I’ve been assigned to speak today about something that every member of the church should be familiar with and may even be considered one of the most important aspects of one’s own membership, testimony, and the decision to join with, and participate in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is the primary gift we receive from the Holy Ghost under the direction of our Father in Heaven and the Savior. It goes hand in hand with the gift of the Holy Ghost, and our prophet has directed us to seek after it more than once.
By now, you may have guessed that I have been assigned to speak about the subject of Personal Revelation.
In April 2018 general conference our President Nelson said “in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost. My beloved brothers and sisters, I plead with you to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation.”
It wasn’t too long after he said this that the whole world was turned upside down. We were unable to gather in meetings, quorums, groups and in the temple, church was effectively cancelled for the foreseeable future.
Being a bit of an introvert, I felt a guilty excitement, very similar to the excitement I felt on the last day of school knowing it would be months before I had to go back there again.
But when the reality of our situation began to sink in I started to worry about my kids and the way this situation may affect their access to the group benefits of a spiritual gathering, social interaction with others that share our beliefs and the peace we can receive by performing temple ordinances. All things that I knew Gabriel, Jackson and Eden enjoyed.
Fortunately, we were directed to conduct church and the sacrament in our own homes for several months. This provided me, as the priesthood leader of my home, inspiration to seek the Lord’s help on how to make this unique time a time of spiritual growth for the members of my family and for myself. Each week we would gather together, pray, sing, partake of the sacrament (blessed and passed by my boys) and have a spiritual thought.
During these months I began to reflect how I originally gained my testimony and sought deeper understanding of gospel principles so that I would be able to able to more effectively share the gospel with my family. The insights I gained strengthened my testimony and my resolve to follow our Savior.
I also felt that the time frame of the pandemic was just the beginning of those things our Prophet was referring to when he spoke of not being able to survive spiritually "without the constant influence of the Holy Ghost." I believe I am not alone in this feeling or impression. I know that there are many people of our faith and of many other faiths that feel that the end time prophecies are closer than they have ever been. I also believe that the leaders of our church know that there is anxiety among many of God’s children all around the world. This is evident from many of the talks given by our prophet and leaders in the short 4 and ½ years since our prophet spoke these inspired words.
I have been able to identify 30 talks presented in the last 54 months (and over the Course of 9 General Conferences) that have been given to the members of the church regarding the subject of personal revelation.
1. Courage to Proclaim the Truth by Denelson Silva
2. That They Might Know Thee by Jonathon S Schmidt
3. Nourishing and Bearing Your Testimony by Gary E Stevenson
4. Is the Plan Working by Adrian Ochoa
5. Conversion to the Will of God by Quentin L Cook
6. Lessons at the Well by Susan H Porter
7. Do What Mattereth Most by Rebecca L Craven
8. Our Relationship with God by D Todd Christofferson
9. The Power of Spiritual Momentum by President Nelson
10. Becoming More in Christ: The Parable of the Slope by Clark G Gilbert
11. The Need for a Church by Dallin Oaks
12. God Among Us by Dieter F Uctdorf
13. Ye Shall Be Free by Thierry K Mutombo
14. Not as the World Giveth by Jeffery R Holland
15. Moving Forward by President Nelson
16. There Was Bread by W Christopher Wadell
17. Peace Be Still by Lisa L Harkness
18. Ask, Seek, and Knock by Milton Carmogo
19. The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon by Ulisess S Soares
20. The Power of the Book of Mormon by Benjamin M Z Tai
21. Hear Him by President Nelson
22. Spiritual Capacity by Michelle D Craig
23. Trust in the Lord by Dallin H Oaks
24. A Home Where the Spirit of the Lord Dwells by Henry B Eyring
25. Hearing His Voice by David P Homer
26. Preparing for the Lord’s Return by D Todd Christofferson
27. Prepared to Obtain Every Needful Thing by David A Bednar
28. Build a Fortress of Spirituality and Protection by Ronald A Rasband
29. The Role of the Book of Mormon in Conversion by Shane M Bowen
30. Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives by President Nelson
I’d be willing to bet there are a lot more of them that touch upon this subject. It is critical now, more than ever, that we as members of the church we need to recognize this amazing blessing that we have been given, and more importantly utilize it as much as we possibly can, and also share with others how this blessing is available to them.
In addition to these messages (in our last October conference) Elder Dale G. Renlund gave a fabulous talk titled: A Framework of Personal Revelation. In it he explains
that each of us can receive personal revelation within the framework of our stewardship. Individuals can’t receive revelations for the entire church, change church policies, or reveal new doctrine, but quoting Moroni 10:5 declared that by the power of the Holy Ghost you may know the truth of all things.
He explains, as children of God, we may each know God’s will for our lives and how to receive the answers that can guide us throughout that life.
I’d like to share the experiences of 2 personal revelations that have given me the strength and courage to press forward in some of the hardest times of my life. The first was a personal revelation that I am guessing has impacted the lives of every person in this room and millions around the world. These are the words of the Prophet Joseph. (From Joseph Smith History 1:8-17)
8 During this time of great excitement my mind was called up to serious reflection and great uneasiness; but though my feelings were deep and often poignant, still I kept myself aloof from all these parties, though I attended their several meetings as often as occasion would permit. In process of time my mind became somewhat partial to the Methodist sect, and I felt some desire to be united with them; but so great were the confusion and strife among the different denominations, that it was impossible for a person young as I was, and so unacquainted with men and things, to come to any certain conclusion who was bright and who was wrong.
9 My mind at times was greatly excited, the cry and tumult were so great and incessant. The Presbyterians were most decided against the Baptists and Methodists, and used all the powers of both reason and sophistry to prove their errors, or, at least, to make the people think they were in error. On the other hand, the Baptists and Methodists in their turn were equally zealous in endeavoring to establish their own tenets and disprove all others.
10 In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be aright, which is it, and how shall I know it?
11 While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
12 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. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.
13 At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.
14 So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.
15 After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.
16 But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
Of course, we all know the result of this personal revelation. This began the great restoration of the plan of salvation and the Lord’s kingdom on the Earth.
The second, is a personal revelation which I received on my mission. I am a strong believer that personal revelations are just that, they are personal and are specific correspondence between you and the Lord, and normally shouldn’t be shared with others, accept at appropriate times. (And since this is does not contradict revealed doctrine, it is appropriate to share here.)
Many of you know that I was called to serve a mission Moscow Russia in 1992, 30 years ago. This calling was actually the fulfillment of a prophetic statement I made (though I didn’t know it at the time) to a Missionary sitting by me on an airplane returning home to Salt Lake from his mission in St. Louis where I lived at the time. I was eight years old and I was going to a family reunion in Utah.
I had been baptized recently and He and I spoke about the church a little. He asked me where I wanted to go on my mission. I said confidently that I was going to Russia. At the time, Russia and the surrounding areas of the USSR were closed to foreigners and religion. Those that lived in its borders were said to be living behind an IRON Curtain. Unable to see or experience freedoms enjoyed by America and in other parts of the world.
I’ll never forget this missionary’s response to me, he said “Oh, I don’t know if anyone will ever be able to go on a mission there, at least not while I’m alive.”
Eleven years later I was serving a mission in Moscow. That was the result of 2 miracles. One was an actual a miracle that there was a mission in Moscow Russia (a miracle that President Nelson was very instrumental in making happen).
And the other miracle was that I decided to even go on a mission.
When I was 8 years old I was like a lot of freshly baptized primary kids, I was excited and full of faith in the Lord. But by the time I had gone through my teenage years, life had beaten me down a quite a bit. I struggled with depression and anxiety and I had no clue how to manage it. I carried these feelings with me into the MTC and into the mission field.
I was in a foreign land that was full of personal suffering the likes of which I had never seen before. I won’t go into the conditions I saw at this time, but just know that it was rough.
After 5 months in the field I was made trainer. I still didn’t know the language or the discussions in Russian, and I was scared to go outside because I was afraid of physical harm. And the missionary that the Lord decided I should train was even more depressed, anxious and scared than I was. We collectively were a mess. When we came home from for lunch, He would lock himself in the bathroom for at least 30 minutes every day. (Months later he told me it was because he was praying for me to be a better missionary, so he could be a good missionary).
But during this time we had committed a family of 5 to baptism, I have no idea how that happened because I’m not sure what I told them. But I was quietly saying to myself, maybe I can be a missionary and share the gospel. Anyway, I started to actually begin to worry about my companion more than I worried about myself.
I remember praying one day (while my comp was in the bathroom) and I heard a still, small, voice begin to quietly explain that depression, anxiety and feelings of self-doubt are the tools Satan uses on members of the church to control them and keep them from reaching their eternal potential. Since members don’t use mind altering substances and engage in other immoral activities, he uses depression to accomplish similar outcomes with individual members of the church. I then was immediately reminded of 2 NE 26:22 “and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cord forever.”
I had learned in seminary that flaxen cords are made up of incredibly small thin strands that are almost invisible to the naked eye, but when many of them are wound together the cord is virtually unbreakable.
After this personal revelation, I knew I didn’t want to be in Satan’s power and I knew I needed the Savior’s help. I soon learned thru additional experiences that the Savior’s atonement could be used not only to forgive sin but to heal broken hearts and also help each one of us to understand not only that he loves us, but Why he loves me personally.
I shared what I learned with my companion and many months later, long after our companionship had ended, whenever he saw me at conferences and other church events, with a big smile on his face, he called me VELEEKI which means “Great one” in Russian.
The rest of my mission I was at ease and at peace. The circumstances of the situation had not changed, but I had received a portion of the light of Christ and I enjoyed those 2 years better than any of the years that came before it.
(End with short testimony)
