Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe in revelation, both personally and for the entire Church. The man who receives revelation for the Church is our beloved prophet, currently Thomas S. Monson. I have many times in my life felt truly inspired by his words and the words of countless other modern-day prophets and apostles. I would now like to share a recent experience, and not so recent, experience I had from listening to the prophet’s voice.

I am currently finishing up my last year of undergraduate schooling and applying to graduate schools. It is incredibly exciting but excruciatingly terrifying. There is so much doubt and anxiety ahead of me as I pursue my career path, and my mind has been bogged with question upon question of where and how and when. However, the most difficult question I have been asking myself lately is, “Can I really do ALL of this?” There is always doubt in big decisions, such as choosing a career, but this was deeper for me. I was starting to feel lost: I have no idea which school I will go to, what state I will be in, how much money I will have, if I will be able to get a good job after I graduate; the list goes on and on. The immense pressure of ambiguity was weighing on me heavily one day, so I thought distracting myself by seeing what schoolwork I could do might ease a little of my anxiety. I opened my planner—the one BYU makes that has quotes in it—and read the quote on the bottom of the page. It says:

I plead with you, my young brothers and sisters, to remember who you are. You are sons and daughters of Almighty God. You have a destiny to fulfill, a life to live, a contribution to make, a goal to achieve. The future of the kingdom of God upon the earth will, in part, be aided by your devotion. –Thomas S. Monson

My eyes began to fill with tears because I was reminded of a devotional three years earlier. I had only been at BYU for about two months, and President Monson was the devotional speaker. I had to sit WAY up in the bleachers of the Marriott center, but the part of his message that inspired me the most was when he quoted The Lion King and said “Look inside yourself. You are more than what you have become. Remember who you are.” After hearing that from the prophet, I was reminded of who I am: a beloved daughter of God with a purpose to be an example of Christ throughout my life as well as in the career I want to pursue. I was then filled with strength and determination that the path I was choosing was a worthy goal in God’s eyes for me to achieve, and that He would help me through it so that I could become more than I already am. As I came back from this memory, I also realized the most important lesson of all: no matter where my life takes me, it will be the destiny God wants and needs me to fulfill because I am His beloved daughter. As I have humbled myself before my Father with this knowledge, He has answered with miracles to help me achieve my goals and fulfill my divine destiny here on Earth.

I would never have learned this important principle without the words of the prophet. I testify that he is truly a prophet of God, and speaks for God to all who will listen and receive His words. I also testify that our Heavenly Father loves each of us perfectly and desires that we fulfill the divine destinies He has created for each of us, with the end goal of returning to live with Him and Jesus Christ. So now, especially with General Conference quickly approaching us, I challenge all who read this to come and listen to the prophet’s voice to find peace, solace and joy.

Sami Pehrson

To learn more about what General Conference is click here.

Gratitude: Seeing Things As they Are

As much as we would like to think we are always in control of what happens to us, we are not.  There are times when power over our circumstances seems to slip out of our hands. In these moments, it is natural for us to wish the time of difficulty would pass. Our error with this tendency, as Dieter F. Utchdorf persuades, is that “Sometimes we become so focused on the finish line, that we fail to find joy in the journey.”  But finding joy in the journey is not always the easiest thing to do when what we want to change in our lives is beyond our capacity.

We know that drawing closer to our Savior can help us overcome any difficulty we may face. He as promised, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) But if we think that coming unto him means traveling far distances across wide prairies and wild frontiers, than we have forgotten that the Atonement is always within reaching distance. This is because Christ is there beside us. Drawing near unto the Savior is not so much about changing where we are, but opening our eyes to see him. This change of sight miraculously happens as we embrace what is with Gratitude. Gratitude is seeing things as they truly are. Hand-crafted by the maker of our God, we and this world are a reflection of what God is. If we look for him in our world, we can see him and be filled with joy. We don’t have to wait until the end of our race to see his miracles unfolding. We can experience the gift of joy now through gratitude. But this gift of sight takes practice.

 “Developing gratitude is like the sun. It doesn’t rise all at once, but in degrees.” A friend of mine said this to me when I asked her what she thought of gratitude. She has suffered severe health challenges since the time she was in high school. Many opportunities in her life passed before her eyes because she was too sick to take them. When asked how she found joy in the journey, she said it wasn’t easy at first. She decided to pick one thing at a time to be grateful for. First, it was the people in her life. Second, it was the little things she could accomplish despite her illness. And then, with a lot of diligence in faith and prayer, it was her illness. She saw the good in it, and could rejoice in it. She says, “I still have moments where I don’t know that I feel the gratitude for it. But I keep trying.” There have been many times where gratitude felt too difficult for me to feel, but if there is anything I know we have power to gain, it is our Gratitude. It may not seem like much, but I am certain it means everything to our Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ. When we are truly grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ, we are using it. We are letting it help us.

The beauty behind Gratitude is that as long as it is present, service is never one-sided. When we are grateful for others, they are filled with the blessing of our appreciation for them. Gratitude is what binds us together. Gratitude binds us to our Savior. Let us bless the life of our Savior now by being grateful for him. Let us look for him in our lives. The path we walk leads us to God’s kingdom, but it is our heart full of gratitude that is building it. Keep trying, and it will come. This I testify in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

A talk I highly recommend, “Grateful in Any Circumstances” by Dieter F. Utchdorf, April 2014 General Conference.

Rebecca Wilkinson

Everyday Happiness

Living The Gospel does not always result in immediate happiness, especially when I look at my life with a day to day perspective. But when I look at my whole life and ask what it would look like today if, in the past, I had followed my own path instead of the Saviors, I realize how much happiness living the Gospel has allotted me. Without the Gospel in my life in the past, today I would probably be a lesser happy version of Sam; a version that would still have my same personality and maybe some of the same friends, but definitely not a Sam with the recognition of self-worth that I have today. Because of lessons I’ve learned from living obediently in the past, I know today that the Lord lives and that He wants me to be triumphant over sin. Living the Gospel is a long-term process that helps me understand my self-worth or eternal value. Gospel teaches me, repeatedly (thankfully), that I am a Child of God and that I belong to a heavenly family. This helps me understand that I am worth something to someone. And, not just anyone, I am worth something to God; the very Creator of the universe and all things in it.

On those days that I don’t want to live the Gospel, I just remind myself that one bad day cannot (or at least should not) stop me from a life-time goal of wanting to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again. In fact, those days that are the hardest kind of help me know that I am on the right path because the Savior’s life was hard and it was filled with days that I am sure He did not want to experience. And sometimes I am happiest on those days that are hardest to live the Gospel because, on those days, I am more likely to turn to the Savior and seek His guidance and protection. Therefore, I choose to follow the Savior Jesus Christ every day because I know that doing so will bring me true happiness, whether that happiness is experienced right away or later on.

Samuel W. Platt
(photos taken by Samuel)

Everyday we can see the Savior

This fall I had the blessing of going to and living in Jerusalem for a semester. Despite the incredible experience I had in the Holy Land, let me clarify that this will not be a blog about the sites where I “found” my Redeemer. I didn’t “find” Him in Jerusalem just like I didn’t “find” Him on my mission or “find” Him my freshman year at BYU. Our Savior does not hide; He is with us waiting for us to look. Similarly, my testimony is not tied to a specific place or verse or moment. My testimony is based on the millions of times in my life that I have taken the time to look and realized He is by my side. In the most famous sermon ever given, the Savior said, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8) I believe and testify that this does not just reference a time at the judgment bar when those who are pure in heart will go to live with their Father in Heaven and Christ, but that every day we can see the Savior. To me this verse says that if we are pure in heart and desire to see the Savior throughout our lives, we will.

I have seen my Savior in the face of an older gentleman in my congregation who always greeted me by name and had given his entire life to serving the Lord. I see it in the young teenagers I taught for a few mornings who faithfully attended an early morning scripture study class before school each week day. I see it in my mom who every morning reads her scriptures before reading scriptures with the family. Christ is not there in the tomb, He is truly risen. And He is with us in each righteous choice we make and in every hard day we endure. We do not need to search for the Savior. He is always with us, we just have to pause and take time to recognize Him.

While sitting outside the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem one Sunday, a Nigerian group of pilgrims were gathered waiting to enter the Tomb. One woman in particular was praising Christ through song at a considerable volume while waiting her turn. As I sat there, I smiled to myself thinking of the joy that the Savior brings in our lives and how we each manifest it. As she entered the Tomb, I wondered if her volume would decrease upon exiting. No, was the answer. As she left the Tomb, she sang just as loudly as she had prior to entering. I noticed, however, that her volume had also not increased. It may have been because she was already singing at maximum capacity. But also I think because she knew just as assuredly as before she walked into the Tomb that she would find it empty. Like this woman, my testimony was not changed by going to the Tomb I know just as assuredly now as I did before that He lives and is not “here, but is risen” (Luke 24:6). And I am so very grateful that He is not there, but is with us.

Brooke Ellis

A Reason to Remember

I have puzzled many times over the years why I lived. I did not feel I had done anything to deserve the grace of life that had so miraculously been bestowed upon me. I lived my life dependent on other people, surrounded by wonderful siblings and devoted parents. In my young mind, I understood that it was no coincidence that I was where I was and I felt an inner urgency to figure out why I was. My mother once sat beside me and read to me her journal entry of my birth. I was dying; too weak to be touched by her loving fingertips and too sick to rest. I screamed for days. The doctors said that the only reason why I had lived thus far was because I was fighting to live. I was sent in an ambulance to a more advanced hospital where I was connected to numerous wires and tubes. But no matter what the doctor’s did, I could not breathe. It was during that time that my mother knelt beside her bed in humble prayer, asking why her child had to go through so much pain. Peace overcame her and a subtle voice answered that her child needed this trial. She did not know why. I am not sure anyone understood why. But with much prayer and fasting from family, friends, and church wards, one day I miraculously found an unexpected strength to pull out my food tube. The doctors were stunned and said if I was able to pull a tube from my stomach, I would indefinitely live. I was shortly thereafter sent home. My mother’s answer to her prayer troubled me. I did not remember the pain I went through. And yet her answer said that I had needed the trial. Why had God desired of me to suffer so much just so I could forget it? Had I learned anything in those moments of pain? Had I consciously been aware of the prayers of others or my parents standing overhead? And more importantly, had I suffered these things alone? Would God leave a newborn infant to suffer pain alone? 

When I thought of being alone in those moments, no matter how many times I tried to consider it, I could not. I felt that if I had been entirely alone I would not have fought. I understood myself as a dependent child inadequate to fend for myself. There must have been a being to stand by me, lift me up, and keep me from giving up on myself. There must have been angels sent to touch me when mortal men could not. God must have existed. God must have heard the prayers of the children of men, and for some divine purpose answered them.

When I was 7 years old, I learned I was to be baptized in the L.D.S church. I was overjoyed.  I felt all my questions would be answered and that I would finally know why I was here. I remember the bishop interview very well. He had asked me if I believed in Christ and if I had wanted to be baptized. In primary, church leaders told me he was sent by my Father in Heaven to be my big brother and help me. I believed it with all my heart. In my childhood mind, he was that someone that must have helped me when I nearly died. A loving Father would have offered me no less. I wrote small letters to God often and would put them in my pillow. Sometimes I wished like the tooth-fairy God would take the letters and leave a letter of his own in its place. But I was taught that prayer was what God provided us to keep in contact with him, so I complied. Because of the strong bond I desired to have with God and his son,  I was able to answer all of the bishop’s questions sincerely, despite how young I was, and consented to be baptized.

The baptism was not odd to me. There were moments later in my life where I asked myself why God had chosen to have us dipped fully in water and have a blessing with hands on our heads as the proper ordinance. It has not been until recently I have come to understand why. But what I did find odd is that when I went home and prayed for answers to my questions, all I heard was silence. I had expected to know everything because of baptism. But I only felt more troubled than before. More questions arose and I wondered what had been the purpose of baptism if all I was realizing was how much I did not know. But it was not until after much searching in the scriptures, persistent prayer, and guidance from my church leaders and parents that I came to understand the importance of faith. When we act in faith, no matter how small or insignificant the act may appear, we allow God to give us his power and knowledge. The Lord gives us knowledge when we earn it. As a result of baptism, I felt myself being guided to the answers to my questions and after much contemplation realized it was the Holy Ghost I had received that was assisting me.  It was this gift that helped remind me when I had doubts that the Lord did speak to the children of men and that he spoke to me. I just needed to trust in what I felt in my heart and spoke to my mind. 

I testify that we are never alone. That God is real and loves us. We may not remember him fully, but that does not mean we should forget to believe. Our physical bodies may have not experienced God’s presence, but our spirits have. If we earnestly believe in the testimonies of others and the miraculous experiences around us, we will feel in our souls a feeling of remembrance; a feeling of love and peace that comes from a Father who has not forgotten us.

I am a living testimony of prayer and the Lord’s power. If it can give strength to a weak and lowely infant, I know it can answer you with strength upon your heads. I may not remember the pain and suffering of my birth, but I remember that experience as a reason to move forward and to not give up. The Lord is beside me. He is the reason why I live the way I do. I decide to answer his faith and the faith of his people in my behalf by repenting and becoming perfect in him. I pray that I can live up to what he has done for me. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints is the church God has provided for us to reach our divine potential and I promise if you will seek earnestly for the truth in it, you shall find it. This I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Moroni 7 (page 521-525 in the Book of Mormon). You can know for yourself :) 

Rebecca Wilkinson