Thanks to my spiritually sensitive daughter, Liz, for directing me to this talk. Transcript is thoughtful but watching video is POWERFUL!! Highly recommend to all who may be struggling with testimony of the Truth.
Sheri
Dew, BYU-I Devotional, 17 May 2016
It is a privilege to be
here-especially with President and Sister Gilbert. They are dear friends and
remarkable exemplars.
Now, we are not here today
to listen to me speak. We are here to receive revelation. I invite you to
invite the Holy Ghost to speak to you so that you hear what you need to hear.
A couple of years ago a
reporter from an international broadcasting network visited Salt Lake City
researching a story on women in the Church. She was intrigued that a female was
leading a Church-owned media company and asked me for an interview.
I liked this reporter.
She'd done her homework and asked good questions, though one of them was
predictable: "How do you feel about not being eligible for priesthood
ordination?" I outlined the extensive leadership opportunities women have
in the Church and then explained that, as a woman endowed with power in the
temple, I had complete access to God's power-or priesthood power-for my own
life. And I explained that my focus had long been on learning how to gain full
access to that power.
She paused and then asked:
"Are you saying that you believe you have more access to God's power than
I do?"
What a loaded question! My
brain began to spin in search of a truthful but politically correct answer. But
I couldn't bring myself to sell our doctrine or our privileges as women short.
So finally I said, "Well, actually ...yes."
"Now, do not
misunderstand what I'm saying," I quickly added. "I am not saying the
Lord loves me more than He loves you or that I'm better than you. I'm not
saying that He is more likely to bless me than you. But if you're asking if I
believe I have greater access to God's power than you do, the answer is yes!
That is one of the blessings of joining this Church. We believe that when we
make promises to God to follow His Son, He in turn makes promises to us. And
one of those promises is that He will give us greater access to His power."
As I spoke, the Spirit
filled the room and disarmed her. Her demeanor softened, and then she asked how
the gospel affects me personally. She basically opened the door for me to
testify.
I told her that Jesus
Christ hasn't just made a difference in my life, He has made all the
difference. That every good thing that has ever happened to me has come because
of my membership in His Church. And that I have experienced the Savior's
healing, enabling power again and again.
At that point, the Spirit
flooded the room and we were both in tears. She finally said, "That is
beautiful." That day I experienced the sublime beauty of standing as a
witness and bearing witness of truth.
Consider the miracle of
it! Through the power of the Holy Ghost,[i] we can know
what is true with enough surety to testify of truth.
We can only bear witness
of what we know. We can't testify of a wish or a hope or even a belief. We can
express a hope, a wish, or a belief. But we cannot stand as witnesses of Jesus
Christ unless we can bear witness of Him.[ii] We can defend
the faith only if we have faith.
Our society seems determined
to set aside any semblance of faith or right and wrong. But the world's
condition today is no surprise to the Lord, who told the Prophet Joseph that we
are living in the "eleventh hour," that this is the last time He will
call laborers into His vineyard, and that His vineyard has become
"corrupted."[iii] But the Lord
also declared that in the midst of all this moral and spiritual chaos, the
fullness of His gospel would be "proclaimed by the weak and the simple
unto the ends of the world."[iv] And He
promised that if we would open our mouths, they would be filled.[v]
You and I are "the
weak and the simple," but we are not here now by accident or without the Lord's
endorsement. President George Q. Cannon taught that "because of
the...magnitude of the work to be accomplished... [it] has required apparently
the most valiant men and women to come forth [now]...God has reserved spirits
for this dispensation who have the courage and determination to face the world
and all the powers of the evil one...and [to] build up the Zion of our God
fearless of all consequences."[vi]
Make no mistake about it:
You are here now because in the beginning our Father chose you to be here now.
And He has hard work for you to do.
How, then, do we strengthen our faith so
that we can defend the faith?
Four years ago, a
marvelous young woman who had just graduated with honors from BYU called me,
distraught. Through sobs she blurted, "I'm not sure I believe the Church
is true anymore, and I'm scared. What if my family isn't going to be
together forever?"
I asked, "Do you want
a testimony?" "Yes," she said.
"Are you willing to
work for it?" Again, "Yes."
And she was. She had a
great bishop and an off-the-charts Relief Society president, both of whom
worked with her. Friends and family came to her rescue. And she and I began to
meet for gospel study sessions. I told her, "Bring your scriptures and
every question you have. Questions are good. Let's see what the Lord will teach
us."
She took me at my word and
brought one thorny question after another. We searched the scriptures and the
teachings of prophets for answers. Little by little, she began to realize that
just because she had questions didn't mean she didn't have a testimony. The
scriptures are filled with accounts of prophets who had questions. And she
began to recognize when the Spirit was bearing witness to her-including bearing
witness that prophets, seers, and revelators are truly prophets.
Her testimony began to
grow, and time passed. Then about a year ago she called again. "I wanted
you to be one of the first to know that I am holding in my hand a temple
recommend. Will you come when I receive my endowment?" Then she added,
"Do you know what you said that helped me the most? You told me that
questions are good, and that allowed me to see myself as a seeker rather than a
doubter."
I was overjoyed! But two
days later, I received a much different call from another BYU graduate.
"Sister Dew," she said, "before you hear it from someone else, I
want you to know that I'm pregnant." She said that for several years she
had doubted the truthfulness of the gospel and had finally decided there was no
reason to live the law of chastity.
I told her that I was not
her judge and that I loved her. Then I asked her if she would like to have a
testimony. "No, I don't think so," she said.
The contrast was stunning.
At about the same time, these two young women had questions that threatened
their testimonies. One of them sent out a cry for help, and family, friends and
leaders followed President Monson's counsel and went to her rescue. The other
girl nursed her doubt and convinced herself that her immoral choices were
acceptable. I love and care about this girl. But for now, she has chosen a
spiritually perilous path.
One girl's questions
propelled her to become a seeker of truth. The other girl used her questions to
justify her immorality.
My dear friends, questions
are good. Questions are good if they are inspired questions, asked in faith,
and asked of credible sources where the Spirit will direct and confirm the
answer.[vii]
Nephi asked an inspired
question in faith when he asked the Lord if he could see what his father saw.
The Lord responded by showing Nephi the tree of life, the iron rod, the great
and spacious building and mists of darkness, and the fruit of the tree, which
is "sweet above all that is sweet."[viii]
And the vision didn't stop
there. Nephi saw the birth, ministry, and Crucifixion of the Savior. He saw the
coming forth of latter-day scripture, the Restoration, and the building of
latter-day Zion.
Nephi saw all this and
much more, only to return to his father's tent and find Laman and Lemuel
arguing about the meaning of their father's vision. When Nephi asked them,
"Have ye inquired of the Lord?" they gave the classic response of
doubters: "We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto
us"-as though nothing was required of them.[ix]
None of us are entitled to
revelation without effort on our part. Answers from God don't just magically
appear. If we want to grow spiritually, the Lord expects us to ask questions
and seek answers. "If thou shalt ask," He promised, "thou shalt
receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge...."[x]
How much clearer can it be? The Lord loves inspired questions asked in faith
because they lead to knowledge, to revelation, and to greater faith.
We all have questions.
Some are doctrinal, historical, or procedural. Some are intensely personal.
Here are just a few of the questions men and women your age have asked me
recently:
Why am I the only one in
my family who struggles to believe?
Should I serve a mission
if my parents don't want me to?
Why did I spend all that
time on a mission and not convert anyone?
Why can't I find "the
one?"
If I go to graduate
school, will the Lord think that means I don't want to get married? Will I be
able to provide for a family today?
Will the Lord ever forgive
me for breaking my covenants?
I came home early from my
mission. What do I do now?
Is a prophet infallible?
Did Joseph Smith really
have more than one wife?
How do I know if I'm
receiving revelation?
Do I dare get serious with
a guy who has struggled with pornography?
Why can't women be ordained
to the priesthood?
What if the Church's
position on gay marriage bothers me?
How do I understand the
temple when I can't ask questions about it?
May I answer these
questions, and any questions you may have, by posing a question: Are you willing to engage in the wrestle?
In an ongoing spiritual wrestle?
Enos described the
"wrestle that he had before God to obtain a remission of his sins."[xi]
And Alma "[wrestled] with God in mighty prayer."[xii]
Champion wrestlers tell me
that it isn't necessarily the strongest wrestler who wins. It is the wrestler
who knows how to leverage his strength to overpower his opponent. Spiritual
wrestling leverages the strength of true doctrine to overpower our weaknesses,
our wavering faith, and our lack of knowledge. Spiritual wrestlers are seekers. They are men and women of faith
who want to understand more than they presently do and who are serious about
increasing the light and knowledge in their lives.
I recently engaged in a
wrestle. When the policy was announced that the children of gay parents might
not be eligible for baptism at age eight, I was confused. I did not question
the Brethren or doubt their inspiration, but neither did I understand the
doctrinal basis for the policy. So I asked the Lord to teach me. I prayed,
searched the scriptures, studied the teachings of prophets, and pondered my
question in the temple. This went on for several months. Then one day a
colleague made a statement that sparked a new thought for me, and in that
moment the Spirit illuminated the doctrine in my heart and mind. I consider
that answer personal revelation and not something I should teach. Though I have
wept with friends to whom this policy directly applies, the doctrine gave me
peace and understanding.[xiii]
When we have unresolved
questions, our challenge doesn't lie in what we think we know. It lies in what
we don't yet know.
The Lord has promised to
open the "eyes of our understandings"[xiv] and to
reveal "all mysteries."[xv] But He isn't
likely to do either of these unless we seek to know. Truman Madsen taught that
he could find "nothing in the scriptures...to excuse anyone from brain
sweat and from the arduous lifetime burden of seeking 'revelation upon
revelation, knowledge upon knowledge.'"[xvi] He was
describing an ongoing spiritual wrestle.
The Lord wants us to ask
every probing question we can muster because not asking questions can be far
more dangerous than asking them.[xvii] In other
words, sin makes you stupid-and so does refusing to seek after truth.
Remember my friend who
thought she'd lost her testimony? Her doubt was triggered by a television drama
featuring a scientist who didn't believe in God. I said, "You mean that a
fictional character fabricated by a Hollywood writer has obliterated 24 years
of gospel teaching?" "But she's so smart," my friend said.
There have always been and
will always be charismatic men and women who can launch what sound like, on the
surface, reasoned arguments against the Father and the Son, the Restoration,
the Prophet Joseph, the Book of Mormon, and living prophets. But doubters and
pundits never tell the whole story, because they don't know the whole story-and
don't want to know. They opt for clever sound bites, hoping no one digs
deeper than they have.
Sound bites will never
lead to a testimony. As seekers of
truth, our safety lies in asking the right questions, in faith, and of the right
sources-meaning those who only speak truth: such as the scriptures, prophets,
and the Lord through the Holy Ghost.
President Spencer W.
Kimball declared, "Why, oh, why do people think they can fathom the most
complex spiritual depths without the necessary...work accompanied by compliance
with the laws that govern it? Absurd it is, but you will...find popular
personalities, who seem never to have lived a single law of God,
discoursing...[about] religion. How ridiculous for such persons to attempt to
outline for the world a way of life!...One cannot know God nor understand his
works or plans unless he follows the laws which govern."[xviii]
Questions are not just
good, they are vital, because the ensuing spiritual wrestle leads to answers,
to knowledge, and to revelation. And it also leads to greater faith.
Men and women of faith are
expected to have faith. While the Lord will reveal many things to us, He has
never told His covenant people everything about everything. We are admonished
to "doubt not, but be believing."[xix] But
"doubting not" does not mean understanding everything.
Doubting is not synonymous
with having questions. To doubt is to reject truth and faith. As covenant sons
and daughters, we are required to have faith, live by faith, "ask in
faith, nothing wavering,"[xx] and
"overcome by faith."[xxi] Learning by
faith is as crucial as learning by study, because there are some things we
cannot learn from a book.[xxii]
Elder Dallin H. Oaks
underscored this truth: "[A]fter all we can publish, our members are
sometimes left with basic questions that cannot be resolved by study...Some
things can be learned only by faith. Our ultimate reliance must be on faith in
the witness we have received from the Holy Ghost."[xxiii]
Thus, once the Spirit has
borne witness to you that God is our Father and Jesus is the Christ, that
Joseph Smith was a prophet called to restore the gospel, and that we are led by
a prophet today, then you know the gospel is true because the Spirit has borne
witness of the foundational truths that comprise a testimony. You have a
testimony!
At that point, when
questions arise or when blessings you've been pleading for remain unfulfilled,
they are not an indication that you don't have a testimony or that the gospel
isn't true. They are an invitation for you to grow spiritually.
I repeat, once you have
received a spiritual witness of the truths that form a testimony, even your
thorniest questions about our doctrine, history, positions on sensitive issues,
or the aching desires of your hearts, are about personal growth. They are
opportunities for you to receive personal revelation and increase your
faith.
We don't have to have
answers to every question in order to receive a witness, bear witness, and
stand as a witness.
But questions, especially
the tough ones, propel us to engage in a spiritual wrestle so that the Lord can
lead us along. Without plain old spiritual work, even God can't make us grow-or
at least, He won't.[xxiv]
My life has been filled
with spiritual wrestling-not because of any great valor on my part but because
I have yearned to understand why certain things were happening to me, and why
others were not. For decades I have fasted, prayed and pleaded for a husband.
I've asked who he is, where he is, and when he's coming. As of today, I still
don't know the answer to any of those questions. But the wrestle has blessed me
with the knowledge that Jesus Christ is my Savior, that His gospel is filled
with power, and that God will talk to and direct me.
Growing spiritually and
receiving answers to our questions depends upon our ability to feel,
hear, and understand the whisperings of the Spirit. It is worth engaging in a
spiritual wrestle to learn to receive personal revelation, because we can only
know what is true when the Spirit bears witness to our hearts and minds as only
the Holy Ghost can.[xxv] Revelation
must include both, because intellect alone cannot produce a testimony. You
cannot think your way to conversion, because you cannot convince your mind of
something your heart does not feel.[xxvi]
The Prophet Joseph
declared that "the Holy Ghost...comprehends more than all the world"[xxvii]
and that we must all "grow into the principle of revelation."[xxviii]
And President Henry B. Eyring added: "We all know that human judgment and
logical thinking will not be enough to get answers to the questions that matter
most in life. We need revelation from God...We need not just one flash of light
and comfort, but we need the continuing blessing of communication with
God."[xxix] Every
truth-seeking member of the Church can and should be receiving revelation for
his or her life.
In my early twenties, I
faced a difficult decision and asked a friend for a priesthood blessing. He
asked what the Lord had already told me, and I admitted that I could feel the
presence of the Spirit but couldn't discern specific revelation. He then asked
if I had ever asked the Lord to teach me what it felt like when He was speaking
to me? I hadn't. But that night, I began to ask the Lord to teach me the
language of revelation.
That was forty years ago,
and over time I have come to know that what President Boyd K. Packer taught is
true: That "if all you know is what you see with your natural eyes and
hear with your natural ears, then you will not know very much."[xxx]
Seekers have certain habits that are key to learning to
communicate with God. For starters, they engage in the wrestle, meaning they
work at it.
They immerse themselves regularly in the scriptures, because the scriptures are
the textbook for the Lord's language. They also work to be increasingly
pure-pure in their heart and thoughts, pure in what they say, watch, read, and
listen to. Purity invites the Spirit. And then, pure seekers listen. One of my former institute students
periodically turns everything electronic off. TV off. Music off. Phone off.
Computer off. She says, "I like to let the Lord know I'm listening."
As you cultivate these
spiritual habits, there are two questions that will help open the heavens.
First, ask the Lord to teach you what it feels and sounds like for you when He
is speaking to you via the Holy Ghost, and then watch how He tutors you. And,
second, if you've never asked the Lord how He feels about you, that is a great
question to ask. In time, He will tell you, and as He does, you'll learn more
about speaking His language.
When the Lord sees that
you want to communicate with Him, He will teach you how.
Recently, a friend working
on her Ph.D. received an impression during a Relief Society conference to shift
the focus of her dissertation. She also felt prompted to go directly to the temple
to ask the Lord further questions. She said, "While there, I was told how
to make [this new focus] work...[and] how I could be both academically unbiased
and spiritually honest. I occasionally receive clear words from the Spirit, but
never have I been given such clear instructions....The task ahead feels
incredibly difficult, but I know what direction to go and that the Lord expects
it of me, and that makes all the difference."[xxxi]
Receiving revelation is
the key to receiving answers to our questions. Joseph Smith promised that
"even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear
them."[xxxii]
My dear friends, make no
mistake about it: we are here now because we're supposed to be here now. And we
each have a mission to fulfill. Part of that mission requires us to stand as
witnesses of truth. And that means we must receive a witness that Jesus is the
Christ and that His gospel has been restored.
I invite you to decide today that you will pay the price
to wrestle with difficult questions, to become lifetime seekers of truth, to
learn to speak the Lord's language, and to receive a witness of Jesus Christ
and the Restoration of His gospel.
If you will, you'll have
the privilege of helping prepare the earth for His return. You'll be able to
defend the faith because of your ever-increasing faith.
The Savior is going to
come again. May we stand for Him and with Him.
Jesus is the Christ. This
is His Church, and it is filled with His power. Of this I testify in the name
of Jesus Christ. Amen.
[i] 1 Nephi 13:37. [ii]
Further, we can only bear witness if we have received a witness
from the Holy Ghost. [iii] See D&C 33:4. [iv] See D&C 1: 23. [v] See D&C 33:8. [vi] George Q. Cannon, Gospel Truth, 1957,
Deseret Book. [vii] "Searching "diligently in
the light of Christ" is the only way to "know good from evil."
(Moroni 7:19.) [viii] Alma 32:42. [ix] Nephi went on to teach his brothers,
"Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?-If ye will not
harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall
receive,...these things shall be made known unto you. (See 1 Nephi 15:8, 9,
11.) [x] D&C 42:61. [xi] Enos 1:2. [xii] Alma 8:10. Paul told the Ephesians that
"we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6: 12-13.) [xiii]
Look at the life of any prophet, and you'll find lots of spiritual wrestling.
Imagine the pleadings of Joseph, sold into Egypt by jealous brothers; or
Brigham Young's, as he led a band of beleaguered converts on a trek through
uncharted territory to a place he'd only seen in vision. [xiv] D&C 76: 19. [xv] See D&C 76: 7, 8. [xvi] Truman G. Madsen, Defender of the Faith,
Bookcraft, 1980, 387. Elder Richard G. Scott taught that "the Lord will
not force you to learn. You must exercise your agency to authorize the Spirit
to teach you. (21 Principles: Divine Truths to Help you Live by the Spirit,
Deseret Book, Salt Lake City.) The scriptures repeatedly urge us to "ask,
and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you." (See Matthew 7:7; 3 Nephi 14:7; 3 Nephi 27:29.) [xvii]
The scriptures are filled with warnings like this one: "Wo be unto him
that saith: We have received, and we need no more." (2 Nephi 28:27.) The
Lord also said, as a further example of this point, "Wo unto the
deaf that will not hear; for they shall perish. Wo unto the blind that will not
see; for they shall perish also." (2 Nephi 9:31-32.) A pattern of not
seeking help from heaven blocks revelation and leaves a person alone with
downward spiraling thoughts or seeking out like-minded doubters in the blogosphere.
[xviii] Spencer W. Kimball, "Absolute
Truth," BYU Devotional, 6 September 1977, found at www://speeches.byu.edu.
[xix] Mormon 9:27-28. [xx] Joseph went to the grove after reading,
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God...." The very next
verse admonishes us to "ask in faith, nothing wavering. (James 1:
5, 6.) [xxi] D&C 76:53. [xxii] See D&C 88:118. Faith does not stand
still. It is either increasing or disappearing. As President Henry B.
Eyring has said, "Faith has a short shelf life." ("Spiritual
Preparedness: Start Early and Be Steady," Ensign, November 2005.) [xxiii]
Dallin H. Oaks, "Opposition in All Things," April 2016 General
Conference. President Harold B. Lee said something similar: "It is not the
function of religion to answer all the questions about God's moral government
of the universe, but to give one courage, through faith, to go on in the face
of questions he never finds the answer to in his present status." (Conference
Report, October 1963, 108.) [xxiv] President Howard W. Hunter explained that
"the development of spiritual capacity does not come with the conferral of
authority. There must be desire, effort, and spiritual preparation. This
requires, of course,...fasting, prayer, searching the scriptures, experience,
meditation, and a hungering and thirsting after the righteous life." (Teachings
of Presidents of the Church: Howard W. Hunter, The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, 2015, 82.) Sometimes we look upon those who have strong testimonies
and wonder if faith somehow comes "naturally" for them. But even
those blessed with the gift to believe must wrestle for revelation and greater
faith. In fact, it is likely because of their challenges that their
testimonies have been forged-and usually in the "furnace of
affliction." (See Isaiah 48:10.) [xxv] DYc 8:2-3. [xxvi] Abinadi told the wicked priests of King
Noah that they had not applied their "hearts to understanding; therefore,
ye have not been wise" (Mosiah 12:27; 13:11). King Benjamin told his
people that true followers of Christ would have His name written in their hearts.
(See Mosiah 5:12.) One way to know you're receiving revelation is that you will
have both clarity of thought and feel peace. [xxvii] This quote in context reads: "I have
an old edition of the New Testament in the Latin, Hebrew, German and Greek
languages....I thank God that I have got this old book; but I thank him more
for the gift of the Holy Ghost....The Holy Ghost...comprehends more than all
the world; and I will associate myself with him." (Teachings of the
Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, 2007, 132.) Joseph Smith also said, in a frequently quoted
but important statement: "God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but
what He will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all
things as fast he is able to bear them, for the day must come when no man need
say to his neighbor, Know ye the Lord; for all shall know Him...from the least
to the greatest." (Ibid., 268.) [xxviii] Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,
151. The Apostle Paul taught, "Ye may all prophesy....Covet to
prophesy." (See 1 Corinthians 14:31, 39.) [xxix] Henry B. Eyring, "Continuing
Revelation," October 2014. [xxx] As quoted by David A. Bednar, "Quick
to Observe," BYU Devotional, 10 May 2005. [xxxi] Email, Susannah Bingham Buck to SLD, 18
February 2016. [xxxii] TPJS, 149. Elder Heber C. Kimball
declared that "the Church has before it many close places through which it
will have to pass before the work of God is crowned with victory....The time
will come when no man nor woman will be able to endure on borrowed light."
(Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, 3d. edition, Salt Lake
City, Bookcraft, 1945, 50.) for transcript.
