Brothers and sisters, today I desire my message to serve as both a witness and a warning: a witness that the gospel of Jesus Christ as restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith is absolutely true; a warning that there are forces working in this world that are bent on destroying both you and your testimony of the restored Church. The Apostle Paul could well have been speaking of our time when he said, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [1]
Thanks be to God that we live in the day and age of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, which provides much clarity in this day and time. Today it is my desire to share with you a few things that I know for sure.
Let me begin by saying that I know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Church and kingdom of God on earth, and that Russel M. Nelson is God’s current prophet.
So how do I know these things for sure? The truth of these things have been made known to me by a broad range of experiences and through the power and majesty of the gift of the Holy Ghost. If you remember nothing else I say to you today, I want you to remember this. I have had the third member of the Godhead bear witness to my soul that these things are true. And I suspect that most of you have too! We live in a time when there are many voices talking to us through various arenas on the Internet, such as social media, and others—radio, television, print media, etc. Not all of these voices are kind or encouraging when it comes to the Church or your personal testimony. Why would we ever listen to or give heed to these dissenting negative voices when we have heard the voice of God through the Holy Ghost? Think about it: the third member of the Godhead!
So how do I know the truthfulness of the things I mentioned earlier? I have to take you back to the beginning, some 44 years ago. I’m a ninth-grade seminary student reading the Book of Mormon for the first time. I have to confess my motive for reading the Book of Mormon was not because of a love for the scriptures, but because we were required to read the entire book in order to get an A in the class. One night, early on in my reading, I’m reading in Mosiah chapter 13, where Abinadi is testifying to King Noah and his group of priests.
While reading this account of Abinadi testifying, the Spirit of God came down and filled my soul with the utmost joy. I was overwhelmed by the Spirit. The tears came and I knew what I was reading was true and from God. This was a life-changing experience for me. Because God our Father knows each one of us, if we do what we are supposed to do, the necessary experiences will come to us. After Joseph Smith had read James 1:5, he said, “Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart.” [2] My heart felt the same way that night while reading Abinadi’s testimony.
It took me some time to really realize what the Book of Mormon being true really meant. I remember feeling like I didn’t know much about the doctrine of the Church, but I did realize that if the Book of Mormon was true, this meant that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that God our Father lives, that Jesus is the Christ, and that the Church was true.
A lifetime of experiences since then has deepened and enlarged my testimony concerning these things. I want to share with you a few more of my testimony-building experiences.
Eons ago when I served as a missionary, the first thing we taught investigators was the story of Joseph Smith. We began by sharing the story of the First Vision. Every time we shared this story I felt the Holy Ghost bear witness to my soul that it was true. The Spirit was always there and I knew it was true! When tracting, I couldn’t wait to get into someone’s home so that we could share the story of the First Vision. Joseph Smith told the truth, and I know that he was and is a prophet of God.
In Alma we read, “All things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.” [3]
My life has been filled with experiences in the forests, on the rivers, and in the mountains of the Western United States. The beauty and the majesty of the things on the earth and in the heavens have borne witness to my soul that there is a divine creator. Let me share an experience with you that bore witness to me that we have a loving Father in Heaven.
In July of 2004 I was getting ready to climb the Middle Teton. A few days prior to the climb I noticed that my left ear was hurting. I assumed that I must have an ear infection, and so I went to one of the urgent care facilities here in Rexburg, thinking they would verify it was an ear infection and give me a prescription to take care of it. A nurse told me that I had no infection and said that I had a lot of wax build-up in my ear and the pressure caused by this was probably why my ear was hurting. The nurse cleaned the ear out and immediately the pain went away. Soon afterwards, the doctor came in and affirmed that everything looked fine inside my ear. While talking with me, the doctor said, “When your eyes blink, your left eye is blinking different than your right eye. Have you noticed this?” I replied that I was unaware of this. He asked, “Have you had any numbness or anything else happening with the left side of your face?” I told him that a few months earlier I had noticed that the left side of my mouth didn’t seem to be working right. I hadn’t thought to do anything about it. The doctor thought that maybe I had Bell’s palsy, but indicated that he wanted me to have an MRI done on my head to see if anything unusual showed up. I went to our local hospital and had the MRI, and through this process we learned that I had a brain tumor. The tumor was pressing against my seventh cranial nerve, causing the issues with my eye and mouth. You can imagine that all of my family members were pretty upset and worried after finding out about this tumor. It’s interesting that I think that I was the only person in my family that wasn’t really worried. I had some insight that no one else had. I never once felt any worry about the tumor being cancerous or this being a life-altering or life-ending experience for me. I wasn’t worried, because I knew from my patriarchal blessing that there were still events and things in my blessing that hadn’t yet come to pass. I took this as a sign that I still had years of life ahead of me and that this was just another bump in the road of life. I bear witness that patriarchal blessings are a witness that God our Father lives and that He is well acquainted with you and what your needs are. Patriarchal blessings are an intimate, loving, and amazing gift from an all-knowing Heavenly Father.
After looking at my MRI, the neurologist in Idaho Falls that I visited told me that he couldn’t really do anything for me, but he said, “I know a doctor at the University of Utah that will know what to do.” Within a couple of weeks, I was in Salt Lake City visiting this specialist. During the course of our visit, the doctor was talking about the upcoming surgery and said that in the process of the surgery they would be taking the bones and other things in my left ear apart, and then would put everything back in place at the end of the surgery. He told me that after my surgery I may have some balance and equilibrium problems that might prevent me from ever climbing a mountain again. Anyone that knows me very well would understand that this would have been devastating to me, because climbing mountains had become a passion of mine. Several months later I had the tumor removed, and everything has been great since. I wanted to prove the doctor wrong about my climbing, and the following summer I was able to summit Mount Rainier and also set my personal best time in climbing the Grand Teton. If you haven’t received your patriarchal blessing, I encourage you to do so now, and treasure it as a revelation from God written just for you.
One thing I know for sure is that each of us will, at some point in our lives, experience some kind of test or tests that will challenge our faith and testimony to see if we will remain faithful during times of adversity.
I experienced one such test that began about four and a half years ago. After being married for 23 years, having four beautiful children together, etc., my wife decided that she no longer wanted to be together as a couple anymore. To say that I was devastated by this would be a huge understatement. How could my sweetheart, the person I was sealed to, the person that I loved with all my heart, decide that she didn’t want to be with me anymore? I did everything I could to save our marriage, but in the end my efforts failed. By far, the divorce process and everything related to it is the most painful, hurtful, and debilitating event of my life. Through this ordeal I received help from so many, including my children, my parents, my sisters, and other family members, friends, co-workers, Church leaders, President Eyring, and a great counselor. Two weeks ago in the weekly devotional, Brett Cook talked about “Angels Among Us.” The people I just mentioned were certainly there for me in my time of need. Honestly, without their love, compassion, and help, I’m not sure that I would be here today. Even with all of the help I received, I was a shattered person. I felt rejected, my self-worth had been affected, I felt anger, and I wondered if I would ever be able to find love again. I honestly wondered if I could ever love anyone again like I had loved my wife. One day in August of 2016, I was working in my yard, and while working I was thinking about a particular scene from a movie that I had recently seen. The scene in the movie portrayed a time where Christ was walking the streets of Jerusalem and came across a situation where the Jews were stoning a man. Seeing what was going on, the Savior runs over to protect this man that is being stoned. Christ hunches over the man and is hit by the stones on his own back, head, and face. I know of no place in the scriptures that talk about any such event ever taking place, but it illustrates the kind of love that the Savior had for those in His time, and that He has for you and me. While I was working, I was reviewing this scene in my mind and thinking about the amazing love Christ has for us. While I was pondering on these things, the Spirit came into my heart and mind, and I felt this overwhelming sense of love for the Savior. Brothers and sisters, something astonishing had happened in that brief moment, because the hurt, the anger, and all uncertainty I had was taken away from me. Christ had somehow performed a miracle in my behalf that only He could perform.
In Matthew we read where the Savior said:
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.[4]
There are some burdens that we are laden with that we can’t get rid of without heavenly help. In my own situation, I could not rid myself of the sadness, the pain, the hurt, and the anger from my divorce on my own.
If you are experiencing some kind of difficulty, if you have some kind of addiction you are fighting, or something is weighing you down, I plead with you to let the Savior help you. I bear witness that if we will let Him, Christ can ease the weight of our heaviest burdens. He is ready and waiting to extend His hand of help and mercy. With His help, we can find the much-needed rest to our souls that only He can provide!
On January 16, 2018, the Church held a press conference to introduce the new First Presidency to the Church and the world.
I want to share a few lines of President Nelson’s remarks from that occasion:
“We must look forward to the future with complete faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, whose Church this is.”
“Keep on the covenant path.”
“The ordinances of the temple and the covenants you make there are key to strengthening your life, your marriage and family, and your ability to resist the attacks of the adversary.”
“I express my deep love for you, love that has grown over decades of meeting you, worshipping with you, and serving you.”
“I declare my devotion to God our Eternal Father and to His Son, Jesus Christ. I know Them, love Them, and pledge to serve Them—and you—with every remaining breath of my life.”[5]
During President Nelson’s remarks I felt the sure witness from the Holy Ghost that President Nelson was the one the Lord now had put in place to lead the Church.
Since that time, it has become so obvious to me when listening to President Nelson speak in general conference that the mantle of Church leadership is upon his shoulders. The Spirit bears witness to the words he speaks as if the Lord Himself were speaking.
The Savior has said, “Whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.”[6]
It is important that you have a confirming witness from the Spirit regarding the items that I have talked about today; they form the basis for the foundation of your testimony. The Holy Ghost will bear witness of these truths with great power. Bishop Keith B. McMullin has said:
That which is received of him has a more powerful effect upon the soul than anything else received in any other way. A millennium of experience through sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, and all the powers of the universe combined cannot approach the sublime and complete experience of one brief moment under the influence of the Holy Ghost.[7]
During my high school years, when faced with temptation, I used my testimony of the Book of Mormon to fight off the adversary. In my mind I would say, “I know the Book of Mormon is true, therefore I will not participate or do these things that are wrong.” Do not give heed to the taunting, negative voices or the influences of the world. Fight them off with the testimony of the things that you know to be true.
I bear testimony that as you remain faithful, your testimony will grow and great blessings will come into your life. On the discussion board I posted a reference from the April 2019 general conference where Elder Ronald A. Rasband encouraged us to build a fortress of spirituality and protection that could not be penetrated by Satan. The foundation of this spiritual fortress is our personal testimony. I asked for responses from you regarding what actions or activities you have found most helpful in building and maintaining your “spiritual fortress.” My heart was touched by the many responses that came from so many regarding my question. I couldn’t pick just one or two responses. Here are some of the responses that were sent in: sharing my testimony, rendering service, searching and studying the scriptures, praying, reading and discussing the “Come, Follow Me” lessons, keeping the Sabbath day holy, listening to conference talks, reading the book Saints: The Standard of Truth, standing in holy places, temple attendance, purposefully attending Church meetings, meaningful family home evenings, developing a righteous home environment, and singing hymns. I testify that as we commit to do the things I just mentioned, we will certainly fortify ourselves against the efforts of the adversary! On one of those dark, painful days during the divorce period, I was talking with my mother about how I hoped in the future I could find someone to love and be married to. She said, “You just do what you are supposed to do so that when the right person comes along you will be in a position to do something about it.” I knew she was talking about staying faithful in the Church and making sure that my life was in order. This was some of the most important advice that I have ever received. I am happy to report to you that I am dating an amazing woman and we are planning to be married in the near future. She is beautiful in every way and is everything that I could ever hope for. Our mutual love for the gospel of Jesus Christ is at the very center of our relationship. My love for her is beyond anything that I could explain to you.
I leave you my witness that I have a sure testimony regarding the things I have talked about today, and they are true. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
[1] Ephesians 6:12.
[2] Joseph Smith—History 1:12.
[3] Alma 30:44.
[4] Matthew 11:28–29.
[5] “A Message from the First Presidency,” Jan. 16, 2018.
[6] Doctrine and Covenants 1:38.
[7] Keith B. McMullin, “Ye May Know,” Ensign, May 1996.