Being "Born Again" - Alma's Teachings

I was once seated many years ago next to our stake patriarch outside the bishop's office while we waited to be interviewed for our temple recommends. He was a wonderful man in his mid-eighties still going strong. In a whimsical mood, I dared to ask him, "Brother Nelson, do you ever lose the desire to sin?" To which he responded with a wink, "Never the desire, only the ability." I've thought a lot about that response. To be truly born again is to submit willingly, not kicking and screaming when old age overtakes us.

And that is the process of true born again conversion. It is not a one time event. I have spoken to people who can give me a date and a time when they were born again. However, what is more accurate is to say we gradually grow into a powerful testimony obtained from the Holy Spirit when that member of the Godhead tells us that the work of God on this earth and in the spirit world and in the resurrection is true, and his great function in that field is to bear testimony of the truth.

For example, at seven weeks old when our youngest child, Adrienne, died unexpectedly in the night, there was burned into my soul by the power of the Holy Ghost a firm and unshakable conviction that the literal resurrection of her body (and by extension all of ours) would allow her to come forth from the grave someday, and that death could claim no permanent victory. When other much-beloved family members have died, similar droplets of testimony were vouched safe to us -- we knew then, and the witness grows stronger with each passing year we will someday see them and be reunited beyond the grave. The Holy Ghost is the source of those powerful assurances as the Testator bears witness to our souls.

Beyond the witness, we are cleansed from sin and are born again and become converted to the truth when we receive the constant companionship of that member of the Godhead. Remember, it is an invitation to accept a gift from our Father in Heaven of the Holy Ghost, not an automatic berth in which we repose without effort on our part to comply to the terms of the covenant. Each week in the sacramental prayers on the bread and water symbols we covenant to remember Christ's atonement for us so that we may always have the Spirit of the Holy Ghost to be with us. (D&C 20:77; 79).

It goes without saying that nobody actually has that companionship of the Holy Ghost all the time, because no one is perfect and no one lives in the ideal and perfect state consistently. But we are admonished by the Spirit continually to do the very best we can, and to get enough of the companionship of the Holy Ghost to have our sins burned out of us as though by fire. And that is what we mean when we say "the baptism of fire," meaning the baptism of the Holy Ghost. That is symbolism that means dross and evil are being burned out of us as thoroughly as if a fire were set ablaze within us. It is the only way to become a new creature, as Alma explained.

So you become "born again." You become something new -- a new creature. There has been a discernible if not a complete change. There has been a true conversion. In the past you walked after the manner of the world, but now you walk as becomes a saint of God. 

The question is often asked, and sometimes we become discouraged, and sometimes we wonder, "How do I know that this change is happening?" My answer is that there are token payments made in spiritual confirmation that may not seem like much as they happen, but the fact that they are happening routinely in your life means you are becoming a partaker of the divine nature (see 2 Peter 1:4), even though you may not be in the Spirit every waking moment of your life -- the tokens you receive -- the "still, small voice" experiences along your journey -- are ample evidence that you are on the strait and narrow path leading toward eternal life despite your remaining imperfections.

We are a testimony-bearing people. Everywhere and always in our meetings somebody is saying, "I know that the gospel is true, or I know the Church is true, or I know the plan of salvation is true." The ultimate expression of knowledge is to get the witness that we are true. This is sound and this is good; Joseph Smith even went so far as to say, "This is good doctrine. It tastes good. I can taste the principles of eternal life, and so can you." (TPJS, 355). I love that way of expressing it! This is the way things ought to be. We ought to bear testimony nearly all the time, because when we bear testimony it strengthens the testimonies of other people. We are then partaking of a delicious meal together, feasting at the ample banquet table of the Lord. We get to dispense the tokens of eternal life to one another by the power of the Holy Ghost!

Sometimes it is more important to bear testimony than it is to teach doctrine. We have each had experience with that. Some do not have a strong doctrinal or scriptural foundation, but they are pillars of power in testimony. Don't ever excuse yourself from an expression of testimony because you may fear your lack in doctrinal horsepower. Bear testimony of the things the Holy Ghost has revealed to you. Remember what Joseph Smith said: "It is one thing to see the kingdom of God, and another thing to enter into it. We must have a change of heart to see the kingdom of God, and subscribe the articles of adoption to enter therein. No man can receive the Holy Ghost without receiving revelations. The Holy Ghost is a revelator." (TPJS, 328). The doctrines can be accumulated in due course.

I'm always intrigued with Alma's sudden and miraculous 180 degree turnaround. His testimony was acquired suddenly, instantly. It is not always thus. We may have testimonies without being converted. But all of us ought to be in the process of getting converted — and it is a process.

A person may get converted in a moment, miraculously. That is what happened to Alma the younger. He had been baptized in his youth, he had been promised the Holy Ghost, invited to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, but he had never received it. He thought himself superior in some way -- too knowledgeable, too sophisticated. He went off with the sons of Mosiah to destroy the Church and to do away with the teachings of his father, who in effect was President of the Church. He was fighting in opposition to the truth. He was like the college freshman who thinks he knows more than the Lord because he has learned a little science, and he may think the theory of evolution is more fact than the mere testimony of his parents. Alma was immersed in his rebellious state when this miraculous new light came into his soul. He was changed in an instant from his fallen and carnal state to a state of righteousness. His conversion is what the parents of wayward children dream about and hope for their own.

However, do not be deceived. This is not the way it happens with most people. With most of us true conversion, being born again, is a process. We go timid and furtive step by step by step, degree by degree, level by level, from a lower state to a higher, from grace to grace (see D&C 93:12-20 that describes this beautifully), until the time we can recognize within ourselves that we are wholly turned and passionately more interested in righteousness than wickedness. This means we gradually overcome -- one sin today, another sin tomorrow.

We perfect our lives by the power of the Holy Ghost building our altars of sacrifice brick by brick. I always liked the way Elder Neal A. Maxwell expressed it: "Real, personal sacrifice never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed!" (Ensign, May 1995, 68). We daily sacrifice our tendency to do wickedly. We do it by offering up our moral agency, the only really unique gift we can give back to God, since He has imbued us with everything else already. The conversion process goes on until it is completed, until we become, literally, as King Benjamin admonishes, saints of God instead of natural men (Mosiah 3:19).

We overuse a word in the Church: striving. It's useful only if we recognize that striving is not arriving. What we are striving to do is to be converted. It is not enough to have a testimony. We read in D&C 76:71-80 about the terrestrial kingdom. And it says that those who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus, do not obtain the kingdom of our God. If people who are not valiant in testimony go to the terrestrial kingdom, who is it that goes to the celestial, which is the kingdom of God? Obviously, the way you go to the celestial kingdom is to be valiant in testimony. I think it means we are working at it. Too often we see those who assent with their lips that the Church is a good idea, that it's a good way of life in which to raise a good family. We engage in a wishful "going along to get along" lack of commitment kind of fuzzy thinking. Instead, we need to make of our religion a working, living thing in our lives. The way we measure our performance in whether we are truly striving or just thinking we have arrived is embodied in three expressions: "Strengthen thy brethren," "Feed my sheep," and "Keep my commandments." (See John 15:7-14; 21:15-17; D&C 76:5-10).

Here's a self-correcting test proposed by Elder Bruce R. McConkie:

Try a little test on yourself. You know you have a testimony; that is not open to question. You already know the work is true. Are you converted? Have you been born again? Read the fifth chapter of Alma for the recitation of the tests [Alma poses 42 questions for your consideration] that tell a person whether he has been born again and how he knows. You know if you have been born again, or you know the degree to which you have been born again; it is the measure to which you keep the commandments and feed the Lord's sheep and strengthen your brethren. In other words, it is the measure of your involvement in the things of the Spirit, in the things of the Church.

Religion is not just a theological matter. It is not just a matter of analyzing some passages of scripture and coming up with some conclusions. Religion is a matter of doing something.

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world" (James 1:27). That is two things. It is involvement and service, which means righteous living. It is visiting the fatherless and the widows; it is strengthening your brethren; it is keeping the commandments, being thereby unspotted from the world.

Religion is a thing that has to live in the lives of people, and hence all these expressions to the effect that we show our faith by our works (James 2:18), and that we are not hearers only, but doers (James 1:22), or should be. You can be a hearer if all that is involved in religion is this matter of theology, of studying and analyzing passages of scripture. But you are a doer if you get religion into operation in your life. You are a hearer, in part at least, if all that you have is testimony. But you become a doer when you add to a testimony this pure conversion of which we are speaking. Peter is the classical example, as long as we understand that in the experiences of his life he was as he was because the Holy Ghost had not yet been given in full.

The Holy Ghost has been given in full in our day in the sense that the companionship of that member of the Godhead is available to us.

We want to be involved in the things of the Spirit. We do not want to sit on the sidelines and look in at some people who are converted. We want to be converted and participate in religion; we want to feel the promptings of the Spirit; we want to work miracles. We want to heal our sick; we want the gifts and graces that God gives the faithful. And they come when we get involved in the religion that he has so graciously and beneficently given us in this day. ("Be Ye Converted," BYU First Stake Conference, 11 February 1968).

"Keep the Commandments" - Here's How

The admonitions of prophets and the dictoms of Holy Writ to "keep the commandments" are legion in number. This simple declaration on its face seems easy enough, but then we think upon the lists of all those things we are admonished to do (or not do), and it seems the task becomes more daunting than we originally thought.

When one ponders the Christian way of life, and seeks to emulate Jesus in all He taught in His gospel, one can easily become overwhelmed with what seems to be the magnitude of the task to "keep the commandments". I remember well an encounter with a person not of our faith many years ago who "came close" to joining the Mormon church, he said, but "I just couldn't follow all the rules - there were too many," and he elected to remain as he was without the church.

Even people who do come into the Church often find kinship with my friend's observations. They flourish for a season, then fall by the wayside for a host of reasons. I've known too many returned missionaries who find it difficult to do the things they taught their investigators to do when they were teaching them the principles of the gospel. They suffer with living what I once called an "impossible gospel" of perfect compliance with a seemingly endless list of commandments.

President Harold B. Lee

It is hard to find a more iconic statement than the one offered by President Harold B. Lee in 1972, at his inaugural press conference after being named the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We even have a Primary song with the title to memorialize his statement. When asked what message he would give to the then-3 million members of the Church, he responded, "The greatest message that one in this position could give to the membership of the Church is to keep the commandments of God, for therein lies the safety of the Church and the safety of the individual. Keep the commandments. There could be nothing that I could say that would be a more powerful or important message today." (Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 85).

In the Bible, we read about a remarkable doctrine of being "born again". It comes in the story of a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, who came to Jesus by night so he would not be detected as a secret admirer of the Savior. He declares his testimony of the Savior's identity, when he said:

Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man he born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Then the Savior added a final meaningful observation: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." (John 3:2-8).

There are many commentaries that have been offered on those verses, but perhaps the thoughts I offer here will be sufficient. We must be born again to even see the kingdom of God. This is often the experience of new converts as they describe what first attracted them to the Church. Without the benefit of all the commandments, or as we might say, "the law", they are spiritually attracted to the teachings of the Savior. They become spiritually "born again" before they are shown the long lists of commandments. It suggests that to become truly converted, one has to have some spiritual change in order to know the gospel or to first see the Church. There must be some kind of spiritual experience.

And then subsequent to that spiritual enlightening, to enter into the kingdom of God — to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — there has to be a new birth "of water" and "of the Spirit" after they become more familiar with the commandments the Lord has given us. This entrance into the kingdom, of course, is baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and the laying on of the hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

The final observation I would offer is that how this spiritual rebirth takes place is just as impossible to explain as to explain where the wind comes from or where it goes. It is a spiritual reality that is as mysterious in its definition and as varied in its manifestations. It may be as elusive as a moonbeam, just as the origins and direction of the wind. And notwithstanding its elusive nature, it is precisely what makes our ability to keep the commandments possible.

I would suggest that being born again spiritually is the vital key to keeping all the commandments. Think of it this way: You do not know all the civil laws on the books in your city, state and nation, because mastering such a task would be nearly impossible. Lawyers go to school to learn those laws and how they are applied, but no one can attempt to master them all. However, if you as a citizen are determined to "be a good boy" and follow the light of your conscience within your heart, you will seldom run afoul of all those laws of which you have no knowledge.

I have known many, many Latter-day Saints who could not possibly come close to being or ever becoming gospel scholars capable of learning all God's laws. But they know and recognize the powerful influence of the Holy Ghost in their lives, and they live the commandments to the best of their ability without even knowing them in fine. The law was never written for "born-again" saints who know and recognize the Spirit in their lives and give heed to its promptings. Living in the Spirit assures compliance with "the law", whether it be God's law or civil law.

Elder Orson F. Whitney

Elder Orson F. Whitney expanded on the magnitude of the scope of the commandments we have been given in these words: "The principles which compose the gospel — and not merely the first principles, but all that have been or will ever be revealed — are self-existent and everlasting in their nature. They have existed from all eternity, and will endure through all eternities to come, for they are absolute, essential, uncreated truths, without beginning of day or end of years, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Concerning the time, place, and method of their compilation it is not man's present province to enquire." (Elder's Journal 4:26.)

We live in a day when the words of Nephi are truer than ever: "Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do. Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark. For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way [get baptized], and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do." (2 Nephi 32:2-4, emphasis mine).

If you are currently a member of the Church, care-worn and still suffering under the illusion you can and should be toiling harder and harder to keep all the commandments of God perfectly before you will be an acceptable candidate for eternal life, think deeply on this message of liberation. You are like one of His lost little lambs. Embrace the Spirit instead and begin feasting upon the words of Christ. Accept the embrace of His loving arms around you. If you do, you are promised you will know the truth of all things and you will in process of time be keeping all of God's commandments without the stress that now accompanies your efforts under the law that is impossible to keep perfectly. Rely instead upon the perfection of the Savior to deliver you from the demands of justice. He is your Redeemer.

If you are one who became weary and lost your way in paths that now seem twisted, corrupted and confusing, turn around and come back home. He welcomes and searches for all His lost lambs in whatever paths they may have wandered. The path back into His warm embrace is the same for you. Become "born again" by feasting on the words of Christ, seeking for the spiritual experiences you have been lacking, and come back into the light of the Holy Ghost. You will find your mind embracing and eagerly welcoming the principles that comprise the gospel. These truths in the words of Elder Whitney that are "absolute, essential, uncreated truths, without beginning of day or end of years, the same yesterday, today, and forever" will begin to cast aside the scales of darkness that have shrouded your view until now. You will be "born again" and that rebirth will be glorious beyond description.

Maintaining Our Spiritual Clocks*

Helen and Brent Goates

My father, L. Brent Goates, continues his tradition of writing to his former missionaries every six months at General Conference time. Last night I dropped by his home to see if he needed my help. "No," he replied, "it's all done! I figure as long as I'm able I should be as independent as I can be." Those words are coming from the lips of a man who is now in his 92nd year. It's no small feat for him to produce this semi-annual missive, messages he styles "Heart Lines." He first lines it up on the page in his old IBM Selectric (yes, at least one still exists). He types it several times until it approaches perfection. Then he drives himself to Kinkos to get 100 copies, individually signs each one, then folds them and stuffs each envelope after addressing them, seals them and licks a stamp for each. With very few editing corrections, I share it with his permission:

Almost every person and family has a precious story from their lifetime which is often associated with the possession of some treasured artifact or heirloom. These are tucked away in our memories or attics until some event causes their emergence. To validate this conclusion I refer you to current series on the BYU educational television channel entitled “My Story Trek.” Here the producer goes into a town, neighborhood and finally a house, chosen completely at random, and offers to televise spontaneously their precious story. After some persuasion most people agree to it because they do have a story they want to preserve in memory.

Of our five boys our late son, Drew (1952-2011), was the most sentimental toward family objects and traditions. He once presented to me a list of 14 items, requesting the documented history of each treasured physical possession or family story so he could pass on such a record to his posterity.

Number one at the top of his list was “Grandma’s Mantle Clock.” He had been fascinated by it as a child and talked about it so much my mother donated it to him as a keepsake. It now lies in a protective box where he left it, marked “Grandma’s Mantle Clock – Very Fragile.”

This is no ordinary clock. It’s a windup clock. That is, it is necessary every seven or eight days to wind up the mechanism with a key. If this is not done at such regular intervals, the clock eventually begins to lose time, its chimes become sluggish and off-tone. Finally, it stops until it is rewound again.

Great care is necessary in the rewinding process. If wound too tightly, the mechanism seizes up, or if not tight enough the process must be repeated too frequently. It requires a delicate, sensitive feeling to determine just how much tension is needed without applying too much.

When I think about the times I rewound this clock as a boy growing up in her home, and consider my now-declining physical condition, I think how nice it would be if I could somehow restore my physical powers to their youthful vigor in a manner just as simple as that.

In some ways, and to some degree, I can effect a partial rejuvenation through exercise, rest and proper nourishment. I realize, however, that my physical clock is gradually winding down. My mechanism, “very fragile,” is becoming increasingly sluggish. The chimes are now less vibrant and sometimes a little out-of-pitch (maybe even out-of-sorts too?). Someday, maybe soon, my clock will stop altogether, despite all my efforts to keep it going.

It is so also with the physical clock in each one of us. It is part of God’s plan. Our time in mortality is but one phase of an eternal existence. Gratefully, as our physical clock winds down we have the assurance through Christ’s atonement of a new beginning and even great possibilities as other glorious phases open up.

As I think about these sobering realities, there comes to mind another figurative clock that operates within me. It is my “spiritual clock.” It has some similarities to the physical one. It, too, needs regular winding to stay on time and to keep its true tone. Unlike the physical clock, however, the spiritual one is not necessarily destined for dissolution.

In fact, with proper attention and regular care it grows more vigorous, more perfect in its operation, more clear and resonant in its tones. But this is not an automatic process. Just as with the fragile clock on the mantle, unless there is a regular, careful winding up of the mechanism a spiritual sluggishness develops, the spiritual tone becomes off-key, and unless something is done to correct the winding-down process, the clock can stop.

In today’s spiritually decadent environment spiritual clock that do not receive regular attention can wind down very rapidly. Men are mortal and beset by many human frailties. It is so easy to be caught up with the complexities of life’s pursuits and snagged by ever-present Satanic temptations which lure us into sinful ways.

Thus, all of us must seek the ennobling compulsion to “wind-up” our spiritual clocks. Just as we found exercise, proper nourishment and rest are essential to our physical well-being, so are such religious and spiritual activities as prayer, scripture study and Sabbath worship, partaking of the sacrament and unselfish service to others, all necessary for our spiritual vigor. Without these continuing influences in our lives, our spiritual clocks wind down and we distance ourselves from God.

Consider more deeply these spiritual lifesavers –

PRAYER: Enjoy again “Amulek’s Anthem,” which says in part: “Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening. . . But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness. Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.” (Alma 34:20-27).

SCRIPTURES: “Search the scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me.” (John 5:39).

SABBATH WORSHIP and PARTAKING OF THE SACRAMENT: “But remember that on this day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren and before the Lord.” (D&C 59:12-13).

UNSELFISH SERVICE TO OTHERS: The Savior (King) recalls our service, though we may have forgotten, to the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger and prisoner and says: “Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. . . Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:31-40).

Beloved missionaries: The gospel is true, so let us be true to the gospel by keeping our spiritual clocks in the best of condition. We will be eternally happy if we do so.

*Based on a sermon theme by Elder Dean L. Larsen

Always, your friend,

President L. Brent Goates

A Lifetime of Being "Truly Converted"

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we talk a lot about being "truly converted." There seems to be a silent gradation of testimony among the members. Being converted is not the same as being "truly" converted. Being converted once upon a time is not sufficient to carry one throughout life in mortality. The quality of one's conversion is a lifetime pursuit, one never to be taken for granted or guaranteed for even a moment.

President Lorenzo Snow

Tomorrow's Melchizedek Priesthood and Relief Society lesson throughout the Church will come from the teachings of President Lorenzo Snow, who tells a moving story about how he initially acquired his testimony. He was baptized and confirmed in June 1836 at the age of 22. Later, he wrote: “I believed they [the Latter-day Saints] had the true religion, and I joined the Church. So far my conversion was merely a matter of reason.” He remembered, “I was perfectly satisfied that I had done what was wisdom for me to do under the circumstances.” Although he was content for a time with this understanding, he soon yearned for a special manifestation of the Holy Ghost. He said, “I had had no manifestation, but I expected one.”

The key element of his story that leaped from the page for me was "I expected one." Do we expect to have spiritual gifts in our lives today? Do we expect answers to our prayers when we offer up our petitions to a loving Father in Heaven? Do we expect to receive eternal life through our faithfulness? It is a common expression among prophets I have known personally to expect miracles when they lay their hands on someone's head. I include in my definition of "prophets" both those who are set apart specifically to lead the Church and those who are not leading anyone but their family members.

Lorenzo Snow continues: “This manifestation did not immediately follow my baptism, as I expected,” he recalled. “But, although the time was deferred, when I did receive it, its realization was more perfect, tangible and miraculous than even my strongest hopes had led me to anticipate. One day while engaged in my studies, some two or three weeks after I was baptized, I began to reflect upon the fact that I had not obtained a knowledge of the truth of the work — that I had not realized the fulfillment of the promise: ‘He that doeth my will shall know of the doctrine;’ [see John 7:17] and I began to feel very uneasy.

“I laid aside my books, left the house and wandered around through the fields under the oppressive influence of a gloomy, disconsolate spirit, while an indescribable cloud of darkness seemed to envelop me. I had been accustomed, at the close of the day, to retire for secret prayer to a grove, a short distance from my lodgings, but at this time I felt no inclination to do so.

“The spirit of prayer had departed, and the heavens seemed like brass over my head. At length, realizing that the usual time had come for secret prayer, I concluded I would not forego my evening service, and, as a matter of formality, knelt as I was in the habit of doing, and in my accustomed retired place, but not feeling as I was wont to feel."

Have you experienced the "indescribable cloud of darkness," doubt and even fear in your pursuit of the truth about God? Have you felt discouraged in that pursuit? Have you ignored the promptings you've felt to seek a higher path in spirituality, regardless of which of the many paths leading to religious endeavor you have pursued? This experience of Lorenzo Snow seems all too typical in the mortal realm. It is certainly reminiscent of what happened to Joseph Smith in another grove of trees in upper state New York on a spring morning in 1830. It seems consistent with everyone I have ever known who has confronted and overcome the powers of evil so prevalent in our lives today. That Satan would do all in his power to dismantle one's faith in the pursuit of the knowledge God has promised us should not come as a big surprise.

Then in that moment of despair, Lorenzo continues: “I had no sooner opened my lips in an effort to pray, than I heard a sound, just above my head, like the rustling of silken robes, and immediately the Spirit of God descended upon me, completely enveloping my whole person, filling me from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, and O, the joy and happiness I felt! No language can describe the instantaneous transition from a dense cloud of mental and spiritual darkness into a refulgence of light and knowledge, as it was at that time imparted to my understanding. I then received a perfect knowledge that God lives, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and of the restoration of the Holy Priesthood, and the fulness of the gospel.

“It was a complete baptism — a tangible immersion in the heavenly principle or element, the Holy Ghost; and even more real and physical in its effects upon every part of my system than the immersion by water; dispelling forever, so long as reason and memory last, all possibility of doubt or fear in relation to the fact handed down to us historically, that the ‘Babe of Bethlehem’ is truly the Son of God; also the fact that He is now being revealed to the children of men, and communicating knowledge, the same as in the apostolic times. I was perfectly satisfied, as well I might be, for my expectations were more than realized, I think I may safely say, in an infinite degree.

“I cannot tell how long I remained in the full flow of this blissful enjoyment and divine enlightenment, but it was several minutes before the celestial element, which filled and surrounded me, began gradually to withdraw. On arising from my kneeling posture, with my heart swelling with gratitude to God beyond the power of expression, I felt — I knew that he had conferred on me what only an Omnipotent Being can confer — that which is of greater value than all the wealth and honors worlds can bestow.” (Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, Chapter 3).

Unlike the "born-again" Christians, many of whom can point to a once-in-a-lifetime moment where they opened their heart to God and received a witness, Lorenzo Snow went forward growing in faith and light and truth from that moment on, never wavering in his formative experience with the witness he received from the Holy Ghost.

And so it is and must be with each of us. We do not believe in a "once and done" kind of conversion. True conversion is a lifetime pursuit. Our initial introduction to the power of the Holy Ghost is only a good beginning.

Later in his life, reflecting upon this early experience, President Snow said: "The foundation upon which we have placed our faith is grand and glorious. I know this for myself. I had been in this Church but a short time when I succeeded in securing the most perfect knowledge that there was a God, that there was a Son, Jesus Christ, and that Joseph Smith was acknowledged of God as His prophet. It was a knowledge that no man could communicate. It came through a revelation from the Almighty. That is a very good starting point for a Latter-day Saint, and it is something that every person, who has any ambition at all to advance in this path, will need at some time or other. He will come into circumstances of such a nature that he will need strength, and that strength will come from a knowledge of the fact that the path in which he is traveling will lead him to the possession of his highest and best desires." (Ibid., emphasis mine).

All who seek truth independently and sincerely are offered this promise at the end of The Book of Mormon:

"Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

"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.

"And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." (Moroni 10:3-5).

What person living on the earth today would not want to know and understand "the truth of all things?" In a world filled with contradictory voices seeking to influence others in so many disparate paths, who would not welcome the gift of the Holy Ghost to guide them unerringly back into God's presence? Who would not welcome the gift of discernment to be enabled to sift and distill truth from the chaff that blows in the wind of public opinion indiscriminately?

Lorenzo Snow believed spiritually what he came to know at first only intellectually. He believed the pursuit of light and truth was an ongoing endeavor. Said he, so long ago: "I feel that the Latter-day Saints are advancing; that they are receiving an education. We are getting up higher and higher. We are advancing to a higher condition and sphere and to a higher plane, and we are receiving such an education that the wisdom of the world with all its attainments and false doctrines and principles, will have no effect upon the Latter-day Saints, for they are rising above the theories and hypothesis of human inventions and soaring in things of truth that raise the mind, exalt the understanding, and establishing them[selves] more and more fully in the true principles of life and glory. We are filled in our hearts with these truths and we cannot tell the day or the hour in which our faith has been increased, but we feel, when we look back over the last week, month or year, that we have increased in faith and in the knowledge of faith and power of God; we know that we have got nearer our God and we feel that we are in fellowship with God our Father." (Ibid.).

So my question to all of us is this: How is it we can constantly "be soaring in things of truth" day by day? By what instrumentality is it possible? What is required on our part to make this a reality as we pursue our goals here in mortality? How is it our spiritual progress can be ongoing when our "mortality" constantly impedes our innate desires for spiritual growth?

President Snow has an answer: "Every man has got to learn to stand upon his own knowledge; he cannot depend upon his neighbor; every man must be independent; he must depend upon his God for himself entirely. It depends upon himself to see if he will stem the tide of trouble and overcome the impediments that are strewn in the pathway of life to prevent his progress. A man can get information by the operations of the Holy Spirit, and he approaches to God and increases in his faith in proportion as he is diligent." (Ibid.).

So what is required on our part is diligence. I believe it is inherent in our quest for truth that we become more consistent, more earnest, more inclined to be involved in spiritual pursuits. That includes our reading materials, our proximity to spiritual things, and the choice of our companions in life. Like singing, it is much easier to carry a tune when standing next to an accomplished singer in a choir. Our choice of what we permit into our lives to influence us is in direct proportion to the degree we rise in light and truth. If you want to know whether Joseph Smith saw what he said he saw, don't ask your local Catholic priest what he thinks about it. You can go to God personally in prayer and ask a simple question: "Heavenly Father, did you really call Joseph Smith as a latter-day prophet to restore the ancient church, and did you appear to him in a grove of trees in Palmyra, New York?" That might be followed by a sincere question, "Is The Book of Mormon really true?"

Too many times in life, I believe we do not really want to know the answers to difficult questions for fear we might learn the truth then have to actually do something about the knowledge we receive. And that involves change, something we humans seem loathe to undertake. As I grow older some things tend to go up with little or no effort required by me - my blood pressure, my cholesterol and my weight. Ignoring these vital risk factors with my family history is something I cannot afford to do. Not knowing those numbers actually CAN hurt me, just as not knowing the truth about God and our relationship to Him can hurt us when we are not diligent in seeking Him. Once we are on task, diligently involved in our own individual struggles with the aid of the Holy Ghost to guide us, we begin to accelerate in our spiritual quest. As with my charting my health risk factors which I desire to watch go down, down, down, the inverse relationship with spiritual matters must ideally look like a graph line going up, up, up. These are all individual matters and must be pursued diligently, as President Lorenzo Snow suggests.

In 1882, he would observe, "There are men among us upon whom the Spirit of the Almighty once rested mightily, whose intentions were once as good and pure as those of angels, and who made covenants with God that they would serve Him and keep His commandments under every and all circumstances. . . But how is it now with some of those Elders? They do not feel so to-day. Their affections are set upon the things of this world which the Lord has enabled them to acquire, that they wait now until they are called, and in many instances when called, they obey more out of a desire to retain their standing and position, than a real heart-felt love of the labor to which they may have been called.

"This is the condition of all men, no matter how well they start out, who allow their thoughts and affections to run after the world and its ways, and it is a plain and indisputable proof that when this is the case with men they love the world more than they love the Lord and His work upon the earth. Having received the light of the everlasting Gospel, and partaken of the good things of the kingdom, and being of the seed of Israel and heirs to great and glorious promises, we should labor with fidelity and diligence to accomplish what God has designed to do through us; we should be men and women of faith and power as well as good works, and when we discover ourselves careless or indifferent in the least, it should be sufficient for us to know it in order to mend our ways and return to the path of duty." (Ibid.).

True conversion, lasting lifetime conversion, consists not in making merely a good beginning. There were dozens of men who were close to the Prophet Joseph Smith and had many visions, manifestations, and visitations from heavenly messengers. How, one would ask, could such men then lose their way spiritually? Ask yourselves, if an angel were to appear to me, show me the gold plates from which Joseph translated The Book of Mormon, and then bear a solemn witness to me that God lives and Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, would I ever depart from that sure knowledge? Yet many did, even some in the upper room of the Whitney Store in Kirtland who were eyewitnesses of a visitation from the Father and the Son. Some rebelled against Joseph's leadership, as President Snow attests. There truly is a witness more powerful than sight.

It behooves each of us to wake up if we are currently asleep spiritually. When all that we hold dear in this mortality is stripped away, what will we still possess? It will be the priceless witness of who we are as spiritually begotten sons and daughters of God, redeemed from our fallen condition by the Lord Jesus Christ. We must come to understand that absolute truth by the power of the Holy Ghost and know that Joseph Smith restored these precious truths in our day, that we are led by true prophets today, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true and living church upon the earth today that is infinitely and eternally sanctioned by God. (D&C 1:30).

Concludes President Snow: "And if there is any man or woman that is not fairly awake, may the time soon come that the Spirit and power of the Holy Ghost may be upon them, that it may teach them things past, present and to come, and by the assistance of the Lord, plant righteousness and the principle of truth in their systems, that they may be prepared for the storms that are coming." (Ibid.).

The storms will surely come. They will be more intense as time unfolds. Many of the storms of life have already battered us. We wonder how it could be worse than it has already been. But many more will follow. We can find our anchor in Jesus Christ. Said Nephi: "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen." (2 Nephi 31:20-21).

Elder John A. Widtsoe

Let me offer one final word to those who are troubled by all the political upheaval we are witnessing in America and around the world today. In the midst of the World War II, an almost unimaginable international conflagration the modern world had seldom known, Elder John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles counseled people who were worried back then. Nazism was on the march, there was war in the Pacific, and nation after nation seemed to be drawn into war. This is what Brother Widtsoe said in 1942:

"Above the roar of cannon and airplane, the maneuvers and plans of men, the Lord always determines the tide of battle. So far and no farther does He permit the evil one to go in his career to create human misery. The Lord is ever victorious; He is the Master to whose will Satan is subject. Though all hell may rage, and men may follow evil, the purposes of the Lord will not fail." (Conference Report, April 1942, 34).

We are reminded: "The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught. For God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round. Remember, remember that it is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men." (D&C 3:1-3).

No matter what happens to America in the second term of President Barack Obama, the future is known in advance by God our Heavenly Father, and you may rest assured He has made ample provision for all the contingencies. Let your testimony of God's existence and His reality grow and flourish in the meantime, for He will never leave you comfortless if you are truly converted.

42 Questions for Sunday

A few years ago I spoke in one of the wards in our stake as the regular third Sunday high council speaker.  With ample time to develop a topic (a rarity) I felt impressed to revisit the 5th Chapter of Alma. 

As the president of the church and also the head of government as chief judge, Alma decided to appoint another chief judge and go out among his people to ". . . pull down by the word of God all the pride and craftiness and all the contentions which were among his people, seeing no way that he might reclaim them save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them."  (Alma 4:19).

Later in the day on that Sunday afternoon, I received a call from an older, venerable and kind brother in that ward who declared, "That was the greatest talk I have ever heard in my whole life."  All I did was ask Alma's 42 questions. 

It might be a worthwhile Sunday activity today for you and your family to consider your answers.

ALMA 5 – How Would You Answer These Forty-two Questions if the Prophet Asked You?


1. And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, you that belong to this church, have you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers?

2. Yea, and have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and long-suffering towards them?

3. And moreover, have ye sufficiently retained in remembrance that he has delivered their souls from hell?

4. And now I ask of you, my brethren, were they destroyed?

5. And again I ask, were the bands of death broken, and the chains of hell which encircled them about, were they loosed?

6. And now I ask of you on what conditions are they saved?

7. Yea, what grounds had they to hope for salvation?

8. What is the cause of their being loosed from the bands of death, yea, and also the chains of hell?

9. Behold, I can tell you – did not my father Alma believe in the words which were delivered by the mouth of Abinadi?

10. And was he not a holy prophet?

11. Did he not speak the words of God, and my father Alma believe them?

12. And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God?

13. Have ye received his image in your countenances?

14. Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?

15. Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you?

16. Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?

17. I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?

18. Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say – Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth – and that he will save you?

19. Or otherwise, can ye imagine yourselves brought before the tribunal of God with your souls filled with guilt and remorse, having a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness, yea, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the commandments of God?

20. I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands?

21. I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances?

22. I say unto you, can ye think of being saved when you have yielded yourselves to become subjects to the devil?

23. And now I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with blood and all manner of filthiness?

24. Behold, what will these things testify against you?

25. Behold will they not testify that ye are murderers, yea, and also that ye are guilty of all manner of wickedness?

26. Behold, my brethren, do ye suppose that such an one can have a place to sit down in the kingdom of God, with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, and also all the holy prophets, whose garments are cleansed and are spotless, pure and white?

27. And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?

28. Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God?

29. Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble?

30. That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins?

31. Behold, are ye stripped of pride?

32. Behold, I say, is there one among you who is not stripped of envy?

33. And again I say unto you, is there one among you that doth make a mock of his brother, or that heapeth upon him persecutions?

34. And now if ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd, of what fold are ye?

35. Behold, I say unto you, that the devil is your shepherd, and ye are of his fold; and now, who can deny this?

36. Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself?

37. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?

38. And now my beloved brethren, I say unto you, can ye withstand these sayings; yea, can ye lay aside these things, and trample the Holy One under your feet; yea, can ye be puffed up in the pride of your hearts; yea, will ye still persist in the wearing of costly apparel and setting your hearts upon the vain things of the world, upon your riches?

39. Yea, will ye persist in supposing that ye are better one than another; yea, will ye persist in the persecution of your brethren, who humble themselves and do walk after the holy order of God, wherewith they have been brought into this church, having been sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and they do bring forth works which are meet for repentance – Yea, and will you persist in turning your backs upon the poor, and the needy, and in withholding your substance from them?

40.  For the names of the righteous shall be written in the book of life, and unto them will I grant an inheritance at my right hand.  And now, my brethren, what have ye to say against this?

41. For what shepherd is there among you having many sheep doth not watch over them, that the wolves enter not and devour his flock?

42. Behold, if a wolf enter his flock doth he not drive him out?

And the last summary verse (62) in this chapter says:

"I speak by way of command unto you that belong to the church; and unto those who do not belong to the church I speak by way of invitation, saying: Come and be baptized unto repentance that ye also may be partakers of the fruit of the tree of life."