January 17 - See, Hear, Remember

 When he was an apostle, Spencer W. Kimball said:

"When you look in the dictionary for the most important word, do you know what it is? It could be remember." (Circles of Exaltation [address to religious educators, Brigham Young University, 28 June 1968], 8).

Why is the word "remember" so important?

• Without remembering, we don't have any of the other words either.
• Remembering is important to communication and to learning.
• Remembering the past gives us choices about what to do in the future.
• If we can remember, we can build our knowledge and our testimonies.
• Like in the movie "Inside Out", the memories we keep and cherish can form the foundations of our identity, our understanding of who we are and who we want to become.

What happens if we don't actively remember?

I have two brothers, both of whom are bright, engaging, witty, hilarious, emotionally sensitive, and sincere. When they were younger, both of them had vibrant testimonies and personal relationships with Heavenly Father.

As they grew up, they made different choices. One of them (who knew he tended to be absent-minded) decided that he wanted to grow his testimony, and he actively set about remembering his spiritual feelings and experiences. Over time, his memories grew and became part of his core--defining who he is as a person, what he values, and where he's going. His spirituality informs every aspect of his life.

The other didn't make a concerted effort to remember those times when his heart was touched. Over time, he has come to believe that the poignant, deep inspirations he'd had as a boy were manipulations of his feelings--he no longer trusts his emotions or spiritual feelings.

Acknowledging that other factors likely played a role in the differences (and both of them are still really good, beautiful people whom I love dearly), what contribution do you think "remembering" made to their testimonies and their relationships with God?

In each of our lives, we can see the Lord's interest and investment. As we consider the words of the prophets and apostles, what stands out to you?

• "Eyes to See and Ears to Hear" by Elder Kim B. Clark of the Quorum of the Seventy
• "O Remember, Remember" by Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles 
• "The Tender Mercies of the Lord" by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The talks are inspired, and I would encourage further reading for any who are inclined. I'm going to pull just a couple of quotes to share here.

Elder Kim Clark notes, "Our time is a dangerous time—a time of great evil and temptation, a time of confusion and commotion. In these perilous times, the Lord’s prophet on the earth, President Thomas S. Monson, has called us to rescue the wounded in spirit, to stand for truth with courage, and to build the kingdom of God. Whatever level of spirituality or faith or obedience we now have, it will not be sufficient for the work that lies ahead. We need greater spiritual light and power. We need eyes to see more clearly the Savior working in our lives and ears to hear His voice more deeply in our hearts."

Elder Eyring relates the following personal experience about remembering the Lord's hand in his life:

"When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property.

"He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: 'I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.'

"I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.

"I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: 'Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?' As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.

"More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened.

"The years have gone by. My boys are grown men. And now and then one of them will surprise me by saying, 'Dad, I was reading in my copy of the journal about when …' and then he will tell me about how reading of what happened long ago helped him notice something God had done in his day.

"My point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness. It will build our testimonies. You may not keep a journal. You may not share whatever record you keep with those you love and serve. But you and they will be blessed as you remember what the Lord has done."

Elder Bednar declares, "We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord’s tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance (see 1 Ne. 1:20)."

In our own lives, the hand of the Lord--his tender mercies--might come from feeling peace while reading about Jesus' birth in Luke 2 as a family, or from a parent's speedier-than-expected recovery from injury that allows the family to take much-hoped-for vacation, or from surviving a life-threatening illness.

Sometimes those tender mercies are different from what we would anticipate. For example, I have a relative who was recently diagnosed with aggressive lymphoma--and because of the aggressive lymphoma, the doctors found several low grade tumors in his lymph nodes that normally grow undetected until it's too late. The aggressive cancer may ultimately save his life.

Another example happened in my own life. Prior to my mission, I had done a significant amount of research about the common issues missionaries experience--homesickness, trouble with companions or other missionaries, poor relationships with mission presidents, illness, injury, etc. Determined to avoid them, I prayed fervently about each one and asked to not have them happen to me. In retrospect, the request--though well-intended--was not very realistic. However, Heavenly Father let me know He heard my prayers. Every single thing I had prayed NOT to experience on my mission happened. Every. Single. One. And I learned from those experiences. I grew through the difficulties. When I thought I would break, I learned to bend. Now, many years later, I'm increasingly grateful for His tender mercies in showing me that I can overcome hardships and work through challenges--that with His help, I can do more than I think I can. Where I would have limited my experience and stunted my own growth, He took a more long term perspective. In the tumult, I relied heavily on the Lord, and He carried me. I have personal relationship with Him and an undeniable testimony of the Atonement in its many facets.

Most of us have difficulty remembering--many of us have few memories from before we're 5 years old, and even after that, we can recall few details. If we are to remember the truly important things over the remainder of our lives, and have the option of sharing them with loved ones, we need to make a concerted effort. What can we do to remember the moments when we feel the Spirit, the events when we're guided, the times we see Heavenly Father's hand in our lives or experience his tender mercies?

• Write in our journals--keep a special journal like gold plates for spiritual things
• Take notes
• Ponder and meditate; take time out to think about our experiences and give them place in our hearts
• Spend time outside in nature or in the garden, contemplating
• Incorporate spiritual experiences into our core memories
• Write or find music that represents our feelings or experience
• Create or purchase art to remind us
• Associate our experience with foods, tastes, scents

I would challenge each of us to recognize the hand of the Lord in our lives and find ways to actively remember those experiences.

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.