What is Something Prophets Have Shared That Brought You Closer to the Savior?

Amelia, a granddaughter, asked this question the other day as I was headed out to the Orem Temple for an endowment session. I was officiating for a great uncle four times removed who was born in 1704 in Lincolnshire, England. It was yet another glorious, full session.

As I was leaving I held the entrance door open for a man dressed in his whites. He was seated in his automated wheelchair, his temple clothes in a suitcase on his lap, and then I noticed he had no feet. There was no one assisting him, but I was immediately humbled by just the sight of him coming to the temple, independent and faithful.

President Harold B. Lee

To answer Milsie’s question as I pondered it, I decided to isolate my response to the teachings of my Prophet Grandfather, Harold B. Lee. He was the 11th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he had a singular imprint on my soul. I longed to be as knowledgeable in the scriptures as he was. He anchored his soul in the scriptures all his life, as noted below. It was through him that I gleaned the desire to become as he was, and I slowly came to know that it required consistent and systematic effort over the course of a lifetime to become as he was. I feel his eyes upon me even after all these years, and I pray I may continue to endure in faith in my Lord Jesus Christ to the end.

His grave marker in the Salt Lake City Cemetery

Of course, there are many, many prophets to whom I could turn for the answers, but I want to capture the essence of this preeminent progenitor, for all of us this morning so you may become more familiar with who he was and what he taught.

“I once had a visit from a young Catholic priest who came with a stake missionary from Colorado. I asked him why he had come, and he replied, ‘I came to see you.’

“‘Why?’ I asked.

“‘Well,’ he said, ‘I have been searching for certain concepts that I have not been able to find. But I think I am finding them now in the Mormon community.’

“That led to a half-hour conversation. I told him, ‘Father, when your heart begins to tell you things that your mind does not know, then you are getting the Spirit of the Lord.’

“He smiled and said, ‘I think that’s happening to me already.’

“‘Then don’t wait too long,’ I said to him.

“A few weeks later I received a telephone call from him. He said, ‘Next Saturday I am going to be baptized a member of the Church, because my heart has told me things my mind did not know.’

“He was converted. He saw what he should have seen. He heard what he should have heard. He understood what he should have understood, and he was doing something about it. He had a testimony.” (Stand Ye in Holy Places [1974], 92–93, emphasis added.)

“I bear you my testimony that I know the Savior lives, that the most powerful witness you can have that He lives comes when the power of the Holy Spirit bears witness to your soul that He does live. More powerful than sight, more powerful than walking and talking with Him, is that witness of the Spirit by which you shall be judged if you were to turn against Him. But it is the responsibility of all of you, as well as my responsibility, to get that testimony established. We are constantly asked, just how does one receive revelation? The Lord said in a revelation to the early leaders, ‘I will tell you in your mind and in your heart by the Holy Ghost. It shall dwell within you. This is the revelation by which Moses led the children of Israel to the Red Sea and on across it.’ (See D&C 8:2–3.) When that Spirit has witnessed to our spirit, that’s a revelation from Almighty God.” (Address given at Lausanne, Switzerland conference, 26 Sept. 1972, Historical Department Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 8.)

“Not many have seen the Savior face to face here in mortality, but there is no one of us who has been blessed to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost after baptism but that may have a perfect assurance of His existence as though we had seen. Indeed, if we have faith in the reality of His existence even though we have not seen, as the Master implied in His statement to Thomas, even greater is the blessing to those who ‘have not seen, and yet have believed’ (John 20:29), for ‘we walk by faith, not by sight’ (2 Corinthians 5:7). Although not seeing, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable in receiving the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls (see 1 Peter 1:8–9).” (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 93.)

“Can we sum it up and say then, that any person who has received a true testimony has received a revelation from the living God, or else he would not have the testimony? Anyone who has a testimony, then, has enjoyed the gift of prophecy, he’s had the spirit of revelation. He has had the gift by which the prophets have been able to speak things pertaining to their responsibilities…

“The Lord help us all to strive to gain that testimony most vital in our preparation to know. When finally we get that one divine thought that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet and that the gospel is true, all the other seeming difficulties melt away like heavy frost before the coming of the rising sun.” (“Church and Divine Revelation,” 1954, Historical Department Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 17, 23, emphasis added.)

“Now when our missionaries go out, we say to those among whom they labor, ‘We are not asking you to join the Church just to put your name on the records. That is not our concern. We come to you offering you the greatest gift the world can give, the gift of the kingdom of God. This is here for you if you will only accept and believe.’ Now that is our challenge to the world. ‘We can teach you the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ and bear testimony of the divinity of the work, but the witness of the truth of what we teach has to come from your own searching.’

“We say to our people whom we teach, ‘Now, you ask the Lord. Study, work, and pray.’ This is the process by which people are brought into the Church, and it is the same way that from the beginning the honest in heart everywhere have been brought into the Church.” (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 135–36.)

“As Jesus lifted up his eyes in prayer as ‘his hour was come,’ (see John 17:1) he gave expression to a profound truth that should be full of meaning to every soul: ‘And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.’ (John 17:3.) While this expression has deeper significance than I shall discuss here, I should like to take one thought from it. How can you know the Father and the Son? … We begin to acquire that knowledge by study. The Savior counseled us to ‘Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.’ (John 5:39, see also Moses 6:63 and 2 Nephi 11:24.) Therein will be found a history of God’s dealings with mankind in every dispensation and the works and words of the prophets and those of the Savior himself as given ‘by inspiration of God,’ as the Apostle Paul said, ‘and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.’ (2 Timothy 3:16–17.) Youth should let no day pass without reading from these sacred books.

“But it is not enough merely to learn of his life and works by study. It was the Master who replied in answer to the question as to how one might know of him and his doctrine: ‘If any man will do his will, he shall know.’ (John 7:17.) Would you think an authority on science to be one who had never experimented in a laboratory? Would you give much heed to the comments of a music critic who did not know music or an art critic who didn’t paint? Just so, one like yourself who would ‘know God’ must be one who does his will and keeps his commandments and practices the virtues Jesus lived.” (Decisions for Successful Living [1973], 39–40; paragraphing added, emphasis added.)

“The acquiring of knowledge by faith is no easy road to learning. It demands strenuous effort and a continual striving by faith…

“In short, learning by faith is no task for a lazy man. Someone has said, in effect, that such a process requires the bending of the whole soul, the calling up from the depths of the human mind and linking it with God — the right connection must be formed. Then only comes ‘knowledge by faith.’” (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 331.)

Here’s one of my favorites that hangs in a frame on my office wall as a reminder of the precious fruit that is a testimony:

“Testimony is as elusive as a moonbeam; it’s as fragile as an orchid; you have to recapture it every morning of your life. You have to hold on by study, and by faith, and by prayer. If you allow yourself to be angry, if you allow yourself to get into the wrong kind of company, you listen to the wrong kind of stories, you are studying the wrong kind of subjects, you are engaging in sinful practices, there is nothing that will be more deadening as to take away the Spirit of the Lord from you until it will be as though you had walked from a lighted room when you go out of this building, as though you had gone out into a darkness.” (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 331.)

“That which you possess today in testimony will not be yours tomorrow unless you do something about it. Your testimony is either going to increase or it is going to diminish, depending on you. Will you remember your responsibility, then? The Lord said, ‘If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself’” (John 7:17). (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 331, emphasis added.)

“The Master was saying, and I am saying to you today, that the rains of disaster, the rains of difficulty, the floods and winds of severe trials are going to beat upon the house of every one of you. There will be temptation to sin, you will have hardship, you will have difficulty to face in your life. The only ones that will not fall when those tests come will be those who have their houses founded upon the rock of testimony. You will know no matter what comes; you will not be able to stand on borrowed light. You can only stand on the light that you have by the witness of the Spirit that all of you have the right to receive.” (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 140.)

As a newly called Apostle in April, 1941, he once described his testimony this way many years later looking back:

“I come to you today as a special witness charged with, above all else, the responsibility of bearing that witness. There have been intimate circumstances when I have known with a surety. When I was searching for the Spirit to deliver a talk on the Easter theme [in 1941], the resurrection of the Lord, I closeted myself, read the four gospels, particularly down to the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and I had something happen to me. As I read, it was as though I was reliving, almost, the very incident, not just a story. And then I delivered my message and bore testimony that now, as one of the least of my brethren, I, too, had a personal witness of the death and the resurrection of our Lord and Master. Why? Because I had had something burned into my soul that I could speak with a certainty that is beside all doubt. So can you. And the most satisfying thing in all the world, the greatest anchor to your soul, in time of trouble, in time of temptation, in times of sickness, in times of indecision, in times of your struggles and work, [is that] you can know with a certainty that defies all doubt that God lives.” (Education for Eternity, “The Last Message” lecture given at the Salt Lake Institute of Religion, 15 Jan. 1971, 11, emphasis added.)

“You, too, can know that your Redeemer lives, as did Job in the midst of his temptation to ‘curse God, and die,’ (see Job 2:9; 19:25) and know also that you, too, can open the door and invite Him in ‘to sup with you.’ (See Revelation 3:20.) See also yourselves one day as resurrected beings claiming kinship to Him who gave His life that the rewards to mortal men for earthly struggle and experience will be the fruits of eternal life even though as measured by human standards one’s life’s labors seemed to have been defeated.” (In Conference Report, April 1958, 136.)

This next teaching reverberates within me too. There is a fellowship in suffering that only those who have experienced it acutely can know fully. He knew because of the suffering he experienced in the decade of the 60s with the deaths of his beloved companion Fern, and his daughter Maurine, just how painful death of a loved one could be. And now, so do I. I have also buried my wife and a daughter.

“I know … what it means to have the shattering devastation of loneliness with the snatching away of a loved one. Over my years, I have been called and tried to comfort those who mourn, but until I had to repeat those very things to myself that I have been saying to others, then only did I come to sense something that was far beyond words, that had to reach down to the touchstone of the soul before one can give real comfort. You have to see part of you buried in the grave. You have to see the loved one die and then you have to ask yourself — Do you believe what you have been teaching others? Are you sure and certain that God lives? Do you believe in the Atonement of the Lord and Master — that He opened the doors to the resurrection in the more glorious life? Sometimes when we stand in the stark nakedness all alone, it’s then that our testimony has to grow deep if we are not going to be shattered and fall by the wayside.

“As the wife … of Job said, ‘Why don’t you curse God and die.’ (See Job 2:9.) But in the majesty of Job’s suffering, he gave expression to something that I think no funeral service is quite complete without repeating. He said, ‘I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, … and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.’ (Job 19:25–27.) You folks today, if you know that you have anchored your souls in that divine testimony that He lives and that at the latter day He will stand upon this earth and you will meet Him face to face — if you know that, no matter what the risks and the responsibilities and the tragedies may be — if you build your house upon the rock, you won’t falter. Yes, you’ll go through the terrifying experience of sorrow over a lost loved one, but you won’t falter; eventually you’ll come through with even greater faith than you ever had before.” (Address given at the funeral of David H. Cannon, 29 Jan. 1968, Historical Department Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5–6, emphasis added.)

“The path to [exaltation] is rugged and steep. Many stumble and fall, and through discouragement never pick themselves up to start again. The forces of evil cloud the path with many foggy deterrents, often trying to detour us in misleading trails. But through all this journey,” assured President Lee, “there is the calming assurance that if we choose the right, success will be ours, and the achievement of it will have molded and formed and created us into the kind of person qualified to be accepted into the presence of God. What greater success could there be than to have all that God has?” (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 69–70.)

“Isaiah said: ‘But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.’ (Isaiah 64:8.)

“I’ve read that verse many times but had not received the full significance until I was down in Mexico a few years ago at Tlalcapaca, where the people mold clay into various kinds of pottery. There I saw them take clay that had been mixed by crude, primitive methods, the molder wading in the mud to mix it properly. Then it was put upon a potter’s wheel and the potter began to fashion the intricate bits of pottery, which he was to place on the market. And as we watched, we saw occasionally, because of some defect in the mixing, the necessity for pulling the whole lump of clay apart and throwing it back in to be mixed over again, and sometimes the process had to be repeated several times before the mud was properly mixed.

“With that in mind, I began to see the meaning of this scripture: Yes, we too have to be tried and tested by poverty, by sickness, by the death of loved ones, by temptation, sometimes by the betrayal of supposed friends, by affluence and riches, by ease and luxury, by false educational ideas, and by the flattery of the world. A father, explaining this matter to his son, said,

“‘And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter.’ (2 Nephi 2:15.)

“It was the Prophet Joseph Smith who said, speaking of this refining process, that he was like a huge, rough stone rolling down the mountainside, and the only polishing he got was when some rough corner came in contact with something else, knocking off a corner here and a corner there. But, he said, ‘Thus I will become a… polished shaft in the quiver of the Almighty.’ [History of the Church, 5:401.]

“So, we must be refined; we must be tested in order to prove the strength and power that are in us.” (Stand Ye in Holy Places [1974], 114–15.)

This was his message in his inaugural press conference after he had been set apart and ordained as the new President of the Church in 1972:

“‘Keep the commandments of God,’ for therein is the one course that brings that inward peace of which the Master spoke when He bade farewell to His disciples: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33) So may each of you, in the midst of the turmoil all about you, find that heavenly assurance from the Master who loves us all, which puts to flight all fears when, like the Master, you also have overcome the things of the world.” (“A Message to Members in the Service,” Church News, 2 Dec. 1972, 3.)

When Harold B. Lee was President of the Church, he and his wife were visiting missionaries across the country.

Harold: How are you doing, elders?

Elders: Wonderful. Thank you for visiting us.

Harold: It’s my pleasure. You’re doing great work out here.

Before their trip was finished, President Lee felt impressed to return home.

Harold: I’m not feeling very well. I think we should go home as quickly as possible.

Joan: I think so, too. We’ll just have to miss the rest of our appointments.

President Lee and his wife were soon on an airplane headed for Utah. During the flight, he thought he felt someone touch him.

Harold: Did someone just touch my head?

Joan: I didn’t touch you.

President Lee looked up, but no one was there. Later, President Lee felt hands on his head again. He knew that he was being blessed by angels, but he didn’t know why.

When they arrived home, President Lee was feeling worse.

Joan: I’ll call the doctor.

President Lee went to the hospital. Doctors found that an ulcer inside his body was bleeding badly. If he had started bleeding on the airplane, he could have died.

During General Conference, President Lee told the members about his experience.

Harold: I know that there are divine powers that reach out when all other help is not available. Yes, I know that there are such powers. (See Ensign, July 1973, page 123, emphasis added.)

* * *

I will conclude this entry by stating to Amelia and to all my posterity that I do know I have grown closer to my Savior Jesus Christ by studying ALL the sermons of President Harold B. Lee throughout my life. I have given you only a small sample here. He has inspired me, continually and eternally, because of my relationship to him as his eldest grandson. He called me “Skipper,” which was his nickname suggesting I needed to set the example for my younger siblings and cousins (there were 10 of us). He explained I was to be the one who would “set the sail” for our mortal journey together. I was initially intimidated about that role, trust me, but I learned to grow into it because he had designated it for me.

I have outlived him in the number of years we were in mortality, and now I often reflect about what seemed his premature death when he was taken home on December 26, 1973, the day after Christmas. Maybe it’s only because I am a slow learner - certainly slower than he! Whatever the case, I inexorably draw closer to the day when I will depart this earthly existence.

Before that day occurs, I want to enjoy my remaining days sharing with each of you in this format. It has been a labor of love to assure you how much YOU are loved. If it is determined to be only a fraction of how much Harold B. Lee loved me, then I will be content.

Harold B. Lee and his "Skipper"

How Do You "Outlive Your Funeral?"

Strange title, eh? Well, I will attempt an answer here today. It's Boxing Day today, much more widely observed in England than here in America. The day after Christmas settled upon me early this morning with the afterglow of a glorious celebration with family. Each year we gather for our Christmas "Adam" evening for dinner, a program, then the highlight everyone looks forward to - the opening of our new Christmas tee-shirts, a long-standing tradition among the Goates Kids. Each year one of the families accepts the assignment to come up with a new design, and this year the Warnicks knocked it out of the park with their design. Everyone loved them. Someone observed, "They sure are GREEN!"

The 2025 Gathering at the Ranch

Others scattered around the country also observed our tradition of opening the tee-shirts. It's always a unifying activity we all enjoy no matter where we are. 

Volume 6

We shared a program, and then I offered my testimony in conclusion. As I did so, I distributed Volume 6 of my collected family stories. I am currently working on Volume 7. Patsy joked one day following my brain surgery that those events in my life had taken 10 years off her life, but perhaps they had added 10 more to mine. It's now been 5 1/2 years since my surgery and at the time she passed away in 2023, I stated I would write the definitive 7 Volume set on our lives together for those who did not know her personally. I'm well on my way now to fulfilling that promise. Little did I know. . . and so I now live for its completion, and maybe a few extra volumes (time on this Earth still permitting). 

The Warnicks Design Team

Here's what I have learned as I have written our family's history. There always seems to be at least one more chapter that suggests itself as I am fed weekly questions by Story Worth that are submitted by various family members. Someone, observing this latest volume quipped, "Well, Dad, it looks like you've found another way to outlive your funeral with these volumes." And I thought later, he's right, I have indeed! Here's the thing: After I'm gone there won't be anyone left to refute whatever it is I have come up with as our family historian. I will have had the final word that will stand, flaws if there be any and all that goes with it. That's the value of a written record that will clearly outlive me now.

Team Venema 2025

I am so thrilled with 2025, because there have been many missionaries among my grandchildren who are coming and going all around the world right now. They have all had rich and fulfilling experiences, and they are so much further down the road of discipleship than my generation ever was. That's to be expected, I surmise, because we have been told this would be a day in which the weak things would come forth and prevail in the gathering of Israel.

26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. (Ether 12:26-27).

The brother of Jared also demonstrated his humility and his conviction that he would be made strong in service to the Lord:

2 O Lord, thou hast said that we must be encompassed about by the floods. Now behold, O Lord, and do not be angry with thy servant because of his weakness before thee; for we know that thou art holy and dwellest in the heavens, and that we are unworthy before thee; because of the fall our natures have become evil continually; nevertheless, O Lord, thou hast given us a commandment that we must call upon thee, that from thee we may receive according to our desires. (Ether 3:2).

The people of King Benjamin had a similar belief:

2 And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men. (Mosiah 4:2).

I have purposefully cited three references from the Book of Mormon to illustrate how precise the language of the prophets who compiled their record were in their testimonies of their need for their Savior in accomplishing all they did in His name. We are all enlisted in the ongoing work they started. Think of how patient our Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son Jesus Christ have been in the unfolding of the fulness of the gospel in these last days. We are the blessed recipients of their long-suffering and their perpetual surety of the work of salvation that is accelerating in our own time.

I find it difficult to believe in these enlightened last days that there are still some "out there" in the world who would deny our steadfast allegiance to the Restored Gospel through the Lord Jesus Christ. It was delivered to the Earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith and his inspired translation of the Book of Mormon, as cited above. For those who may at this late date be clinging to the old refrains of yesteryear that "Mormons are not Christians,” I would offer my testimony here on this page that we are indeed the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ with living prophets in place today. 

President Russell M. Nelson

I have treasured these words since President Russell M. Nelson first spoke them:

My dear brothers and sisters, in a coming day, Jesus Christ will return to the earth as the millennial Messiah. So today I call upon you to rededicate your lives to Jesus Christ. I call upon you to help gather scattered Israel and to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord. I call upon you to talk of Christ, testify of Christ, have faith in Christ, and rejoice in Christ!

Come unto Christ and “offer your whole [soul]” to Him [Omni 1:26]. This is the secret to a life of joy!

The best is yet to come, my dear brothers and sisters, because the Savior is coming again! The best is yet to come because the Lord is hastening His work. The best is yet to come as we fully turn our hearts and our lives to Jesus Christ.

I bear my solemn witness that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I am His disciple. I am honored to be His servant. At His Second Coming, “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” That day will be filled with joy for the righteous!

Through the power of the sacred priesthood keys I hold, I declare this truth to you and to all the world! (“The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again,” Liahona, Nov. 2024, 122).

I am grateful to be alive as I look forward to the year 2026. With a prophetic promise that "the best is yet to come," who wouldn't be?

Perhaps I could offer one simple suggestion for your gospel study during the coming year. I have recently been re-reading The Infinite Atonement by Elder Tad R. Callister of the Seventy as I learned about his recent death. His words are inspired in every page, citing ample scriptural references throughout his chapters. I submit humbly that this book like few others will anchor your study of the "Come, Follow Me" curriculum in Sunday School as we now take up the Old Testament. 

May you each enjoy your anticipation of what comes next in 2026, I pray.

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).

What a Birthday!

We passed a new milestone in our family life last Saturday. We celebrated Patsy's 76th birthday without her for the first time. It was bittersweet, but also joyful. Whenever I asked her what she wanted for her birthday the answer always was, "Let's go to the temple."

So that's what we did. We reserved the largest sealing room at the new Orem Temple, and we did our best to fill it up. I never knew anyone who loved the temple more than Patsy. Her spirit, along with others who are in the spirit world with her now, were no doubt there with us. As we performed this sacred work where we unite families for time and for all eternity under priesthood authority, we were unified and uplifted in our service to them. 

Grand-daughter Lily Bayles took my breath away when she showed up in one of her Grandmother's unique sweaters, inherited in the distribution of her personal clothing. She's standing next to the old white-haired guy in the middle of the photo festooned in hearts. That was a thrill for me. 

If there had been a patent available for use of the heart, Patsy would have been at the front of that line. Her hearts were a symbol for the love she showered on all of us, and will be a forever reminder of her whenever we see one. Even heart-shaped rocks along the shoreline of a beach somewhere in the world are emblematic of her.

I am so grateful for the access we have to temples in these last days. President Russell M. Nelson is doing all he can to make access to temples available to the saints throughout the world. It is a glorious season of temple building, and I feel so blessed to be a witness to this expansion.

I have been studying D&C 109 recently, which is Joseph Smith's dedicatory prayer at the Kirtland Temple, and this morning these verses leaped off the page at me:

Remember all thy church, O Lord, with all their families, and all their immediate connections, with all their sick and afflicted ones, with all the poor and meek of the earth; that the kingdom, which thou hast set up without hands, may become a great mountain and fill the whole earth;

That thy church may come forth out of the wilderness of darkness, and shine forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners;

And be adorned as a bride for that day when thou shalt unveil the heavens, and cause the mountains to flow down at thy presence, and the valleys to be exalted, the rough places made smooth; that thy glory may fill the earth;

That when the trump shall sound for the dead, we shall be caught up in the cloud to meet thee, that we may ever be with the Lord;

That our garments may be pure, that we may be clothed upon with robes of righteousness, with palms in our hands, and crowns of glory upon our heads, and reap eternal joy for all our sufferings. (D&C 109:72-76).

Truly, the temples that now dot the earth are an evidence of the fulfillment of this prophetic dedicatory prayer. The year was 1836, making the youthful prophet who uttered these inspired words only 31 years old at the time. Ask yourselves, "How could such a young and inexperienced man be so filled with certainty about what could only have seemed like a very tenuous future?" 

The answer is simple for me. He did not stand alone. His calling was divine. He was on an errand from the Lord to lay the foundation of a great work of Restoration to make the fulness of the Father's blessings available to ALL his children. 

We are truly living in that day when "thy church may come forth out of the wilderness of darkness" and shine. We are witnesses, and we can stand shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters all around the world and rejoice over what we are seeing, feeling and living today.

I am thankful beyond expression for these realities. "How can you be so certain?" one may ask. I would respond with Alma's words as though they are my own:

For I am called to speak after this manner, according to the holy order of God, which is in Christ Jesus; yea, I am commanded to stand and testify unto this people the things which have been spoken by our fathers concerning the things which are to come.

And this is not all. Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?

Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me.

And moreover, I say unto you that it has thus been revealed unto me, that the words which have been spoken by our fathers are true, even so according to the spirit of prophecy which is in me, which is also by the manifestation of the Spirit of God. (Alma 5:44-47).

The more we invest our faith in God and Jesus Christ, the deeper our conviction goes, until it becomes within us as it were a burning fire in our bones. I have been consumed with it these past three days, and I am so thankful for a testimony like Alma describes.

I know this testimony is within the reach of all of us who are earnest seekers of truth. 

Home Teaching and Becoming "Valiant"

Today's guest blogger is oldest son, Jeff. For a season, as he explains below, Jeff was inactive in the Church, disaffected and disillusioned about life in general and the Church in particular. His story is not dissimilar to many in the Church today, and he and I agreed his story about how he is becoming a more diligent home teacher might be instructive. I've changed the names of all the participants except Jeff's family of Kim, Izach and Tessi.

In Section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants, we learn those who inherit the Terrestrial Kingdom, "are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus; wherefore, they obtain not the crown over the kindgom of our God." (Verse 79, emphasis mine). By extension and implication, then, we may assume those who do inherit the crown are valiant in their testimony of Jesus. The Church offers many facets in the diadem of celestial glory. Home teaching is one way we demonstrate our willingness to "step up" and be counted.

Not Your Model Home Teacher

I'm the first to admit, I'm not exactly the poster child of a home teacher. I know I have brothers who are way more qualified to address the subject and who have been seen as an example of what a great home teacher looks like. I guess my lack of home teaching excitement stems from my hippie days of using the excuse, "If we all just treated each other as brothers and sisters and acted as good neighbors, there'd be no need for home teaching." I think the better answer now is simply, I never had a testimony of home teaching.

I remember home teachers coming throughout my early years, though some sporadically, but we always had Dad, so who needs home teachers? I remember Dad teaming me up with his counselor when he served as Bishop of the young married student ward at the U of U. It was when I was preparing for my mission. Honestly, I remember going, but couldn't tell you who we visited or lessons taught. All I do remember is how Travis Baer made me feel after as we sat in his car or mine for hours taking about how hard being a teenager was, or what the meaning of life was for me at the time. I guess Dad was inspired to that end, but I still had no real testimony of home teaching or its value.

For years I declined to be a home teacher, citing my job in timeshare and its odd hours as a valid reason why I couldn't get with families. I also hated the idea of letting a family down which I knew I'd probably never visit. A few years ago when I had settled into my new job, I was given my assignment of two families. After the outpouring of service and help we received from this ward, I felt it was an opportunity to try and serve or give back in some way, so I accepted, and was determined to change my lacking ways.

I was assigned two families, both were familiar names, and both were prominent names surrounded by family within the ward. Why do these guys need home teachers when their parents and siblings live next door or down the street? It seemed rather redundant, but it saw it as an easy task. Imagine my surprise when the mother of one of the families approached me and told me I had been hand selected to home teach her son. She held an important calling in the ward and knew the needs of everyone, and she wanted me to take care of her son's family as they had recently come back to Church after a few years away. I didn't want to let her down, she had been so good to us since moving into the ward. I home taught sporadically. We had them for dinner and invited them to social events and called it home teaching so I could be seen as at least 50% on months I actually went. Izach had left on his mission and my new companion was shy and withdrawn when he was at Church, so I mostly went solo.

I built a relationship pretty fast with Brian and Jenna, as both had divorces and inactivity in their pasts. I'd say we became friends and understood each other on many different levels. Brian made it very clear in the beginning that if I showed up in a white shirt and tie, I may not be let in. Those who know me, know that my casual dress most my life is my calling card. I remember several times growing up, the look and the "You're not wearing that are you?" They are words I mostly heard from Mom, though I continue to hear them from Kim on occasion. The casualness was ideal for me and encouraged me to get my home teaching done. I found myself enjoying my visits and discussions with Brian and Jenna. The best way to describe Brian would be me in my twenties, though he is probably five to ten years my senior. Saying things controversial to get reactions, or purposely wearing a colored shirt to Church, anything to see who would judge, were things we had in common. Anything to stir the pot just a little, or to provoke the label of a "Rebel Mormon" that follows the beat of his own drum.

A few months ago, our Elders quorum president re-assigned all the home teaching. I looked at the names and immediately after class approached President McCarthy, lobbying to keep the Hoffmans as one of my families. I even told him I'd keep the two he had assigned me in addition to Brian and Jenna. He told me that with Izach back as my companion, he felt impressed to assign me the Bells. He explained that Brent's and Brittany's 19 year-old son could really use Izach's influence as he was now graduated, not really working a job, not planning a mission, and not coming to Church much. He said with this new assignment, he wanted to give me another low maintenance family. I told him he couldn't take Brian and Jenna from me, and I'd gladly take all three as long as I could keep them. He caved and let me keep Hoffmans and added Bells, but re-assigned the third to someone else.

With the new challenge and inspiration that they needed Izach, I knew I had to step up my efforts and commitment to be more diligent in my home teaching efforts and if nothing else, be a better example to Izach than I'd been in the past. My new assignment came the end of May and we jumped right on it and visited both families the first weekend of June. It felt good to have 100% home teaching for June and to be done so early in the month. Last week, I felt an urgency to stay on track and get our visits done early in the month. Little did I know at the time what the real urgency was, but I would find out Sunday after Church.

After meetings I rushed home and got some lunch for the girls and got changed into my shorts and flip flops home teaching uniform. Izach had ducked out of our meetings to attend the singles ward. He arrived home just in time to leave and so he stayed in his shirt and tie from church. We spent about forty minutes visiting with the Bells and left them with a simple message and prayer. Their son, James, was there for the second month in a row and I congratulated him on being at Church earlier in the day. I was hoping that we were somehow making a difference with him, but it's hard to know with a wayward teenager. Izach and I have both borne testimony on whatever our message is, and I hope that is somehow getting into James's heart.

We then headed across the street to Hoffmans. Brian met us outside as we were standing on the front steps. He had come from the garage door and yelled, "If you don't know where the side door is by now, we probably shouldn't let you in." We followed him through the side door, through the garage, and into the front room. We started with our normal chit chat and jokes about me being in the flip flops and Izach being in his shirt and tie and how backward to "the norm" that was. The conversation moved quickly into bad relationships and ex's, driven mostly by the fact that Jenna's son and grandson were living with them and regrouping after a messy breakup. My anxiety grew as I was pulled into the ex bashing. Over the years we let Izach and Tessi hear and see more of our dealings with George and Cindy as they grew older and became adults, though I doubt they will ever hear the full gory details of those horrible years.

As I was pulled deeper into conversation, my uneasiness began to consume me, the Spirit finally said to me, "This is counter-productive, and not what they need." I scrambled in my mind, trying to search for the words of how to steer the conversation back to our topic of Covenants and Ordinances. I'm not even sure how I transitioned the conversation, the Spirit had taken over at that point. Somehow we got to the subject of going to Church for us individually, and not expecting someone else to come prepared to feed us spiritually. I have shared my re-activation story with the Hoffmans in the past, so I picked up my story where I had left off. I explained that as recently as only a few months ago, did Kim realize that I had only been back active about six weeks when we got married. Six weeks after seven years being away! Those first few months were hard. It was hard going to Church, and I'd go as far as to say I hated it and felt it was a complete waste of time. Here I had just gone through a miraculous journey back, laden with deep and profound spiritual experiences, including meeting Kim and marrying eighteen days later. I couldn't understand how so many people just didn't get it. I felt angry and let down every week I went.

As I told Brian and Jenna the story, I gave them my similar close that I had used hundreds of times on my timeshare table. I said, "Guys, there's a hundred reasons not to go to Church, and if you look you'll find all one hundred. But, if you can find just one reason why you should go, and why you need to go, that one reason will be stronger than the hundred not to." As I got emotional, I pointed at Izach and finished. "My one reason was Izach and Tessi. I now had kids to think about, and if for no other reason those first few months, I went for them. They were my one reason." Everyone was a little misty-eyed by the end, and then Jenna spoke up and said, "Thank you. It's funny you would bring all that up. Brian and I have been talking the past few weeks and had decided that maybe we'd take a break from Church for a while." Wow! Funny I would say that? No, it wasn't funny, it wasn't coincidence. The Lord knew exactly what He wanted me to say, and what they needed to hear. I bore testimony that they were needed, that they could make a difference.

You see, it wasn't until I quit focusing on, "What am I getting out of this?" and started looking for ways to help others see and feel what I had experienced in my own conversion, that I finally felt fulfillment in going to Church. I quit going for me, and went for others, and in that I got what I needed.

I now have a testimony of home teaching and why I go. I never had that before, but the calling is as real to me as the day I was called as a full-time missionary. I now go to try and help others avoid the pain of where I've walked and to taste the peace and joy of what I've found on my journey. I'm just a shorts and flip flops kind of home teacher. I'm not saying my dress code is right or wrong. All I know is on a Sunday afternoon the Spirit used me, flip flops and all to make a difference.

In sales we have a saying, "Half the battle is in showing up." I think sometimes that's all the Lord asks.