Why the Church is as True as the Gospel

Several years ago, Eugene England published a series of essays he titled, Why the Church is as True as the Gospel. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1986). It's a serviceable title, and remains intriguing as I borrow it for today's post. He also wrote another compilation entitled, Dialogues with Myself. (Midvale, Utah: Orion Books, 1984).

Eugene England

Said England: ". . . the Church community is blessed, not fractured, by those who express themselves sincerely and openly — even their disagreements and their vulnerability — rather than those who keep silent in public but criticize in private or harbor resentment or guilt or gnaw alone on the bones of their failures and hurts." (Dialogues, 55). I believe that's a useful message for us to consider.

In the Church we encounter imperfection in all its stripes and hues. Each month that diversity is on full display in our fast and testimony meeting, where anyone in the audience who feels so inclined can either walk to the pulpit and testify, or stand in their pew and share whatever they feel inclined to discuss. It's free-wheeling unscripted worship at its best and routinely inspiring, as it was again today in the Woodland Ward. Some people who leave the Church say they still can have Jesus without His Church. I guess that's true for them, but I have always rejected it.

We are prone to believe in the Church that the gospel in its purity and perfection is somehow superior to the messiness we find in the organization of the Church. It isn't so much the institutional organization itself with which we take exception. The organization of the Church is really rather tidy in its vertical top-down efficiency. Rather, it's the people who are messy. We give them all stunning responsibility to administer in all facets of the ordinances necessary to salvation. We teach and instruct on a regular basis, then we get out of their way and allow them to do their very best using their agency and their divinely-appointed gift of revelation. It's awe-inspiring to me that we entrust all these truths in the hands of eighteen-year-old young men and nineteen-year-old young women and turn them loose throughout the world to invite all who will to come unto Christ and learn more.

In conversation late one night last week with a visiting son-in-law who is currently serving as a bishop, this theme was re-born in my mind, inviting further examination.

He spoke of a dear friend who had left the Church after being shattered by a book written about plural marriage (popularly referred to inaccurately as "polygamy.") I commented that I had read the book years ago when it was first published, and felt it to be not only faith-building for me personally, but I believed it represented the de facto best book ever written on the topic. It's highlighted at the right on my recommended reading list, entitled In Sacred Loneliness, by Todd Compton.

I was inspired and deeply edified by the multiple accounts and compelling evidence of the supernal spiritual gifts of these incredible women. That their lives were hard is an understatement. That they endured what they did is testament to their faith. That's what I was focused on, to the exclusion of what to some would seem abhorrent behavior in the Victorian age. Seriously, compared to what we observe today, can what happened in the Mormon experience in Nauvoo in the 1840s even be compared?

We mused together about the differences in his friend's and my reaction to Compton's book. It has been my experience with many, many people over the years that a little knowledge about Joseph Smith is a dangerous thing. Reading one book about plural marriage is not advisable. If you want to know, really know, about the Prophet Joseph Smith, you're advised to do a very deep dive. Get your hands on everything you can find about the man, the times in which he lived, the contemporaries who knew and studied him carefully, and then calculate the long odds against the stellar achievements of one so young.

Joseph Smith

If you are the least bit objective after that degree of effort, even if you can't muster the faith to believe he was a divinely-appointed prophet of God, you must conclude Joseph Smith was no ordinary man. What made him tick? Why did he do the things he did? Where did he find his motivation, his devotion, his native optimism in the face of the almost insurmountable opposition he routinely faced?

He was dead at age 38, assassinated by the hands of men who believed they were doing the will of God to dispatch this pretender from the face of the earth. Gather your sources as you research his life from his avowed enemies, his devoted apologists and his staunchest advocates. Consider long and persistently his mission and his legacy. It isn't enough to encounter your first jolts in the ride, then leave it alone and wander off disillusioned with your first taste of something sour. I've described my journey of discovery in that advice to you, and I can testify the man was everything and more he purported to be, imperfections and all. What he left for all of us was solid gold revelation from God and he penned it in spite of his imperfections.

With Joseph and all his successors, one must overcome the initial bite of the bitterness of lemons, it seems, until one acquires a taste for lemonade.

The reason one must persist in their quest for understanding of mortal men who are called to the work in this dispensation is the perfection of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the Church we rub shoulders with one another to learn to forgive our contemporaries. It isn't enough to come to know the gospel is true. That's the easier task. No, we must learn on a deeper more cognitive level by experimenting on each other in overlooking the sins and follies of our fellow saints, nurturing, serving and loving them as Christ would and did in the meridian-day Church of Jesus Christ.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Frankly, in some people we encounter in the latter-day Church there is little of "saint" and a lot more of "sinner." It seems we must see the Church as a hospital for sinners, not a rest home for saints, as Elder Neal A. Maxwell once reminded us. We can learn to love one another in spite of the stench of each others' sins. That includes most of all our leaders. I remember being seated on a plane years ago when I traveled a lot and was routinely upgraded to first class. Across the aisle was a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, who was served a cup of coffee "black without sugar." That was his order and it was not decaffeinated. Shock. Bitter lemons. But who was I to judge that act? I had my own list of cherished sins that maybe weren't quite as obvious.

That's why the Church is as true as the gospel. One must come to appreciate and value the mess in organized religion. Be wary of those who say they have no use for organized religion. I used this rejoinder to some who told me that: "Then come join the Mormons, we're as disorganized as you can imagine!" When we have learned by long years of experience to validate one another despite everything that is so obvious in shortcomings and backsliding, then and only then are we becoming "truly converted" mature disciples of Jesus Christ.

I routinely ponder the imperfections I observe in how the Church gets administered. Yes, I see things done differently than how I would do them, but for the most part these are minor irritants and don't amount to much. For some it's a parlor game to point out the obvious dereliction so readily available to all observers. On the macro level, think of all the departures from the procedural norms one has observed from Joseph to Thomas S. Monson. Avowed enemies of the Church love to point out the differences in the statements of earlier dead prophets compared to the living oracles among us. It is a test for many to follow the living prophets.

On the micro level, regardless of which granular ward to which we belong, there are sometimes jarring experiences to which we are exposed that try our faith and challenge our testimonies. To those who are jarred by their discoveries of the dereliction of others, including Joseph and all his successors down through and including local leaders, I would say hold on, anchor yourselves in the scriptures, and continue your search for truth on both the macro and the micro level.

Seek to become flexible enough that your testimony is not "brittle," as son-in-law Phil Sharp described it. Brittle testimony seems unable to allow for imperfection in others. Making that accommodation and pointing it out publicly without harboring and festering in quiet solitude or whispered gossip is what an active faith requires. I have little use for private critics of others and Church policy, and I routinely have to remind myself to bite my tongue when so tempted. I hate that fault in me when the words escape my lips and I work to stifle those expressions. I've noticed my negativity when allowed to escape my lips rarely affects anyone but me.

In both cases at the micro and the macro level, change is inevitable. Change in individuals comes in the form of repentance, and in the institutional Church it also involves almost constant adaptation in policies and procedures in a changing world as the growing Church expands around the globe.

Being anchored in absolute unchanging doctrine, however, will help you absorb the shocks that often accompany a dynamic organization filled with people who routinely are mired in addiction, ineptitude, sin, even deceit and fraud.

I grew up in a home where scathing criticism and judgment of others was routine. As I got to know those people later in life, I discovered that many of the faults and frailties of which they had been accused by my father were simply not true as I formed my own opinions of those people. To the degree my own children may have detected that fault in me, I am repenting. Please forgive me. To them and to myself I would say, don't be the voice of private criticism. Instead, be the public voice for testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel principles as they are being tested and tried in the hearts and minds of imperfect people among whom you serve, love and follow in faith.

That's why the Church is at least as true as the gospel. I don't believe you can have one without the other.

The Witness More Powerful Than Sight

Jesus Christ by Chambers

Yesterday as I was researching something else, I stumbled onto a site I hadn't anticipated. There was a painting by an artist named Chambers that I recognized from many years ago. The first time I saw it was when I was in the office of President Harold B. Lee in the Church Office Building. That same print now hangs in my father's office at his home (the former home of President Lee). Several years ago I did some research and found a larger print in a Catholic bookstore and had it framed.

The rest of the story is there is an account President Lee preserved and glued to the back of the painting that may help clear up the speculations I saw on the site to which I made reference above. This is what President Lee attached to the back of the painting by Chambers:

"I have something that to me is a very personal and sacred experience. The late Samuel O. Bennion, who presided for many years down in the Central States Mission, and later became a member of the First Council of Seventy, came into my office one day and he showed me a picture of an artist's conception of the Savior, and he said, 'How do you like this representation of the Master?' Now, as we know, there was no photograph. Some folks dress up foolishly and think they are trying to make themselves look like the Savior today, and it is a rather ridiculous spectacle and I am sure the Lord would not be proud to be so represented. I said to him, 'I think that is marvelous,' because here was a face of strength. I have seen the pictures of Hoffman and sometimes He is almost pictured as an effeminate weak person and I never liked that portrayal, but here was one - He had eyes that were piercing, He had the kind of a look that could be stern, and yet I could see him tender towards a little child, taking the little child in His arms, and I said, 'that is the most wonderful representation I have ever seen. That is the way I picture the Savior in my mind.' And he said, 'I will get you one of those pictures.' And he said, 'I will tell you why that means so much to me. While I was presiding over the mission, the late Elder Orson F. Whitney, who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and a close friend and an associate of President David O. McKay, was about that same stature, tall, handsome (some of you older folks will remember) and he said, as we toured the mission, Elder Whitney told me about a personal visitation he had had from his Lord, and he said, contrary to many people's description, the Savior was a large man, as tall or larger than I in stature, and he described him so accurately that it was fixed in my mind, and when I came back to conference I stopped in Chicago and went to the art gallery and there I asked to see all the artist's conceptions of how the Savior looked from what descriptions they had, and I came across this one by an artist by the name of Chambers, this came the nearest to the description of Orson F. Whitney.'

"After several weeks there came this picture and that night Samuel O. Bennion passed away, and I suppose I still owe him for that picture that I have hanging on the wall just back of me. As I walk from one side of the room to the other, (you have seen great paintings do this), His eyes seem to follow. If I go to the right or to the left, He's there. It's as though I am feeling what I know is the truth, that we who occupy places of responsibility are under the constant surveillance of the Lord who is the head of this Church. President Joseph Fielding Smith isn't the head of this Church, the head of this Church is our Lord and Master, over the Church which bears His name. President Joesph Fielding Smith is the presiding authority, the earthly representative here upon the earth, but his is the Lord's Church and that is why it is called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in these latter days, and that is why we call it by that name." (President Harold B. Lee, during his tenure as the 1st Counselor in the First Presidency).

Jesus the Christ, by Del Parson

So that's the story about Harold B. Lee's association with this picture. Eventually, Del Parson would come along and produce a similar painting of Christ in a red robe, that is more commonly associated with the Church today. There are perhaps thousands of artists' representations of what Christ might look like, and many recent artists have contributed much to the body of work, Liz Lemon Swindle and Simon Dewey to name two.

Frequently, members of the Church speculate (there is no other word for it) on who among the General Authorities may have seen the Savior while they were living in mortality. It's nothing more than a parlor game, really, since those who may have had that experience will rarely disclose it, and those who haven't are prone to speculate. My experience with President Lee and others leads me to offer this counsel: Take their public statements and read them for the light and truth you may glean from them and go no further.

Clyde Williams did a masterful job of compiling the Teachings of Harold B. Lee several years ago. From that inspiring collection I have drawn a sampling of those expressions of testimony from President Lee. Please note how many times President Lee uses the expression, "a witness more powerful than sight:"

There has come to me in these last few days a deepening and reassuring faith. I can't leave this conference without saying to you that I have a conviction that the Master hasn't been absent from us on these occasions. This is His church. Where else would He rather be than right here at the headquarters of His church? He isn't an absentee master; He is concerned about us. He wants us to follow where He leads. I know that He is a living reality, as is our Heavenly Father. I know it. I only hope that I can qualify for the high place to which He has called me and in which you have sustained me.

I know with all my soul that these sayings are true, and as a special witness I want you to know from the bottom of my heart that there is no shadow of doubt as to the genuineness of the work of the Lord in which we are engaged, the only name under heaven by which mankind can be saved. (72-43, p. 134)

Jesus Christ is our Savior. As one of those who feels himself the least among you, and having a right as a member of this church, and by appointment, to testify of these things of which I have spoken to you this morning, in all solemnity, and with all my soul, I bear you my testimony that I know that Jesus lives, that He is the Savior of the world. I know that He reveals Himself and is revealing Himself to His prophets. Week by week, day by day, we see the on-rolling of His works, guided and directed and shepherded on every side, through the President of the Church, who has been set apart to preside as the mouthpiece of the Lord to His church. (56-01, p. 12)

Jesus lives! I bear my witness to you this morning. There are some witnesses I cannot give now, perhaps sometime later. Many things are too sacred to share at this time. I have received a witness that I cannot or dare not deny. When I see Jesus, I cannot mistake His identity. I know that He lives! (72-16)

I came away from some of these experiences never to feel the same again about the mission of our Lord and Savior. I had impressed upon me, as I have never had it impressed before, what it means to be a special witness. I say, with all the conviction of my soul, I know that Jesus lives. I know that He was the very Son of God. And I know that in this church and in the gospel of Jesus Christ is to be found the way to salvation. (72-05, pp. 337-38)

With all my soul and conviction, and knowing the seriousness and import of that testimony, I will tell you that I know that He lives. I am conscious of His presence much of the time when I have needed Him most; I have known it out of the whisperings of the night, the impressions of the daytime when there were things for which I was responsible and on which I could receive guidance. So I testify to you and tell you that He is closer to the leaders of this church than you have any idea. Listen to the leaders of this church and follow their footsteps in righteousness, if you would learn not only by study, but also by faith. (68-05, pp. 127-28)

A witness from the Holy Ghost is more powerful than sight. As I pray for the guidance of the Spirit, and seek to rise to the responsibility which has been given me, I don't ask for any special endowment. I ask only to go where the Lord would have me go, and only to receive what the Lord would have me receive, knowing that more important than sight is the witness that one may have by the witness of the Holy Ghost to his soul that things are so and that Jesus is the Christ, a living personage. It is that which guides me through many of the experiences of life. (73-29, p. 88)

On the day when I came to this call, which imposed a greater responsibility to be a witness of the mission of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ — I suppose no one ever came to such a position without a lot of soul-searching, realizing his own inadequacy, and without the help of the Almighty — after a long night of searching and days of spiritual preparation that followed, I came to know as a witness more powerful than sight, until I could testify with a surety that defied all doubt, that I knew with every fiber of my soul that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, that He lived, He died, He was resurrected, and today He presides in the heavens, directing the affairs of this church, which bears His name because it preaches His doctrine. I bear that testimony humbly and leave you my witness. (71-19)

The call to be a prophet brought an outpouring of love. Now I want to tell you a little sacred experience I had following the call to be the President of the Church. On the early morning thereafter with my wife I kneeled in humble prayer, and suddenly it seemed as though my mind and heart went out to over three million people in all the world. I seemed to have a love for every one of them no matter where they lived nor what their color was, whether they were rich or poor, whether they were humble or great, or educated or not. Suddenly I felt as though they all belonged to me, as though they were all my own brothers and sisters.

So with that heart full of love toward all of you people included in that great feeling, I extend my blessing to you and your families, that your lives will become symbols of your faith and your love for your Heavenly Father, that you will be more diligent and faithful in the performance of all your duties in the Church. (72-30)

The principle of foreordination provides assurance to leaders. I want to add my testimony to those that have already been borne. Since the shock of [President Joseph Fielding Smith's] passing came, and realizing now that the Twelve would have the responsibility to take up the labors and determine what steps to take in order to reorganize the presidency of the Church, and serving as I do as the senior member of the Council, I have been concerned. I have wanted to know what the Lord's will would be. I wanted to do nothing except I knew it was of the Lord. I have sought most earnestly to know, to be guided, so that this church could go on and be worthy of those who have sacrificed, who have given their lives that this church might grow.

I have received a special witness the last few days. I had a comfort from one who wrote, "Men who are called to these leading positions in the Church were foreordained to that mission before they came to this earth." If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't dare stand in the place where I am today; believing that, I have no fear, anxiety, and concern, because I know the Lord is at the helm in guiding the work of the Church. (72-23, p. 39)

An Apostle is called to be a special witness of the Savior. As one who is expected to bear solemn testimony, I exercise the opportunity of declaring to you my sacred testimony. When the call to the apostleship came, it was on a Saturday night of general conference. I was called to the front of the Tabernacle to meet the President of the Church [Heber J. Grant], and I walked into the General Authorities' room and found him crying. He put his hands on my shoulders and told me that I had been named to be a member of the Council of the Twelve. I said to him, "Oh, President, do you think I am worthy of that?" As quick as a flash, he said, "If I didn't think so, my boy, you wouldn't be called."

Then I spent a night I shall never forget. There was no sleep that night. All my life seemed to be coming before me, as in a panorama. I could have told you every person who had any ill will toward me. I could have told you every person against whom I had any ill will, and the feeling came that before I was worthy to accept that call as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I had to love and forgive every soul that walked the earth. Then when I began to fear the experience of standing in the Tabernacle with so many listening, I found the Spirit directed my words. I don't know what I said; it wasn't anything I had prepared.

On the following Thursday I walked into the room where I was to be ordained. There were twelve chairs in a semicircle, with three chairs in front for the First Presidency. As I thought of the men who had sat in those chairs, and I now was being invited to sit as one in that circle, it was an overwhelming, shattering feeling. Am I worthy, can I measure up, can I reach the goal or attain the spiritual heights that such a position requires?

Well, that day passed, ordination came, and then one of the Twelve came to me and said, "Now we would like you to be the speaker at the Sunday night service. It is for Easter Sunday. As an ordained Apostle, you are to be a special witness of the mission and resurrection of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." That, I think, was the most startling, the most overwhelming contemplation of all that had happened.

I locked myself in one of the rooms of the Church Office Building and took out the Bible. I read in the four Gospels, particularly the scriptures pertaining to the death, crucifixion, and resurrection of the Lord, and as I read, I suddenly became aware that something strange was happening. It wasn't just a story I was reading, for it seemed as though the events I was reading about were very real as though I were actually living those experiences. On Sunday night I delivered my humble message and said, "And now, I, one of the least of the Apostles here on the earth today, bear you witness that I too know with all my soul that Jesus is the Savior of the world and that He lived and died and was resurrected for us."

I knew because of a special kind of witness that had come to me the preceding week. Then someone asked, "How do you know? Have you seen?" I can say that more powerful than one's sight is the witness that comes by the power of the Holy Ghost bearing testimony to our spirits that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world. (66-01, pp. 25-27)

The veil has been thin. I thank the Lord that I may have passed some of the tests, but maybe there will have to be more before I shall have been polished to do all that the Lord would have me do.

Sometimes when the veil has been very thin, I have thought that if the struggle had been still greater, maybe then there would have been no veil. I stand by, not asking for anything more than the Lord wants to give me, but I know that He is up there and He is guiding and directing.

May you know that I know with a certainty that defies all doubt that this is His work, that He is guiding us and directing us today. (73-36, pp. 385, 386)

Hold to my testimony until you develop one. I come to you with a witness as sure as was the Apostle Paul's, perhaps in a manner in which the Apostle Paul received his. A witness more perfect than sight is the witness by which the Holy Ghost bears witness to one's soul that he knows these things are true. I witness to you tonight, with all my soul, that I know, as the Spirit has borne witness to my soul, that the Savior lives. To you who may not have that testimony, may I ask you to hold to my testimony until you have developed one for yourselves. But work on it, study, and pray until you too can know with a certainty that these things are true — that God lives and this is the plan of salvation. (70-21)

An Easter Testimony

I have remarkable children and grandchildren. This evening we had a video chat, then a story followed in an e-mail I eagerly share with all of you:

My children have a mild obsession with the reenactment of ordinances. They can be found almost daily, filling their tool boxes with little bits of bread to gingerly pass to each member of the family. Then last week I found them "baptizing" each other on the front lawn. I don't know where the fixation started, but I'll take it over playing war or any other number of less-desirable make-believe games, so I have yet to discourage their rituals.

This week has been hard on me. Last week I was an unshakable pillar of strength and patience. It seemed that nothing could get me down in the midst of lots of circumstances that could have. I don't know what changed, but this week my patience and coping are nil. I don't understand why sometimes we cope so much better than other times, but whatever the reasons, I have been running on empty for several days. By the time afternoon hit here I was tied in knots and my fuse was incredibly short. I couldn't cope with the incessant crying of my one-year-old, and the toddlers were doing their best to ensure I blew a gasket by dinnertime. My nerves were shot and I was officially spent. In a frustrated swoop, I grabbed my crying baby from the floor for the umpteenth time and put him on the counter so he could look right into my eyes. "I cannot handle you crying all day long every day, Gideon!" I said to him and yet to no one all at the same time.

And then, in my hour of frustration and exhaustion, the sacrament arrived. Three-year-old Noah quietly walked into the kitchen and held out the offering. "Just one piece, mommy," he gently reminded me. The irony wasn't lost on me. It was Thursday, the day before Good Friday, and the anniversary of Christ's original introduction of the sacrament in that sacred upper room. In that moment I accepted my son's emblem, I was reminded of what I'd covenanted to do just last Sunday. I had covenanted to always remember my Savior, and yet in those hours and days of exhaustion and weariness, how easily do I forget? How easily do I forget that He died for me? He gave His life so I don't have to carry the burdens and responsibilities of life alone. His atoning sacrifice is not just for the big challenges and trials of life, but for my seemingly insignificant challenges that chip away at my spirit and my peace daily. The crying baby, the fighting toddlers, and the unswept floor are all swept up in Him and His precious gift.

That is what I remember as I celebrate His life and His death - that His precious offerings matter in every moment and every detail of my life. It is in those simple moments that I need to accept His sacrificial gift with gratitude, and strive to always remember Him.

Five Steps to True Conversion

To be fully and truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ is to change.  People fear and try to avoid change, typically, because it represents having to move beyond something feeling quite comfortable into something new and strange sometimes.  We are constantly rubbing shoulders with people in the world and within the Church who are converted and those who are not.  You can attempt to tell them apart if you will, but it's hard to tell the difference from the outside.  Some contend Mormons are not well versed in this doctrine of being born again, but The Book of Mormon is full of it.  True conversion depends upon it.  We must change from our carnal and fallen condition into a sanctified son or daughter of God to be truly converted.  Since it is Sunday, as part of your scriptural study today, consider reading all the scriptural passages you can find about the necessity of being born again.

Step One:  All Mankind Must be Born Again

I'll give you a headstart on your reading assignment.  Nicodemus came seeking Jesus at night to clarify this teaching he had heard.  (See John 3:1-21).  But begin your reading in Mosiah 27.  There you will find the account of Alma the younger.  He was visited by an angel in answer to his father's prayer for his welfare and he was smitten and went into a trance.  He was in that condition a couple of days while his father, Alma the high priest, and the members of the Church fasted and prayed for his recovery.  Alma the younger, who had obviously been baptized in his youth, came out of the trance and said, "I have been born again."  This is significant because it appears he did nothing to merit such an outcome.  He explains to everyone that the Lord says that all mankind — men, women, children — have to be born again or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God.  He's very specific about what is involved here.  He says men must be changed from their carnal and fallen state to a state of righteousness, being born again, becoming the Lord's sons and his daughters.  This is a perfect description of what it means to be truly converted.

Every single person who has ever been born into this world, who arrives at the years of accountability without being baptized, dies spiritually.  Universally, since the Fall of Adam, according to our revelations, all accountable men, women and children have become carnal, sensual, and devilish by nature.  It is in our fallen nature, imprinted in our very DNA, we inherit the tendency to commit sin.  King Benjamin referred to this condition in Mosiah 3:19 as "the natural man."  To be truly converted is to put off the natural man and to become a Saint by the power of the atoning sacrifice of Christ.  That's an axiom we should hear coming out of the mouths of every Primary child -- "I can become a Saint by the power of the atonement."  It is the definition of being "born again."  We are changed from a carnal and fallen state to a state of righteousness.  I love how the Apostle Paul describes it.  We crucify the old man (Romans 6:6).  We die as to the things of the world and we become alive as to the things of righteousness.  It cannot happen unless and until we receive the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost.

Step Two:  Receive the Holy Ghost

Only in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can one receive the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.  It is a supernal gift from Heavenly Father.  He does two things in our lives:  He is a witness to truth and he bears the testimony of the truth.  That is how we get a testimony.  We receive revelation from the Holy Ghost.  Secondly, the Holy Ghost is the sanctifier.  He has power to cleanse and perfect the human soul, to wash evil and iniquity out, and to replace it with righteousness.  As we are sanctified by degrees week by week as we partake of the emblems of the sacrament, we are truly converted.  When we receive the Holy Ghost, we get a testimony.  That member of the Godhead tells us the work of salvation and exaltation is true.  He testifies of the truth to our souls and we grow in light and truth thereafter.

When we receive the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, we are cleansed from sin and are born again and become converted to the truth.  It's rather a glib statement to assert we always have the constant and unerring companionship of the Holy Ghost, since no one is perfect in this life, but we do the best we can and we have from time to time the unmistakable assurance our walk in life is approved despite our imperfections.  That is what the Comforter is all about.  Though we remain imperfect, we are in that strait and narrow path doing all we can to stay on it.  Our sins are gradually burned out of us, as though by fire.  We often hear the expression "the baptism of fire," meaning the baptism of the Holy Ghost.  That is rich symbolism meaning dross and evil are burned out of human souls as if by fire.  The consequence of this process is the individual becomes a new creature of the Holy Ghost, as Alma explained. So you become a new creature.  There has been a change.  There has been a conversion.  In the past you walked after the manner of the world, but now you walk as becometh a saint of God.

We bear our testimonies to one another routinely in the Church.  We don't do it often enough, however.  We hear people saying all the time, "I know the gospel is true, etc."  In every ward it should be this way.  We strengthen one another when we bear testimony of what we know to be true.  When we have the Spirit of the Holy Ghost burning in our heart and soul like a fire and we bear testimony the work is true, then everybody who hears us who is in tune with the same Spirit also knows and can bear witness of the same things we know.  The speaker and the hearer are edified and strengthened alike.

Step Three:  Testimony

Often times when I was teaching years ago I was more anxious to get the information out than to bear my testimony.  In more recent years things have changed.  I have come to the conclusion there may be only one person in my class or audience who is seeking an answer to a perplexing or difficult problem.  I am trying to so live that I can be the conduit to that answer for perhaps only that one person.  While the doctrine is important to dispense, and all we do in teaching must be founded in true doctrine, the application to our individual lives through the bearing of our testimony is often more critical.  Sharing testimony will help lift up the sagging hands and arms and take the weight off the drooping shoulders.  This is especially true when it comes after a true doctrine has been taught.  The connection between doctrine and testimony is a close one, and the Spirit will bear witness that what has been taught is not only true, but true in that moment of searching and hoping for a much-needed answer.

Step Four:  Conversion is a Process

We often hear about miraculous conversions -- Alma and Paul are examples -- but for most true conversion is a lifetime process.  President Kimball reminded us that oil in our lamps cannot be gathered at the last minute at midnight.  (See Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, 255–56).
Rather, we must be adding oil to our lamps daily to have sufficient light when darkness engulfs us.
 
With most people, true conversion is a process.  We go step by step along the strait and narrow path.  We learn a little here, a little there, we move degree by degree, grace to grace, receiving grace for grace.  And one day, a great distance from where we began, the day finally comes when we can discern in ourselves that the disposition to do evil has for the most part been extinguished within us.  We overcome one sin today and another sin tomorrow.  We gradually perfect our lives a little bit here, then a little bit there.  We patiently await the harvest of good things to come, rather than being self-indulgent in our fallen state.  We overcome in the undertaking.  One day we become, literally, as King Benjamin instructs, saints of God instead of natural men (Mosiah 3:19).

We need to remember and to be patient.  It is not enough to say we have a testimony.  Prisons are full of people who have a testimony, who believe in Jesus as their Savior.  Being truly converted, however, requires an added measure of faithfulness.  We read in the vision of the degrees of glory (D&C 76:71-80) about those who inherit the terrestrial kingdom.  These have a testimony.  But we learn they who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus, obtain not the crown in the kingdom of our God.  That could mean even some members of the Church who are lukewarm.  Enduring in righteousness in valiant testimony to the end of our mortal probation is required to be truly converted.

There are many in the Church today who know this work is true, but they don't do much about it.  If you railed against the Church in their presence, they would stand up in righteous indignation and defend the kingdom, but they would still have a lot to say about this or that Apostle who ought to keep his mouth shut on this or that topic.  If effect, they put out the "gone fishing" sign on their testimonies and they are persuaded more by the things people say in their pursuit of the things of this world instead of putting first in their lives the things of God's kingdom, the things of righteousness.  They are good people, but not valiant.

The way to be in the celestial kingdom is to be valiant in testimony.  We must work at it.  It must be more than a Sunday exercise.  The whole purpose of the gospel is that it is to become our lives in every particular.  It isn't an important part of our life, it is life.  We are to become involved based upon the guidance we receive from the scriptures.  (See John 15:7-14; D&C 76:5-6).

Step Five:  Self-Examination

Here's a test.  Alma delivered a "test" to his people -- it consists of forty-two questions in the fifth chapter of Alma.  It was designed by Alma to help you know if you have been born again and if you are truly converted.  If you answer those forty-two questions honestly, you will know if you have been truly converted.  You will know if the things of the spirit are as rich and as valuable to you in your life as they were to Alma in his.  Count all the question marks -- there should be forty-two.  Ask yourself the questions.  Take the test.  I've issued this challenge before.

Religion is not just theological or philosophical gas.  It is not just a matter of analyzing and debating a few passages of scripture in high priests group every Sunday.  True religion is a matter of doing something and becoming something.  We often say the things we can see and discern with our five senses are the things in the "real world."  However, the things that are real are out of sight and are only known and understood by applying the gifts of the Spirit to discern them.

"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's two things:  It is to be doing something by involving ourselves in the lives of others for their betterment and blessing, and it is becoming something -- pure and holy in the doing -- "without spot."

We can thank James for these expressions 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.  If all that is involved in religion is this matter of theology, of studying and analyzing passages of scripture, then you can be content to be a hearer and a believer.  But if you are a doer, you are up and doing something every day to bless the lives of those around you.  You are a hearer, if all you have is testimony.  Doers, however, add to their testimony a true conversion that includes doing something about what you profess with your lips. 

The Holy Ghost has been given in full abundance in our day.  We have the companionship of that member of the Godhead available to us in all places and in all things to the degree we seek it.

True conversion, then, is being involved in the things of the Spirit.  We participate; we serve; we bless; we feel the promptings of the Spirit; we work miracles; we heal our sick; we receive the gifts and fruits God showers upon His children who seek them.

And thus, we are truly converted.

Joseph Smith, the Prophet

Joseph Smith (1805 - 1844)

A few years ago in recognition of the 200th anniversary of his birth in 1805 on December 23rd, our stake held a youth fireside at the end of the year honoring the Prophet Joseph Smith.  I was asked to be the keynote speaker.

I assembled many notes for that talk, most of which I never used.  This morning I discovered them in a deeply buried archive file on the computer, and share them here with the readers of this page. 

Joseph Smith was a remarkably candid and forthright speaker and writer.  He pulled no punches, it appears to me, particularly in his own self-appraisals.  Most of what I have gathered below comes from his History of the Church compilation (hereafter HC), some 3,200 pages in total.  (Many of these statements have also been compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith.)  Today legislation in Washington can be cobbled together approaching that many pages with ease and speed (it's frightening how fast), but in Joseph's case this compilation of his history was laborious and done with quill pens and parchment paper by those who recorded it.  His own words reveal far more about him than anything else.

As one of her first gifts to me when we were still in college, and knowing of my love for the Prophet Joseph, Patsy spend a goodly sum of money to buy me my own seven-volume set.  I treasure those books.

Joseph, an eighteen-year-old, was promised by the angel Moroni that "my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people."  (JS-H 1:33).  Despite the chilly prospect of what that declaration must have portended for his future, it is obvious Joseph Smith was a spirit not easily deterred, knowing what he knew.

I read a statement from Hugh Nibley several years ago that startled me.  It came from Eduard Meyer, the great German historian.  He made a comparison of Joseph Smith and Mohammed. He concluded Mohammed had to be ranked higher by his standard because from the records Meyer discerned Mohammed experienced periods of self-doubt, vagueness, and misgiving in developing his religious views.  On the other hand, said Meyer, he felt Joseph Smith never showed any signs of those despairing thoughts. The comparisons between Islam and Mormonism are fascinating, and this is just one among many.

I thought about that a lot.  It was true.  I never found any evidence in his sermons or writings that the Prophet Joseph Smith ever had doubts about the divinity of his calling or his message, and despite his adversities he was rarely discouraged.

"Never be discouraged. If I were sunk in the lowest pits of Nova Scotia, with the Rocky Mountains piled on me, I would hang on, exercise faith, and keep up good courage, and I would come out on top." (Quoted in My Errand from the Lord: A Personal Study Guide for Melchizedek Priesthood Quorums, 1976–77, 175–76).

Here's what he said about his life's mission:

“I have actually seen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it. . . " (JS-H 1:25).

“I was called of my Heavenly Father to lay the foundation of this great work and kingdom in this dispensation, and testify of His revealed will to scattered Israel. . . ” (HC 5:516).

“If any person should ask me if I were a prophet, I should not deny it, as that would give me the lie. . .” (HC 5:516).

Knowing who he was and what he was about, Joseph spoke powerfully “as one having authority.” (HC 5:356)

“I know what I say; I understand my mission and business.” (HC 5:259).

“In relation to the power over the minds of mankind which I hold, I would say, It is in consequence of the power of truth in the doctrines which I have been an instrument in the hands of God of presenting unto them, and not because of any compulsion on my part. . .  I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Repent ye of your sins and prepare the way for the coming of the Son of Man, for the kingdom of God has come unto you. . .’ ” (HC 6:273)

“I defy all the world to destroy the work of God; and I prophesy they never will have power to kill me till my work is accomplished, and I am ready to die.” (HC 6:58).

There is little doubt Joseph Smith was not easily intimidated.  He had an indominable spirit.  Confident and fearless, his allegiance was first and always to God. “I never knew what it was, as yet, to fear the face of clay, or the influence of man,” he wrote to James Arlington Bennett. “My fear, sir, is before God. I fear to offend Him and strive to keep His commandments.” (HC 5:157).

Declared Joseph on another occasion: “The object with me is to obey and teach others to obey God in just what He tells us to do. It mattereth not whether the principle is popular or unpopular. I will always maintain a true principle, even if I stand alone in it.” (HC 6:223).

In another letter to Bennett he wrote, “The whole earth shall bear me witness that I, like the towering rock in the midst of the ocean, which has withstood the mighty surges of the warring waves for centuries, am impregnable, and am a faithful friend to virtue, and a fearless foe to vice. . .  I combat the errors of ages. . . ” (HC 6:78).

Some critics have concluded Joseph Smith was arrogant, impressed with his own self-importance, but that is not the case.  “God Almighty is my shield,” he told the Saints. (HC 5:259).  “I am His servant.” (HC 6:305).

He knew his role:  “I realize in some measure my responsibility, and the need I have of support from above, and wisdom from on high, that I may be able to teach this people. . . ” (HC 4:230).  “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is my Great Counselor.” (HC 6:93).

It is impossible to calculate all he learned and never taught.

“I could explain a hundred fold more than I ever have of the glories of the kingdoms manifested to me in the vision, were I permitted, and were the people prepared to receive them.” (HC 5:402).

The Prophet loved “the learning and wisdom of heaven.” (HC 5:423). His focus was how to reveal sacred truths. “It is my meditation all the day, and more than my meat and drink, to know how I shall make the Saints of God comprehend the visions that roll like an overflowing surge before my mind.” (HC 5:362).

Impatience at times overtook him: “When things that are of the greatest importance are passed over by weak-minded men without even a thought, I want to see truth in all its bearings and hug it to my bosom. I believe all that God ever revealed. . . ” (HC 6:477).

Many conspired against him within and without the Church.  He was committed to the law, the Constitution and due process despite all the opposition he and the saints encountered.

“It is a love of liberty which inspires my soul — civil and religious liberty to the whole of the human race. Love of liberty was diffused into my soul by my grandfathers while they dandled me on their knees. . . ” (HC 5:498).

“I want the liberty of thinking and believing as I please. It feels so good not to be trammelled.” (HC 5:340).

“I cannot believe in any of the creeds of the different denominations, because they all have some things in them I cannot subscribe to, though all of them have some truth. I want to come up into the presence of God, and learn all things; but the creeds set up stakes, and say, ‘Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further;’ which I cannot subscribe to.” (HC 6:57).

“I will spill my heart’s blood in our defence. They [the Missourians] shall not take away our rights. …” (HC 5:473).

Joseph the Prophet was likewise a patriot:  “I would ask no greater boon, than to lay down my life for my country,” (HC 4:382) he told the Nauvoo Legion. Having described himself as a “patriot and lover of my country,” (HC 5:159) he once proclaimed, “I am the greatest advocate of the Constitution of the United States there is on the earth. In my feelings I am always ready to die for the protection of the weak and oppressed in their just rights.” (HC 6:56-57).

Four months later he said, “I feel it to be my right and privilege to obtain what influence and power I can, lawfully, in the United States, for the protection of injured innocence; and if I lose my life in a good cause I am willing to be sacrificed on the altar of virtue, righteousness and truth, in maintaining the laws and Constitution of the United States, if need be, for the general good of mankind.” (HC 6:210).

Despite the steel in his spine, there was velvet in his touch: “Sectarian priests cry out concerning me, and ask, ‘Why is it this babbler gains so many followers, and retains them?’ I answer, It is because I possess the principle of love. All I can offer the world is a good heart and a good hand.” (HC 5:498).

“. . . my heart is large enough for all men.” (HC 6:459).  “I have no enmity against any man. I love you all.” (HC 6:317).

One cannot plumb the depth of that love in these statements:

“I love to wait upon the Saints, and be a servant of all. . . ” (HC 4:492).

“I am not learned, but I have as good feelings as any man. O that I had the language of the archangel to express my feelings once to my friends! But I never expect to in this life. When others rejoice, I rejoice; when they mourn, I mourn.” (HC 5:362).

“I hope I shall see them [his friends] again, that I may toil for them, and administer to their comfort also. They shall not want a friend while I live; my heart shall love those, and my hands shall toil for those. . .” (HC 5:109).

“As I grow older, my heart grows tenderer for you. I am at all times willing to give up everything that is wrong, for I wish this people to have a virtuous leader.” (HC 6:412).

“The nearer we get to our Heavenly Father,” he said to the Relief Society sisters, “the more we are disposed to look with compassion on perishing souls; we feel that we want to take them upon our shoulders. . .” (HC 5:24).

His journal records these words: “. . . those holy doctrines. . .  I cherish in my bosom with the warmest feelings of my heart, and with that zeal which cannot be denied. I love friendship and truth; I love virtue and law; I love the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. . .” (HC 5:108).

He knew his own limitations and warned his followers: “A prophet is a prophet only when he [is] acting as such.” (HC 5:265).

Even in a public setting Joseph Smith was ever candid in his self-evaluations:

“I am subject to like passions as other men, like the prophets of olden times. Notwithstanding my weaknesses, I am under the necessity of bearing the infirmities of others. . .” (HC 5:516).

“I told them [the Saints] I was but a man, and they must not expect me to be perfect; if they expected perfection from me, I should expect it from them; but if they would bear with my infirmities. . .  I would likewise bear with their infirmities.” (HC 5:181).

Like Nephi, Joseph Smith’s sins were not "magnificent," he said, “. . . a disposition to commit such was never in my nature.” (JS-H 1:28).

His famous words en route to Carthage and certain death reveal much about his character:

“I have a conscience void of offense toward God and toward all men.” (HC 6:555).

He was refined in adversity:

“I am like a huge, rough stone rolling down from a high mountain; and the only polishing I get is when some corner gets rubbed off by coming in contact with something else, striking with accelerated force against religious bigotry, priestcraft, lawyer-craft, doctor-craft, lying editors, suborned judges and jurors, and the authority of perjured executives, backed by mobs, blasphemers, licentious and corrupt men and women — all hell knocking off a corner here and a corner there. Thus I will become a smooth and polished shaft in the quiver of the Almighty, who will give me dominion over all and every one of them, when their refuge of lies shall fail, and their hiding place shall be destroyed, while these smooth-polished stones with which I come in contact become marred.” (HC 5:401).

“Excitement has almost become the essence of my life,” reported the Prophet on another occasion. “When that dies away, I feel almost lost.” (HC 5:389).

His faithfulness resulted in these declarations by God that he would be exalted. (See D&C 121:8; D&C 122:9.)

These are only flashes of the brilliance of the Prophet's character in his own words about himself.  His name lives on as a testament to the God he loved and served.

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."