FAIR

Asking Big Questions

Asking Big Questions: How Can I Make the Repentance Process Less Intimidating?

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by Craig Lindquist

The “Asking Big Questions” series is made in cooperation with the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project.

A friend recently asked about my thoughts on making repentance less intimidating. My immediate answer was, “Well, perhaps we should get President Nelson to stop using the words ‘daily’ and ‘repentance’ in the same sentence!”1 We both had a chuckle, but while pondering his question, I recalled my first experience with repentance. It was both challenging and liberating.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH REPENTING

As a young man I stole a tool from a local merchant. Later, I began to feel a desire to set my life right with the Lord. This required a visit to my bishop, who, despite my misgivings, was kind and loving. He taught me about the Lord’s love for me and His gratitude for my repentance. He also explained the necessity of making things right. I soon found myself in a checkout line of that same store explaining to the cashier that I wanted to pay for a tool I had stolen years before. Not knowing what to do, she called the manager over and the two of them talked it over with me. But not in private! I can still feel the stares of those waiting in line.

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Asking Big Questions: How Can I Develop a Stronger Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ?

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By Lyndie Jackson

The “Asking Big Questions” series is made in cooperation with the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project.

It is relatively easy to stay in contact and communicate with people across the globe. However, creating and maintaining deep personal relationships takes time and effort. Similarly, the Savior is always close to us, waiting for us with open arms. But it takes more than checking in now and then to develop a deep personal relationship with Him.

Why We Need a Personal Relationship with Christ

Wilford Woodruff urged:

I would here exhort all the Latter day Saints who hear me this day to study well the position you are in, and search your hearts and see if we are in the favour of the Lord our God, and then let us increase continually in faith, in hope, in righteousness, and in every virtuous principle . . . in order to prove us as the friends of God.”1

Speaking of being the friends of God, Elder James E. Faust (1920–2007) said:

Having such a relationship can unchain the divinity within us, and nothing can make a greater difference in our lives as we come to know and understand our divine relationship with God.”2

By drawing closer to Christ, we can unlock our divinity, reach our potential, and be strengthened to become as God is.

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Asking Big Questions: How Can I Recognize the Spirit?

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By Maddie Christensen

The “Asking Big Questions” series is made in cooperation with the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project.

In today’s tumultuous world it can be difficult to make decisions and know what is right. As Latter-day Saints, we have the gift of the Holy Ghost to help us. Through the Holy Ghost, we can know the truth of all things (Moroni 10:5).

Wilford Woodruff was a great example of recognizing spiritual promptings and acting on them. He once shared:

While on my way east I put my carriage into the yard of one of the brethren in Indiana, and Brother Orson Hyde set his wagon by the side of mine, and not more than two feet from it.

Dominicus Carter, of Provo, and my wife and four children were with me. My wife, one child and I went to bed in the carriage, the rest sleeping in the house.

I had been in bed but a short time when a voice said to me: “Get up, and move your carriage.” It was not thunder, lightning or an earthquake, but the still, small voice of the Spirit of God the Holy Ghost.

I told my wife I must get up and move my carriage. She asked: “What for?” I told her I did not know, only the Spirit told me to do it.

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Asking Big Questions: How Can I Find and Evaluate Sources of Truth?

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By Craig Lindquist

The “Asking Big Questions” series is made in cooperation with the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project.

We live in a day of confusion, even chaos. The world over, people are searching for truth on a host of subjects—but how can anyone know? It is not an easy search. Who do we trust? Where do we look? How do we know if something is in fact true? If the subject we seek to verify is purely secular, such as historical or even mathematical information, the search for the truth can be fairly easy given today’s technology.

But what do we do when our search for truth goes beyond what can be googled or found in a science book? Where can we look, and who can we trust when we want to know of eternal truths?

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Asking Big Questions: How Can I Find Answers to Gospel Questions on the Internet?

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By Maddie Christensen

The “Asking Big Questions” series is made in cooperation with the Wilford Woodruff Papers Project.

In today’s digital age, the Internet has become an indispensable tool for accessing information on any topic imaginable. With just a few keystrokes and a click of a button, one can easily find answers to any question that comes to mind. Googling questions has become a ubiquitous activity that many of us engage in on a daily basis. [Read more…] about Asking Big Questions: How Can I Find Answers to Gospel Questions on the Internet?

Asking Big Questions: How do I keep my Testimony?

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In a world of so many opinions and voices, it can be hard to find the truth and gain a testimony. But what comes next can be just as hard – keeping that testimony. Once a testimony has been gained, how do you keep your testimony?

Alma’s Insight

In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Alma invites us to treat the word of God as a seed, and plant it in our hearts, then care for it until it begins to grow. If it grows, then we will have received a testimony that it is good and true – but he doesn’t stop there.

“And behold, after ye have tasted this light, is your knowledge perfect? Behold I say unto you, nay; neither must ye lay aside your faith… if ye nourish it with much care, it will get root and grow up, and bring forth fruit…” (Alma 32:28-43) 

We must continually do the things that helped us gain our testimony in the first place, to help it grow – study the scriptures and the doctrine of the Gospel, continually pray to Heavenly Father to help us know the truth, and live that which we know to be true.

We as children of God were never meant to stay the same throughout our entire lives, nor were our testimonies. Just like any living thing, they require nourishment and care to grow, and stay alive.

Keep your testimony alive

The Lord counseled the prophet Wilford Woodruff:

“Pray always and faint not; exercise faith in the Lord and in the promises of God; be valiant in the testimony of Jesus Christ. The eyes of the Lord and the Heavenly Hosts are watching over you and your acts. Therefore be faithful until I come.”

We can also apply the counsel the Lord gave Wilford Woodruff:

First

The Lord reminded Woodruff to pray always and not faint. Prayer is our communication with our Heavenly Father. It doesn’t have to be memorized or eloquent. It can be silent or spoken. Our Heavenly Father loves us and listens to us when we open our hearts to Him in prayer. As we communicate with Him, He speaks to us in return. We call that process personal revelation. Frequently during or after a prayer, we may feel a prompting to take action. 

“Act on your righteous desires. There is wisdom in the saying, “Pray as if everything depends on the Lord, then work as if everything depends on you.” It is in the process of doing that we often get guidance and help from God.” How to Pray

As we speak with God and learn to receive guidance from Him, we’re enabled to do the second thing the Lord counseled Wilford to do.

Second Step

Wilford was counseled to “exercise faith in the Lord and in the promises of God.” Faith is ultimately a principle of action. One way we ‘exercise faith’ is to act upon guidance we receive when we pray. Elder Bednar said:

“Taking action is the exercise of faith. The children of Israel are carrying the ark of the covenant. They come to the River Jordan. The promise is they will cross over on dry land. When does the water part? When their feet are wet. They walk into the river—act. Power follows—the water parts.

“We oftentimes believe, “I’m going to have this perfect understanding, and then I’m going to transform that into what I do.” I would suggest that we have enough to get started. We have a sense of the right direction. Faith is a principle—the principle—of action and of power. True faith is focused in and on the Lord Jesus Christ and always leads to action.”

As we take action, we increasingly see the power of God at work in our lives.

Third is be Valiant

As Wilford, we are also called to be valiant in the testimony of Jesus. “Each of us will be called upon to act in moments that are difficult and yet defining,” Elder Golden taught. “These moments will determine who we are and what we have become.”  Elder Cook helps us understand a little better how to be valiant:

“To be valiant, we need to focus on the power of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice to overcome death and, through our repentance, to cleanse us from sin, and we need to follow the doctrine of Christ.29 We also need the light and knowledge of the Savior’s life and teachings to guide us on the covenant pathway, including the sacred ordinances of the temple. We must be steadfast in Christ, feast upon His word, and endure to the end.”

Wilford spent the remainder of his life sharing his testimony and living the gospel to the fullest of his ability. He said “I count it a privilege to join my Brethren in bearing my testimony of the things of God.”

May we always seek to live and share that which we know to be true. As we nourish our testimonies, the Lord will bless our efforts and it will flourish into a beautiful garden of gospel truths.

Asking Big Questions: How Can I Gain a Testimony of the Book of Mormon?

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The Keystone of Our Religion

The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ has been called the keystone of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Church members have been continually encouraged to read, study, and ponder the Book of Mormon’s contents since it was first translated by the Prophet Joseph Smith. Joseph himself said that “a man would get closer to God by abiding by its
precepts.” But how can we know this is true?

How can we know the book of Mormon is true?

All members of the Church have faced or will face this question at least once in their lives, and every individual will find an answer in their own unique way. But we can learn from the experiences of others to help us get started in our search for truth.

Wilford Woodruff’s Experience

Wilford Woodruff, an early prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was just 26 years old when he first heard of and read the Book of Mormon.

 

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