....The Talk in Church

Bruce and I were asked to speak in sacrament meeting on April 26th. Our topic was from Preach My Gospel, Chapter 11, "How Do I Help People Make and Keep Commitments?" At the beginning of this chapter are some key questions, one of which tells us why this is such an important topic: "How do commitments relate to conversion?"

In my talk, I shared this:

"When our oldest daughter was about 15 or 16 years old, she and I had a conversation where she shared with me that she just wasn't sure she had a testimony. She really didn't know how she felt about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, she just wasn't sure she really believed that all of this was true. But what she did believe, what she had learned in our home and from Primary and Sunday School and Seminary and Young Women, was that living the gospel was the way to be happy, it was the way to have a strong family, and to have a good, productive, successful, happy life. And so she had determined that she was going to live the gospel, she was going to be obedient to gospel standards she had been taught, even though she wasn't sure she believed the doctrine behind those standards. She was going to live them anyway, and she was content to wait on the Lord for the testimony of the truthfulness of those things to follow.

"We were of course thrilled to hear her make that commitment at age 15 or 16 -- that she was going to live gospel standards. I think she had more of a testimony at that time than she realized, and I knew that it would only be strengthened as she lived it."

Three profound points from this chapter of Preach My Gospel:

• People become converted as they live the principles they learn and feel the Spirit confirm that what they are doing is pleasing to their Father in Heaven.
• Repentance and change will help people conquer challenges, rid themselves of shame and guilt, and experience the peace and joy of God's forgiveness.
• Keeping commitments prepares people to make and keep sacred covenants.

I especially love the last statement. Commitments to read the scriptures, to pray, to attend Church, to be obedient, if kept, will increase our opportunities to make sacred covenants with God and expand our ability to keep them. 

Bruce in his talk shared an experience from his mission with Elder Mark E. Peterson, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve (back in the day...). Bruce had been a member of the Church for just over a year when he went on a mission, and he felt his gospel knowledge was lacking, so he was doing a lot of studying of supplemental materials. When Elder Peterson visited and interviewed the missionaries, he counseled young Elder Adamson to send all those extra books home, to learn the lessons he was to teach, study the scriptures, and rely on the Holy Ghost (not intellectual knowledge) to convert. Bruce shared this quote from Brigham Young:

"If all the talent, tact, wisdom, and refinement of the world had been sent to me with the Book of Mormon, and had declared, in the most exalted of earthly eloquence, the truth of it, undertaking to prove it by learning and worldly wisdom, they would have been to me like smoke which arises only to vanish away. But when I saw a man without eloquence or talents for public speaking, who could only say, 'I know by the power of the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of the Lord,' the Holy Ghost proceeding from that individual illuminated my understanding, and a light, glory, and immortality were before me. I was encircled by them, filled with them, and I knew for myself that the testimony of the man was true." (Preach My Gospel, p. 199)

We recently got an email from a senior sister we met at the MTC. She said: "One of the greatest blessings of a full-time mission is that gospel study is a required part of your day....oh how I love to study the gospel. Preach My Gospel is a sacred, inspired book. It was written and published in 14 short months with members of the Quorum writing several chapters each. If you haven't ever cracked it open, reading it is a wonderful opportunity to learn and be inspired. A perfect manual for FHE!"

I share her enthusiasm for Preach My Gospel. I read it a few years ago, when it was pretty new, and I thought I had a pretty good understanding of what was in this book. But our one week of studying it in the MTC really opened up things to me that I had either missed or forgotten. It's now part of my regular gospel study. 

I'm so grateful to live at a time when we have so many incredible resources for gospel study. Nothing replaces the scriptures or the Spirit, but all of these resources, online or printed and in our hands, help us access them and study the scriptures and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost more effectively. 

Feeling very blessed!