In November, just a few days before Thanksgiving, I sat with my ailing mother. I shared with her that I had been asked to speak at a BYU-Idaho Devotional and said, "Mom, it would be great if you could come." She said, "I don't think I will be able to make it," but assured me that she knew I would do a good job. My mother passed away on Christmas Eve. Today I feel as if she did make it here with me. At the young age of 16, I found myself searching for what I should do with my life and asking the Lord if what I had been taught was true.
I remember one day finding myself along the Snake River in Idaho Falls, sitting on a rock, asking my Father in Heaven if the Church was true. I did not get an answer then, but it has come over the years as I have documented the things I have experienced and felt in my life, things that have helped me build my testimony.
I was grateful that my seminary teacher during that time was a dear friend to me. He was even my home teaching companion during my high-school years. He would take me to play racquetball and share his testimony with me, which helped influence my life and helped me find the direction I wanted to go.
In 1999 I was looking to change my career. I was working for a company and was in a management position. I managed several groups under a working contract that required negotiations of their work environment. Sometimes the process of negotiating was very uncomfortable for me. The tension was very high between the groups, and I felt as if we were at war, with a battle line drawn. With threats sometimes being made, it made for some very challenging times in my job.
One day, after one of those intense meetings, I was traveling home from work to have lunch with my wife. All of a sudden, my car window got shot out. Not knowing where it had come from, or from whom, I was pretty rattled. I decided right then I was going to make a change in my life with regards to my employment and career. I began to search for other opportunities and thought, "You know, Ricks College would be a great environment and a great place to work."
On March 1, I completed 18 years of working on this campus. When I started working at Ricks College, my oldest daughter had just completed her degree. I have been blessed to have all five of my children here on this campus. They have all graduated from Ricks College or BYU-Idaho and are here with me today.
What a great place to be!
In these last 18 years, I have witnessed many miracles take place in the development of these beautiful facilities here on this campus. It is a blessing to me to have been asked to speak with you today, here in this wonderful BYU-Idaho Center, where I watched the first shovel of dirt removed to the last thing completed. I have seen things happen, I have listened to things that have been spoken, and I have documented them as part of my testimony.
About 25 years ago, a good friend of mine from Logan, Utah, and I were going on a business trip to Washington, DC where he left a big impact on me.
We had just boarded a large L-1011 airplane. It holds almost 300 passengers, and it was a full flight. My wife and I were seated on one side of the plane, and my good friend and his wife were on the opposite side.
Just before we took off, with seat belts on, my friend stood up and with a loud voice said, "Bishop Watson. Hey, Bishop Watson!"
All I could think of then was, "What is my friend planning to do? Then he said, in that same loud voice, "Have we told you we love you today?"
I replied no.
Then he said, "We love you!"
If you could have seen the look on most of the passengers' faces, it was one of those priceless moments. I could see their look because they were all looking at me.
Just about the way I feel right now.
I documented what I felt in my heart that day. My friend was not afraid to act upon what he felt and what he had been taught to do in his life.
Brothers and sisters, have we told you we love you today? We love you!
On September 26, 1923, a young 23-year-old aerial photographer in the United States Army was in flight over the Island of Oahu, Hawaii. He documented this picture of what the Hawaii temple looked like in 1923, just four years after the temple was completed.
He also documented in his journal personal thoughts while serving as a young 23-year-old in the army in Hawaii. This was his journal entry on Thursday, January 1, 1925. He said, "I woke up this bright sunny new year's morning in the land of liquid sunshine, Honolulu Hawaii. Had breakfast and spent the morning at the L.D.S. mission home. At noon Elder Don Nelson and I left for Luke field where we spent the afternoon looking about the field. We returned at five thirty after which I took in a movie."[1]
I will be forever grateful for that young 23-year-old aerial photographer, Willard James Watson, my grandfather, for documenting things of his testimony for me. I never met my grandfather. In 1950, at the age of 50, he passed away, before I was born.
One day, I found his journal and began to read it. It took me into the early hours one morning. I had come to the end of his writings but could not put it down. Something told me there was more I needed to know inside. I searched the whole journal again when finally, in the very back, there was a page and part of the cover that contained a small pocket.
These certificates are just some of the things I found in that small pocket. I know he left them for me to document his life and that he had a testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Have you documented your testimony?
Let me give you my definition of a documented testimony. A documented testimony is something you have felt, heard, seen, read, experienced, or written, and you cannot find anything in this life to tell you it is not true.
I pray today that the Holy Ghost will help each of us document, in some form, our testimony. It could be in your mind, your heart, your soul, or in some form of written documentation.
In Doctrine and Covenants, section 62, it reads, "Nevertheless, ye are blessed, for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you."[2]
I would like to talk about documenting your testimony in three areas: our minds, our hearts, and our souls.
First, our minds. Let's talk about ways we can document our testimonies in our minds. This could be something you have heard, seen, read, or even written that the Holy Ghost has testified to you is true. In the Book of Mormon, there are many accounts of the Savior testifying. The multitudes saw the Savior and were moved to tears knowing it was Him.
3 Nephi 17:5 reads, "And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them."[3]
Have you ever had experiences that moved you to tears?
I would like to share with you some personal experiences I have had that I documented as part of my testimony. In my journal, I documented the following experience I had right here on this campus.
Dated Tuesday, September 7, 1999. I titled it "Meeting the Prophet." I wrote,
Today was one of the greatest days of my life. It was like a dream come true for me. I was able to meet the prophet today. The spirit has been in such abundance on the college campus this week, in anticipation for President Gordon B. Hinckley to be here to dedicate the new Spencer W. Kimball building.
I have been serving on the dedication committee and felt the spirit preparing me for what he would teach us. The tickets for the dedication were being handed out to random staff, faculty and students to be present at the Kimball building. Upon receiving a ticket in the campus mail to attend, my heart felt as if it had stopped and I was touched by the spirit to know I would be seated in the first row directly in front of President Hinckley.
As I sat there that day, I was able to look into the eyes of the prophet, and, without any doubt, I knew he was a prophet of God. The Spirit bore in my mind a strong testimony of him to me. I know that he talks with God. His eyes were filled with the greatest love for all. He was a gentle giant. Elder Eyring sat next to him, and he treated him with the greatest love and respect, knowing he was the true prophet of God on earth today.
What an awesome experience, to have sat at the feet of the prophet. It was also a pleasure to be able to attend a luncheon with President Hinckley after the dedication, and I was able to meet him and shake his hand.
I then wrote this: "It has been a great day for me in my life. This is a journal entry day.
Little did I know the Lord had been preparing me for this day several years prior, while serving as a bishop. I remember a dream I had where I met the prophet. In that dream it was President Brigham Young. Not knowing what that dream would mean to me when I had this experience with President Hinckley, I was touched to know he was a true prophet of God. Later that day, we were all taught by him, in the Hart Building, about not breaking the chain of eternal families.
This was an event in my life where I had heard and witnessed things, and I could not find anything in this life to tell me it was not true.
Second, our hearts.
In Doctrine in Covenants, section 64, it reads, "Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days."[4]
How can we document our testimonies in our hearts?
My mind goes back to a scene from the television show Andy of Mayberry, where his son, Opie, gets a new wood-burning set and wants to use it to write on everything he sees. His father, Andy, is in the kitchen and smells something burning and goes into the living room to see an electrical cord plugged in and going out the window to the front porch, where he finds Opie burning the house numbers into the front of the house. Andy asks, "What are you doing?" Opie replies, "I want everyone to know this is our house."
As in the Andy of Mayberry scene, and as Opie did, have you documented your testimony by burning it within your heart?
In Doctrine in Covenants, section nine, it reads, "But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right."[5]
I would like to share another personal experience with you that was burned into my heart. Again, from my own journal, I wrote of this experience. I titled it "Being Called to Serve."
Being called to serve was a very special time for me and a very special experience with the Holy Ghost. I remember the feelings before I was called. About six months before I was called, I began to feel the Spirit talk and prompt me. I would find myself talking to myself in the mirror getting ready in the mornings. Later realizing it was the Spirit, I thought I was going crazy. The Spirit would prompt me of things that I would do when I was to be called to be bishop.
I said to myself, "What are you thinking? I don't want to be bishop."
I began to realize that the Holy Ghost was preparing me for the calling of a bishop. As I would pray about it, I would ask our Heavenly Father to help me to know and be prepared to accept whatever this was. I remember the most important thing that was whispered to me. It was to have love for everyone and to have the pure love of Christ, as this is His Church, and He would want me to organize and lead the ward with His pure love.
After a long six months, I remember getting up on a Sunday and the Spirit touching my heart--as if it were being burnt with a wood-burning set--that today was the day. I was very emotional and shaking as I went to church. I was the first counselor to the bishop at that time, and after sacrament meeting I remember getting a phone call in the clerk's office and being asked to have my wife and me come to the stake center to meet with the stake president.
I went and got my wife, Janice, and took her to a classroom and told her of the phone call and then told her I knew I was being called to be the next bishop. As we went and met with the stake president and he read the letter from the First Presidency, I was crying, and my heart was burning with the love of our Savior to know I was being called to serve in such a capacity.
The stake president told me my life would never be the same. I now know what he meant. I told the stake president that I had known this calling was coming for some time and already knew who my counselors would be.
I later documented this in my journal:
I know the gospel of Jesus Christ to be the only true gospel and the church to be the only true church on the earth, for the Spirit has born witness to me in this calling and through my experiences in no other way of life to not be true. I have felt his presence with me. The Lord watches over his kingdom always and forever, this is my testimony in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
In documenting our testimony in our hearts, look for the things the Lord testifies to us and teaches us in the scriptures.
In Doctrine and Covenants, section six, it reads, "Behold, thou art Oliver, [or Doug] and I have spoken unto thee because of thy desires; therefore treasure up these words in thy heart. Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love."
Now listen to verse 21 and the Savior documenting His testimony to us: "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I am the same that came unto mine own, and mine own received me not. I am the light which shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not."[6]
I love the words in the beautiful Primary song that the Primary children have been singing in church this past year titled "If I Listen with My Heart." The words are, "If I feel the Holy Spirit as He teaches truth and right, He comforts me in times of need, He testifies of Christ. He speaks to me in quiet ways that fill my soul with peace. And if I listen with my heart I hear the Saviors voice."
Third, our souls.
After you have documented your testimonies in your minds and hearts with things you have seen, heard, and felt, have you documented enough that your soul could be convicted of having a testimony? I once heard someone ask this question, and it caused me to think that I want to be guilty of having a testimony.
In another one of my favorite Primary songs, the words describe some of those quiet ways the Spirit has whispered to my soul.
Whenever I hear the song of a bird or look at the blue, blue sky
Whenever I feel the rain on my face or the wind as it rushes by,
Whenever I touch a velvet rose or walk by our lilac tree,
I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world Heav'nly Father created for me.
He gave me my eyes that I might see the color of butterfly wings.
He gave me my ears that I might hear the magical sound of things.
He gave me my life, my mind, my heart; I thank him rev'rently for all his creations,
Of which I'm a part. Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.[7]
This song has helped my soul to become convicted. It explains the ways in my life that have helped me to document my testimony.
What could convict your soul of having a testimony?
Documenting your testimony in your mind and heart prepares your soul to stand as a witness and to be convicted of having a testimony. Documenting your testimony within your soul helps you prepare for the Savior, and when you see Him eye to eye, you will know Him.
In 3 Nephi, chapter 16, it reads, "Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion."[8]
We are the watchmen for Him.
I would like to share one final personal experience with you. Several years ago, when the Pathway program had just started, and the call for speaking partners went out, I thought that would be something to look into. I was serving on the high council in my stake and was assigned the Pathway program responsibilities. So I went out online and signed up to be a speaking partner. I was a little nervous. Then I got my first speaking partner assignment. It was a student by the name of Jacob.
Jacob lived in Mexico City. He was married with three children. He spoke some English but needed some work. I was assigned to help him learn English along with the spiritual teachings of Pathway. We began to Skype each other for 20 minutes two times a week.
We began to learn all about each other and began to be very comfortable speaking with each other every week. As time progressed, Jacob was speaking his English very well, and even his wife was joining in on Saturdays to say hi and speak a little English. I was assigned to him for three semesters. As our time was drawing to an end, I had felt a very dear friendship with Jacob and was a little sad knowing he was about to move on, but I was very happy for him.
As part of my assignment on the high council, from time to time we had to give a report of our responsibilities, and it was my turn the next Sunday morning, at 7 a.m., to give that report. I thought what a great idea it would be to share my experience about Jacob with our high council. I decided to ask the stake president what he thought about Skyping my speaking partner and having him bare his testimony to our high council in English. The stake president agreed. So that Sunday morning, at 7 a.m. in our high council room, I projected my iPad on to a screen, and over a speaker we Skyped Jacob in Mexico City. He bore his testimony in English and expressed his love to all of us. This was a time when the Spirit bore his witness to the souls of 16 grown men, who were all moved to tears. The very next Saturday Skype session I had with Jacob, he asked if his family could do something for my family. As we gathered around my iPad, Jacob's wife and children proceeded to sing the first verse of "I Am a Child of God" to us in English. It was a very emotional event for my mind, my heart, and my soul. I have documented this experience in my mind; it was burned upon my heart, and it convicted my soul of knowing that it was true. There was nothing I could find anywhere that told me that what I had seen or heard or felt from this experience was not true.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, "A testimony of the gospel is a personal witness borne to our souls by the Holy Ghost that certain facts of eternal significance are true and that we know them to be true."[8]
Some of the facts of a testimony are that we know that God the Eternal Father created all for us, that Jesus Christ is our Savior and atoned for our sins, and that the Book of Mormon is the true doctrine of Christ documented for all who read it. These are eternal and significant for our souls to know.
Brothers and sisters, have you documented your testimonies in your minds, in your hearts, and in your souls enough that you can be convicted of having a testimony? When you see Him eye to eye, will you be moved to tears that you know Him and He knows you, even our Savior, Jesus Christ?
I bare my witness: I know my Savior Jesus Christ lives. I know that we have a living prophet on earth today. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and is documentation of our Savior Jesus Christ. This is the true Church of Jesus Christ. I testify to you that if you will take the things you hear in your mind and you burn them into your heart, your soul will be prepared for the time when you see Him eye to eye, and you will know Him. This is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Willard James Watson, Personal Journal
[2] Doctrine and Covenants 62:3
[3] 3 Nephi 17:5
[4] Doctrine and Covenants 64:34
[5] Doctrine and Covenants 9:8
[6] Doctrine and Covenants 6:20-21
[7] "My Heavenly Father Loves Me," Children's Songbook, 228
[8] 3 Nephi 16:18
[9] Dallin H. Oaks, "Testimony," Ensign, May 2008