As an elementary school and junior high student in the Los Angeles area of California, I remember my emerging awareness that my beliefs and standards were strikingly different from many of my Hollywood-idolizing peers. Several of my classmates drank alcohol, took drugs, stole, lied, cheated, were sexually active, etc. Because of this cultural variation, I had some of my first experiences sharing my standards and purposefully choosing to stand for my religious beliefs. Have you been confronted by people who don't share your standards or beliefs? What were those experiences like? What happened? Where did that lead?
Sometimes, when we share our feelings, we are ridiculed and pressured even more. Other times, when we are with a supportive group, they reinforce and even advocate for our beliefs. Occasionally, others become interested, and we have opportunities to share the gospel.
After my parents divorced, my mom started dating again--only this time she didn't restrict her dating pool. She resolved to keep an open mind and to date any guy who asked her out. She took an evening class at the community college and, at the end of the term, a classmate asked her out to breakfast. During the meal, he drank several pots of coffee. She also knew that he drank alcohol, bar-hopped, and partied. When he asked about her standards, she responded, but his further questions about the church made her think he might just be interested because he was interested in dating her.
When he asked her for something to read to find out more, she gave him the Relief Society manual, and then didn't think anything more about it. When He started asking questions about Nefee (Nephi), she introduced him to her recently returned missionary brother, and he began taking the discussions with the missionaries. He decided to be baptized, changed his life, and he married a woman with four kids. He and my mom have been married for 27 years, and he has been a HUGE blessing in my life.
Through the process of answering others' questions and bearing our testimonies, we can receive inspiration and spiritual confirmation of our faith.
In his talk, "The Quest for Spiritual Knowledge," Boyd K. Packer relates the following events:
"I sat on a plane next to a professed atheist who pressed his disbelief in God so urgently that I bore my testimony to him. 'You are wrong,' I said. 'There is a God. I know He lives!'
"He protested, 'You don’t know. Nobody knows that! You can’t know
it!' When I would not yield, the atheist, who was an attorney, asked
perhaps the ultimate question on the subject of testimony. 'All right,'
he said in a sneering, condescending way, 'you say you know. Tell me how you know.'
"When I attempted to answer, even though I held advanced academic degrees, I was helpless to communicate.
"When I used the words Spirit and witness, the atheist responded, 'I don’t know what you are talking about.' The words prayer, discernment, and faith were equally meaningless to him. 'You see,' he said, 'you don’t really know. If you did, you would be able to tell me how you know.'
"I
felt, perhaps, that I had borne my testimony to him unwisely and was at
a loss as to what to do. Then came the experience! Something came into
my mind. And I mention here a statement of the Prophet Joseph Smith: 'A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of
revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into
you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas … and thus by learning the
Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of
revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.'
"Such an idea came into my mind, and I said to the atheist, 'Let me ask if you know what salt tastes like.'
“'Of course I do,' was his reply.
"'Then,' I said, 'assuming that I have never tasted salt, explain to me just what it tastes like.'
"'After some thought, he said, 'Well, I, uh, it is not sweet and it is not sour.'
"'You’ve told me what it isn’t, not what it is.'
"After
several attempts, of course, he could not do it. He could not convey,
in words alone, so ordinary an experience as tasting salt. I bore
testimony to him once again and said, 'I know there is a God. You
ridiculed that testimony and said that if I did know, I would be able to tell you exactly how
I know. My friend, spiritually speaking, I have tasted salt. I am no
more able to convey to you in words how this knowledge has come than you
are to tell me what salt tastes like. But I say to you again, there is a
God! He does live! And just because you don’t know, don’t try to tell
me that I don’t know, for I do!'
Though the atheist was not receptive to the shared testimony or the spirit, President Packer was profoundly affected, and he shared what he has learned on his quest for spiritual knowledge:
- The Spirit speaks in a still small voice. If we are "preoccupied we may not feel it at all."
- We cannot force spiritual things. "A testimony is not thrust upon [us]; a testimony grows."
- We should be "anxiously engaged," using "the light and knowledge we already possess to work out our lives," not needing "revelation to instruct us to be up and about our duty." If we need revelation to alter our direction, "it will be waiting along the way as we arrive at the point of need."
- Our testimonies may be more powerful than we realize. "Do not feel hesitant or ashamed if you do not know everything."
- "A testimony is to be found in the bearing of it!"
- Speaking out is an act of faith and a perfect demonstration of Christianity. "You cannot find it, nor keep it, nor enlarge it unless and until you are willing to share it. It is by giving it away freely that it becomes yours."
- Many things of the spirit we must "learn individually, and alone, taught by the Spirit."
- We can be blessed with spiritual power to do the Lord's work.
In Teaching After the Manner of the Spirit, Matthew O. Richardson, Second Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency, discusses how we learn, serve, and teach authentically by the Spirit. "As we align our manner with the Holy Ghost’s manner, then the Holy Ghost can teach and testify without restraint." He identifies a couple of qualities of the Holy Ghost's manner of teaching that are worthy of emulation:
- The Holy Ghost instructs us individually, inviting us to "intimately know truth for ourselves." Line upon line, and in accordance with our respective needs, the Holy Ghost teaches us "what we must know and do so we may become what we must be."
- The Holy Ghost invites, prompts, encourages, and inspires us to act. "The Spirit leads, guides, and shows us what to do. He will not, however, do for us what only we can do for ourselves. You see, the Holy Ghost cannot learn for us, feel for us, or act for us because this would be contrary to the doctrine of agency. He can facilitate opportunities and invite us to learn, feel, and act."
On my first day in the MTC, our leaders went around the room and asked each of us why we were serving a mission. One young man stood up and said his parents offered him a car if he went on a mission. Another mentioned her interest in going to a foreign country and having a cultural experience. A third claimed his girlfriend wouldn't seriously consider marrying anyone who hadn't served a mission. As person after person stood up and gave reason after reason, I was flabbergasted--not one person mentioned having a testimony, being filled with love for the Lord, or wanting to serve. How prepared were those missionaries, and how effective do you think they were at representing the Savior? What would they have been like as companions, as teachers? What could they have done differently? How might it have impacted their lives?
We must prepare ourselves for the Lord's work by diligently studying scriptures and talks by inspired leaders, seeking the Lord's guidance for our lives, keeping the commandments, cleansing ourselves via repentance and confession as necessary, listening to uplifting music, avoiding impure thoughts and actions, eschewing vulgarity and coarseness, overcoming anger, forgiving others, seeking peace, and continually remembering Christ and his sacrifice for us. In addition, we need to learn grooming, how to speak clearly, and "how to avoid offending people through ignorance of their culture and their personal and family circumstances." Elder Dallin H. Oaks further declares: "Preparation is a prerequisite to teaching by the Spirit."
I would invite class members to prepare for the work the Lord has in store for them--whatever that is--and really seek after their own testimonies, to feast on the words of Christ, to study their scriptures daily, to converse with Heavenly Father frequently, to take note of the promptings of the Spirit, to develop personal relationships with God, to speak out for what they know is right, and to act in accordance with their faith. Then they may be blessed with Spirit, the Lord's word, and "the power of God unto the convincing of men" (D&C11:21).
Further reading (passed out at the end of class): Teaching and Learning by the Spirit, Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
January Homework: Bring one item from home that reflects the student's personal testimony. Share that item and its meaning with the class on Sunday, January 24.
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