but then I already knew.

I had the same experience in later years at college which I have written about previously. This revelatory experience was much more powerful and long-lasting. It was coupled with a burning desire to know my standing before the Lord and to know his will for me in my life.

Personal revelation is real

I wish that Google searches revealed more personal stories of other members of the LDS Church who have shared how they have felt the burning of the bosom in their lives. The experience is not unusual and, in fact is very common. The Holy Ghost can be our constant companion.

Yes, I know there are those members of the church who say they have never felt the burning of the bosom. Some of them have written about it extensively on the ex-Mormon sites. I do not doubt that some of their testimonies are real to them. Mine is real to me. I have felt it.

Sometimes we forget about the rest of the promise as found in Moroni 10:5 – “And by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things.” I find that to be one of the best parts of the promise. We can ask God to confirm any truth to us, not just the Book of Mormon.

Summary and conclusion

To Babs, who wrote in the comments on my post on Multiple versions of the First Vision, “…you better be finding something more than a ‘burning in the bosom’ on which to hang your trust,” I say, sorry. I trust this burning in the bosom more than I trust anything else in my life.

The Holy Ghost is a wonderful guide. I am so grateful for this marvelous gift of the Holy Ghost that is promised to those who are baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This gift helps me to walk in the light, even in this sometimes cold and dark world.

I know the burning of the bosom is real. I have felt it many times. It is more than just a feeling. It is often accompanied by enlightenment and illumination. There is no doubt in my mind that God’s promises are real. This one as found in Moroni 10:4 is one of the best and sweetest.

A different kind of religious education

Posted on by

When I was a young lad of seventeen, I attended BYU Idaho. No, I’m not from Idaho or even Utah. I was born and raised in California, where I still live. If you have been to Rexburg, Idaho in the dead of winter, you might wonder why anybody would want to leave the Golden State to obtain an education there. What is the attraction of this school in the Snake River valley?

My two oldest sisters are BYU Provo graduates while my brother, two other sisters and I each attended Ricks College, as it was called at the time. My academic experience at Ricks was not particularly stellar, but my parents said that their money was not wasted. I brought something back from Idaho after just one year that was far more valuable than a transcript.

I’m sure there was some anxiety in my mother’s heart as she sent her children off to this church sponsored school so far away. What did she hope we would obtain there? She must have been disappointed that I did not stick it out to the end of the Spring semester, but I did not hear her complain. She sensed that something had changed in me and I think it pleased her greatly.

Seminary and Institute

In my high school days I went to early-morning seminary. Getting up between 5:30 and 6:00 in the morning was not my favorite thing to do. But once I was in class, I appreciated the warm and comfortable spirit I felt there. I will be forever grateful to dedicated seminary teachers who sacrificed to teach the gospel and strengthen the testimonies of their young students.

In my later college years I participated in the Institute program. Seminary was an introduction to the basic sacred texts of the church. Institute classes brought in-depth study of the doctrines found in those scriptures. I enjoyed each of the classes I took, but my favorites had to do with church history. I was fascinated by the background story of the Doctrine and Covenants.

But there were some things about church history that I did not find in the official CES texts. I knew about them because my mother was a church history enthusiast. She had owned an LDS bookstore and had filled our house with all kinds of books that added to the official curriculum. Since mother was a teacher, I got more of my church history from her than from the classes.

Religious education in the home

When the subject of polygamy came up in the early morning seminary classes, I wanted to know more. I asked mother about it when I got home. After telling me a few simple facts, she handed me a book and said, “Here, you can read about it yourself.” That’s when I learned about Joseph’s plural wives. I wondered to myself if the seminary teacher even knew about this.

My mother’s attitude toward the whole issue of plural marriage was one of quiet nonchalance, as if it were no big deal and nothing to get all worked up about, so I didn’t. Although mother was a convert, she had studied this and dozens of other controversial subjects out in her own mind. Because she was not bothered by what she discovered in church history, neither was I.

The next time the subject of plural marriage came up in class, I volunteered a few facts that I had learned and was a little surprised by the reaction of the teacher as well as my peers. The teacher was flustered and my classmates were open-mouthed in surprise. It was obvious that I had said something that they didn’t know and had never heard before. I got quiet real quick.

A mother’s loving instruction

The same thing happened when the subject of translating the Book of Mormon came up. When I asked mother about the Urim and Thummim, we discussed it and then she mentioned that Joseph also used seer stones or peep stones as they were called. She could see I was interested so once again, she handed me a book and said, “Here, tell me about what you find out.”

Do you see the pattern? Mother would not overload me with information. She just answered a few basic questions at my level and then invited me to learn more on my own. I could tell that she knew more than she was sharing. As soon as I got to her level through independent study, we were able to discuss it openly and freely. Sometimes we reached the limit of her knowledge.

When that happened, mother would say, “That’s all I know about it but I’m sure there’s more. Why don’t you take it to the Lord in prayer?” Now this didn’t happen very often and at that point in my life I didn’t really understand what mother was talking about so I didn’t pursue it. I’m sure it frustrated mother and contributed to her desire to have me go to Rick’s College.

My church school experience

Of course it is mandatory to take religion classes at church schools like BYU and Ricks. I didn’t mind. In fact, my Book of Mormon class from Keith Sellers (1966-1995; B.S., M.S., Ed.D., BYU, 1959, 1962, 1965) precipitated some of the most awesome spiritual experiences of my young life up to that time. Dr. Sellers’s enthusiasm for what he was teaching went straight to my heart.

Although attendance at the weekly devotional is not mandatory, it was because I went to these events that I can say that I obtained real and direct revelation for the first time in my life. As President Eyring sat on the stand, I listened in reverence and awe to Elder LeGrand Richards share his wonderfully enthusiastic testimony of the gospel to the students and faculty in 1974.

That night I knelt in my dorm room and prayed like I had never prayed before. I wanted to know what LeGrand Richards knew. I wanted to know what Keith Sellers knew. I wanted to know what my mother knew. The experience is too sacred to share in this format but I can say that I obtained a kind of knowledge that night that changed my life forever.

Revelation changes everything

So many things changed for me with that one experience. I knew that I loved the Lord. I knew that everything I had been taught by my mother about the church and the gospel was true. I knew that what I had been taught by my primary, Sunday School and seminary teachers was true. I knew I wanted to go on a mission. I knew I would only marry in the temple.

After that experience I understood why we don’t share everything we know when we teach the gospel. It’s not that we don’t want to. It’s just that we can’t. The phrase “constraint of the spirit” found in D&C 63:64 suddenly made more sense to me. I found that I could not really talk about what happened that night with anyone who had not experienced it for themselves.

That was not the only time I have experienced direct revelation. There were several others just as powerful that were provided at a time when I was preparing for my mission. I spent a solid six months of intense daily personal study immersed in the gospel as found in the scriptures and supplemented by all those books mother had so thoughtfully provided over the years.

Summary and conclusion

If you look at my official transcript from Rick’s college you might be tempted to say that my parent’s investment in my education was wasted. But mother knew differently. Even though I felt like an academic failure, I carried with me a new sense of purpose and commitment that I did not have before I was taught by Keith Sellers and heard LeGrand Richards speak.

I still had much growing up to do. The mission changed my study habits and taught me the importance of paying the price of hard work in order to achieve something worthwhile. Marriage in the temple blessed my life with covenants that have led to my greatest happiness so far. Years of service in the church have only served to deepen that initial revelatory experience.

When I teach the gospel or speak in church I cannot share everything I know but I don’t have to. When I prepare well and speak under the inspiration of the spirit of the Lord, the Holy Ghost carries the depth of what I can’t say to the hearts of my students and listeners. It is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences to speak under the influence of that sacred spirit.

Hearing the Voice of the Lord

Posted on by

Back in January I mentioned that Carol and I started reading Elder Lund’s new book, Hearing the Voice of the Lord. This is one that we chose to read out loud together at the end of each day. We discuss what we read so we are only halfway through the book even though we have been reading it for over two months. Sometimes a few pages read aloud and discussed together are better than whole chapters read silently alone.

I have come to the conclusion that the book is not just good. I pronounce it a masterpiece. It is destined to become a classic. Obviously Elder Lund knows how to write. Which General Authority other than Elder McConkie and Elder Maxwell has written so many books? Of course, The Work and the Glory series of books are not doctrinal treatises but historical novels. Nevertheless, the man is a skilled writer and this book proves it.

Prior to reading Elder Lund’s book on “Principles and Patterns of Personal Revelation,” my favorite book on the subject was “The Holy Ghost” by Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet (Bookcraft 1989). My copy of that book has been marked and highlighted as the results of many readings. I anticipate Elder Lund’s book will soon receive the same treatment. That replaced my earliest book on the subject, N. B. Lundwall’s “Discourses on the Holy Ghost.”

Elder Lund’s book is still in the Top Ten of the bestsellers list at Deseret Book. It was number one for several months. Marketing and name recognition got it there but the content is going to keep it there for a long time to come. Elder Lund wrote an article about the book that contains a great overview of the contents so I won’t duplicate any of that here. I would like to share just one story that touched me deeply and comment on one principle that I have learned from his book. It was a major ‘aha’ moment for me.

Choosing a new Stake President

I had long wondered about the process of choosing a new Stake President. I listened carefully as it was explained by the outgoing Stake President, but still wondered why I was being interviewed. Even though I was a member of the High Council, I knew I was not the man. I dutifully went to the interview and was asked two questions. “Tell me about your family.” and “Who do you think should be the next Stake President?” were the only questions that were asked (OK, so one wasn’t a question – it was more of a command). Then the visiting general authority knew right away what I already knew.

On pages 54 to 59 of Elder Lund’s book he goes into great detail about the process of interviewing the counselors in the Stake Presidency, each high counselor and each bishop. Occasionally they ask the Stake President for others to interview. The two General Authorities confer after each visit and share impressions. After discussion and prayer, the answer is usually clear and known to both the Brethren.

Elder Lund concluded this section by telling an amazing story in which the call was issued based on shared feelings that this was the Lord’s will that had been manifest. However, he said a silent prayer even while issuing the call, “O Lord, this feels right, but it is so important. I hope we read Thy inspiration correctly.” As they stood up to leave, the newly called Stake President said, “Now I understand the dream I had the other night.”

When asked what he meant, he related that in his dream he was being interviewed by the Stake President. This was not unusual because he was a bishop. However at the end of the interview, the Stake President got up and placed his suit coat on this good bishop’s shoulders. To Elder Lund, this was one of the manifestations of the tender mercies of the Lord. It was a “second witness” that they had indeed read the inspiration of the Lord correctly in this calling.

Being taught by the spirit

The “aha” moment I wish to share in conclusion came just last night as we read on page 210 about priesthood keys. The epiphany was not so much from what was written and what I read, but what I felt as I read this simple statement. “Someone who has not been given the right to preside and direct the affairs of the Church…cannot…unveil a new interpretation of scripture.” I know, this is not new and it is hardly deep doctrine.

As I read this statement aloud, the spirit bore witness to me again how important this is for teachers of the gospel. We need to be so careful that we do not teach our personal opinion about a scripture. It is imperative that the doctrine taught is consistent with the official view of the Brethren. Of course, that can best be done by teaching what is found in the manual. If we do not understand a scripture, look on lds.org for additional references that can be used.

It never ceases to amaze me how many Google hits I get on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings from people searching for lesson commentary on some subject that I happen to have written about on a previous post in my blog. Hello people! Read the manual. It has all the quotes you need. Google is the last place I would be looking to find material to teach in Primary or Sunday School. Maybe for the High Priest’s group – nah, I’m just kidding.

I’m happy you are reading my posts but don’t quote my retelling of the apocryphal story about the bullet that was stopped in the Isaiah chapters of Second Nephi. And my insights on the Liahona were shared freely but I would stick with whatever is in the manual. For goodness sake, my opinion on where the Ten tribes are should never be taught in a Gospel Doctrine class. And why is everyone wondering if President Monson will change the doctrine of the church?

Personal Revelation and warnings to the Church

Posted on by

I received an email this morning from a good friend who got it from a best friend who got it from a trusted friend who got it from…you can guess the rest. It was one of those sensational Mormon stories about some impending pandemic and how we need to rush out right now and buy this special medicine that is only offered by this certain company based in Utah. If you subscribe to any of the LDS email lists you’ve seen these things many times over the years.

I felt like sharing a few quotes but didn’t want to offend the sender so I’ll post them here: “It never ceases to amaze me how gullible some of our Church members are in broadcasting sensational stories, or dreams, or visions, or purported patriarchal blessings, or quotations, or supposedly from some person’s private diary.” – President Harold B Lee, Oct 1970 and Jan 1973.

In a statement issued in August, 1913, by the First Presidency of the Church (consisting of President Joseph F. Smith, President Anthon H. Lund, and President Charles W. Penrose) one reads: When visions, dreams, tongues, prophecy, impressions or any extraordinary gift or inspiration conveys something out of harmony with the accepted revelations of the Church or contrary to the decisions of its constituted authorities, Latter-day Saints may know that it is not of God, no matter how plausible it may appear.

Also, they should understand that directions for the guidance of the Church will come, by revelation, through the head. All faithful members are entitled to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit for themselves, their families, and for those over whom they are appointed and ordained to preside. But anything at discord with that which comes from God through the head of the Church is not to be received as authoritative or reliable.

In secular as well as spiritual affairs, Saints may receive Divine guidance and revelation affecting themselves, but this does not convey authority to direct others, and is not to be accepted when contrary to Church covenants, doctrine or discipline, or to known facts, demonstrated truths, or good common sense …. The Lord’s Church “is a house of order.” It is not governed by individual gifts or manifestations, but by the order and power of the Holy Priesthood as sustained by the voice and vote of the Church in its appointed conferences.

“…it is unwise to use stories, quotations, or information that we cannot verify. Temperance is especially important if the story is of a sensational nature…” – Joseph Fielding McConkie, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon. Why do we as a people insist on sharing and forwarding these sensational stories over and over again, especially via email?