Building an Immunity Against Faith Crisis
In a popular scene from in The Princess Bride, the hero Wesley engages in a battle of wits against Vizzini, one of the lesser villains. Vizzini had to use logic and deductive reasoning to figure out which drink Wesley poisoned. But Wesley won by poisoning both drinks. He was able to survive because beforehand he’d spent time building up an immunity against the poison.
In reality, you can’t build up a tolerance against something like anthrax or cyanide. So, we all know what happens when you’re poisoned by degrees, right? Amalickiah wins. But what we can do is to take steps to build up a tolerance against spiritual poison. And that’s what I wanted to talk about today.
We’re in a Literal Battle
We are engaged in an actual battle of wits against the adversary. And we need to pull out all kinds of tricks in order to spiritually survive. We need to do that because they don’t play fair.
Just like Vizzini tried to switch the glasses while Wesley’s back was turned, Lucifer and his minions will cheat and do everything they can to trick us into falling away. Harold B. Lee once explained,
“There are carefully charted on the maps of the opposition, the weak spots in every one of us. They are known to the forces of evil.”
Don’t forget, we have a veil over our memories, but they don’t. They know us. They’ve known us for a very long time. They know our strengths and our weaknesses. They know how to hit us where it hurts. And they will fight dirty.
It can easily feel like we’re overwhelmed and outclassed in this fight. We don’t have our memories of the premortal existence. We don’t remember the father or the savior or any of the lessons we learned before we arrived here. All we have is our testimonies, our brains, and our ability to study. And it’s easy to feel like that may not be enough. As the world grows wickeder, it gets harder for us to discern the truth.
But There’s Good News, Too
The good news is there are ways that we can grow that ability and we can gain all of the confidence of this little pink guy here while squaring off against a much scarier opponent. Brigham Young once said,
“Let those apostatize who wish to, but God will save all who are determined to be saved.”
We need to be determined because this will be a lifelong battle. But we have assurances from prophets and from the Lord repeatedly throughout the scriptures that we are his children and if we endure to the end, we will not be lost.
Research on Faith Crisis and Prevention
Bruce C. Haven and his wife Marie conducted a large amount of research on what contributes to a faith crisis and what can help resolve it. He boiled down some of the results like this.
The single most important factor in seeing stronger faith emerge from various complexities is whether one has or develops a close personal relationship–a ‘connection’– with the Lord. … Another significant source of prevention is to teach students that hard questions, opposition, and complexities of all kinds are normal and natural–and often enable genuine learning. For example, one of the main themes to emerge from [the research] is that ‘being taught beforehand about complexity rather than being surprised by it helps prevent crises and can foster progression and an attitude of appreciation for the richness of history and doctrine.
Those who’d been taught this perspective saw their doubts and questions as part of a normal, healthy process rather than being upset or ashamed by them. Often they had a mentor (a parent, leader or teacher) who taught them this understanding from an early age. These people were actually able to nurture their faith and enjoy the developmental process.’
[The research] also revealed that some had believed that if they really had ‘faith,’ they should also have a ‘perfect’ or ‘completely certain’ testimony. Therefore, these people tended to have an ‘all or nothing’ attitude. So, when they experienced any uncertainty or serious questions, they became completely unmoored.
Many of them referred to this as a ‘faith crisis’ because of the way they viewed the term ‘faith’. And some felt they couldn’t stay or be active in the church unless they were completely certain in their testimony. [But when they learned] to broaden the way they perceived ‘faith’ or a ‘testimony’, they were able to work through their doubts and allow themselves to have a dynamic faith that grew and developed.
Much like the use of an inoculation to help build immunity in children, [the research] show[ed] that those who were taught difficult yet age-appropriate concepts by parents or good teachers were much better prepared when any ‘complexity’ later arose. (Bruce C. Hafen, Teaching Students to Deal with Questions and DoubtsI)
Summing up Hafen’s Research
So to boil all of that down, the largest factor in pulling through a faith crisis is a close connection with God.
Another large factor is the ability to recognize that doubts and questions are normal and that they can help you learn and progress. When people were introduced gradually to difficult or complex information, they were better equipped to handle tough questions. Those who had an all or nothing view of their faith, however, ran into trouble.
The CES Letter and an All-or-Nothing View
I don’t know him personally, but the author of the CES letter displayed this all-or-nothing attitude all throughout that particular document. If something did not happen exactly the way he’d always understood it to have happened to him, it meant that none of it was true.
He was not able to allow for new interpretations or new scholarship to change his views. And that led him to throw out the entire gospel.
So, what can we do to help prepare ourselves before a faith crisis even strikes?
Learning How the Spirit Speaks to You
First the most important thing is to learn how the spirit speaks to you. Learn how to receive personal revelation and how to study with the spirit. Build up your personal connection with the Lord by praying, attending the temple, reading your scriptures, and keeping your covenants.
We all receive revelation just a little bit differently and the spirit does feel different to many of us. I very rarely get that burning in the bosom feeling. Most of the time the spirit speaks to my mind and gives me very clear phrases or impressions.
Some people predominantly get feelings in their heart rather than inspiration in their minds. Others get a pretty even mix. Some feel the spirit like a burning tingling sensation.
Others feel overwhelming peace. Others feel butterflies in their stomach. It’s different for everybody, but God speaks to us in ways that we can personally understand.
Heavenly Father will use things that you’re familiar with in order to teach you important lessons. This is an individualized process and we need to learn what the process feels like for ourselves.
Experimenting With Personal Revelation
The way you build that connection that the havenens found was so important is by experimenting the way that Elma recommends. Start testing the limits of your personal revelation. Stretch and grow in your faith.
Pray for understanding and enlightenment as you study. When you study with the spirit, he will guide you to important lessons.
President Nelson said,
“Through your faith, Jesus Christ will increase your ability to move the mountains in your life. Even though your personal challenges may loom as large as Mount Everest. Your mountains may be loneliness, doubt, illness, or other personal problems.”
“Your mountains will vary, And yet, the answer to each of your challenges is to increase your faith. That takes work. … To do anything well requires effort. Becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ is no exception. Increasing your faith and trust in him takes effort. …
“Receiving revelation takes work. But everyone that askketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knockketh it shall be opened. God knows what will help your faith grow. Ask, and then ask again.” (Russell M. Nelson, “Christ is Risen; Faith in Him Will Move Mountains”)
Increasing Faith and Guarding Testimony
In that same talk that that quote was from, President Nelson gave five steps for increase in faith:
- Study
- Choose to believe in Jesus Christ
- Act in faith
- Partake of sacred ordinances worthily, and
- Ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, for help.
Now, I do have a series of quotes by President Nelson all in a bit of a row here. Just because this is one of the number one focuses of his ministry: to teach us how to build that relationship with our Father.
This one might be a little controversial. He taught,
“Few things will complicate your life more quickly than violating this divine law [of chastity]. For those who have made covenants with God, immorality is one of the quickest ways to lose your testimony.” (Russell M. Nelson, Think Celestial!)
So, this is far from universal, and I don’t want to stare at anybody. There are a lot of things that can cause a faith crisis, not just this, but this is a pretty common one.
I’ve seen this exact same thing play out in the lives of friends and family members, missionaries I volunteer with, people I know on social media, and even in my own life.
As someone who is 43 and single, I have had my fair share of struggles living the law of chastity over the years. In those periods when I’ve struggled, I have been less inclined to pray, to read my scriptures, to attend church or the temple, all of it.
Repentance, Temptation, and Staying Spiritually Anchored
When you feel ashamed of your failures, you either repent or eventually you start looking for ways to rationalize it.
- When you try to rationalize it,
- when you start saying that it’s not really a bad thing,
- (that) it’s normal and natural and nothing to really be sorry for.
You start becoming numb to the spirit. I’m not saying that feeling ashamed of our natural urges is a good thing, but that guilt is there to prompt you to repent.
When you do, the joy and relief that comes is overwhelming. That’s the goal of it. It’s not to make you feel bad about yourself, it is to lead you to repentance.
- Everybody struggles with something.
- Everybody has temptations.
- Everybody has questions and doubts.
Those aren’t bad things. And we don’t need to be ashamed of that. They’re what help us to grow if we turn to our father in heaven for help the way that President Nelson encouraged us to do.
So keep yourselves right with the law of chastity. If you mess up, repent sooner rather than later. That is one way to keep your testimony intact.
Temple Worship and Spiritual Protection
Another thing is attending the temple regularly. If you’re endowed, go often. If you’re not endowed, do what you need to do to get endowed and then go often.
Like President Nelson says in this quote here, nothing is going to help you more to hold fast to the iron rod than worshiping in the temple. And nothing is going to give you the kind of protection that you need more than regular temple attendance.
Keeping Covenants and Accessing God’s Power
The next thing is to keep your covenants. President Nelson said,
“Every woman and every man who makes covenants with God and keeps those covenants and who participates worthy in priesthood ordinances has direct access to the power of God. Those who are endowed in the house of the Lord received a gift of God’s priesthood power by virtue of their covenant, along with a gift of knowledge to know how to draw upon that power.
Most certainly the adversary does not want you to understand the covenant you made at baptism or the profound endowment of knowledge and power you have received or will receive in the temple, the house of the Lord. And Satan certainly does not want you to understand that every time you worthily serve and worship in the temple, you leave armed with God’s power and with his angels having charge over you. (Russell M. Nelson, “Spiritual Treasures”)
Our covenants give us protection against our temptations. It’s an endowment of power from God. When we honor our covenants, God honors His by giving us the protection we need to stand strong.
Taking Charge of Your Testimony
In another talk, he said,
“I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it, own it, care for it, nurture it so that it will grow.” Feed it truth. Don’t pollute it with the false philosophies of unbelieving men and women, and then wonder why your testimony is [Music] waning.
Engage in daily, earnest, humble prayer. Nourish yourself in the words of ancient and modern prophets. Ask the Lord to teach you how to hear him better.
Spend more time in the temple and in family history work as you make your testimony your highest priority. Watch for miracles to happen in your life. If you have questions, and I hope you do, seek answers with the fervent desire to believe.
Learn all you can about the gospel and be sure to turn to truthfilled sources for guidance. We live in the dispensation when nothing shall be withheld. Thus, in time, the Lord will answer all our questions.
In the meantime, immerse yourself in the rich reservoir of revelation we have at our fingertips. I promise that doing so will strengthen your testimony, even if some of your questions are not yet answered. Your sincere questions asked in faith will always lead to greater faith and more knowledge. (Russell M. Nelson, “Choices for Eternity”)
Effort, Questions, and Spiritual Growth
We need to put in the effort to obtain, maintain, and grow our testimonies. We can’t survive on borrowed light. Our testimonies are not going to be handed to us all wrapped up in a bow.
We have to work for them because when we work for something, we value it more than we value something that was handed to us. And when we have questions–and we will, because everybody does–we need to turn to God with a desire to believe and to act on the answers we receive.
In our studies, we need to learn:
- how to evaluate sources,
- think critically about what we learn, and
- identify logical fallacies, source bias, and manipulative or coercive language.
Every resource is biased in some ways. So, are they upfront about it or do they try to hide it?
Are they using circular reasoning? Are they engaging in presentism? Look for those kinds of things.
- Seek out scholarship from reputable credentialed scholars as often as you study the scriptures.
We all have favorite scholars and speakers who we like to learn from. But does their work hold up? Is it peer-reviewed? Do other scholars in the same field agree with their findings?
And we need to be flexible, challenge our assumptions, and leave room for new information and new interpretations.
Studying It Out and Asking Questions
D&C 9:7-9 is the Lord’s response when Oliver Cowdry was unable to translate after being told that he could. He ultimately wasn’t able to do it because all he did was ask. He didn’t study it out or put in any mental effort of his own.
Alma 60:11 is Captain Moroni saying essentially the same thing. That we can’t just sit back and do nothing and expect God to take care of it. And I know critical thinking and evaluating sources is not always easy.
It’s normal to just want to veg and relax after a long day. Not everyone is a massive nerd who enjoys reading footnotes on academic papers like my friends in the back. But if we’re not feeding our minds, we’re going to grow stagnant and that makes us vulnerable.
Inquiry as the Birthplace of Testimony
Elder Uchtdorf once taught,
“Inquiry is the birthplace of testimony. Some might feel embarrassed or unworthy because they have searching questions regarding the gospel, but they needn’t feel that way. Asking questions isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s a precursor of growth.
Fear not. Ask questions. Be curious, but doubt not. Always hold fast to faith and to the light you have already received.
Because we see imperfectly in mortality, not everything is going to make sense right now. Nevertheless, you know that one of the purposes of mortality is to become more like your heavenly father in your thoughts and in your ways.
Viewed from this perspective, searching for answers to your questions can bring you closer to God, strengthening your testimony instead of shaking it. (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “The Reflection in the Water”)
Don’t be embarrassed to ask questions. We all have questions. Our church was restored because Joseph Smith had questions. And most of the Doctrine & Covenants– his revelations–because he had more questions.
Ask questions of people who are smarter than you are. But most importantly, ask them of God. He wants us to go to him with our questions. He wants to teach us and help us become more like him. But he won’t force it on us.
Faith, Reason, and Revelation
As Elder Renland explained:
Faith will only grow by observation and reasoning coupled with other spiritual work. In addition, observation, reason, and faith are often prerequisites not only to receiving personal revelation, but to understanding that revelation.
Studying it out in one’s mind, coupling faith with observation and reason is necessary for spiritual impressions to come. (Dale G. Renlund, “Observation, Reason, Faith and Revelation”)
That extra step using logic and reasoning is what primes us to receive and understand revelation.
Reading is important, you guys. Keep up to date on recent scholarship as much as you’re able to in whatever fields interest you. Check credible sources and scholars for answers. You’ll be amazed at how many of your questions already do have answers, just waiting for you to find them.
Using Available Knowledge and Challenging Assumptions
Never before in the entire history of the world has so much information been so widely available to so many people. We carry around devices in our pockets that can answer virtually any question we have on any subject within seconds. But we have to actually use them.
So, when you picture Nephi, chances are good you’re going to see something like this. You know, he’s tall, broad shouldered, he’s got all those muscles from building his boat. In reality, though, the height of an Israeli man in 600 BC was 5t tall.
That means that Nephi would have been large in stature at about 5’4 or 5’5. So what do we do with that information? Well, we can either hold on to our assumptions and reject historical fact, or we can accept the possibility that maybe large in stature meant something different in Nephi’s day than it does in ours.
I have no idea how tall Nephi actually was. I am completely open to the idea that he was 6’3 the way that I always grew up imagining him. But now I’m also open to the possibility that he was closer to 5’3.
His height doesn’t really matter all that much because that’s not what you base your testimony on.
Continuing Revelation and Historical Context
Elder Corbitt already shared this quote earlier so I won’t read through it again. But we need to remember that ours is a church of continuing revelation. In fact, President Nelson said recently that we’re just at the beginning of the restoration.
A lot of new information and revelation will be coming to light over the next couple of decades. So, we need to be open to it and we need to allow that to change our assumptions of the way that things actually were.
- work to understand the past,
- avoid presentism, and
- put things in context.
Anti- Mormon material loves to take quotes and events completely out of context. In my experience, though, the context is what makes those controversial things a whole lot less controversial. So, learn why certain things were said or done. Study the culture and time period. Recognize the limits of our knowledge.
History is messy with gaps in the record, conflicting sources, different biological and historical standards, etc. Recognize that things change. Societal standards, policies, even some doctrines have changed as more information has been revealed. Knowledge comes line upon line, precept on precept, here a little and there a little.
Evaluating Sources and Extending Charity
Verify what you read. Check the footnotes. Check the sources. Make sure everything backs up what the author claims. Learn to recognize opinion versus fact. Watch out for suspicious interpretations that are not corroborated or backed by serious scholarship. In short, do your research.
Give people the benefit of the doubt. Show them some grace. particularly those in the past who had different beliefs about the world than we do today. We’re all children of God. We all make mistakes. So, be forgiving.
Consult experts and make friends with them on social media. That is actually how I met a lot of people I consider friends today, including LaJean, who was just speaking. I reached out to her a couple of years ago with a question about Brigham Young, and she was very kind enough to point me toward the answer.
Leaning on Others and Being Patient With Questions
So, lean on your friends if you’re struggling. Don’t be ashamed to let them in on what you’re going through so that they can support you.
Keep calm, go slowly, and be methodical with your questions. You don’t need to answer everything immediately. Some questions will take time to resolve.
The Lord counsels us all to listen to the words of the prophets with patience and faith. We wouldn’t need to have patience with them if they were perfect.
They might have different opinions on something than you do or they might have more information than you do. And sometimes they might just be wrong about something, but so might you. So, show some charity and assume that people are trying their best to follow God just like you are.
Trust, Effort, and Personal Revelation
Don’t assume the worst of prophets, historians, archaeologists, Egyptologists, organizations like FAIR or Scripture Central, any of it. None of us are working to destroy the church from within.
So don’t accuse people of that just because they disagree with you. Recognize that sometimes people can be wrong. It doesn’t mean they lied to you. It just means they made a mistake.
Again, lean on your friends. Let them in. Let them pray for you. And let them pray with you. Let them help you find answers to your questions. Let them support you.
And like I said, get acquainted with experts who know more about a subject than you do. I’m blessed to know a lot of them in areas pertaining to the gospel, and they’re all happy to help answer questions if they’re able to.
So follow them on social media, start interacting with their posts so you become familiar with their opinions and their content. You’ll be surprised at how much you pick up and you might also make some pretty cool friends.
Taking Responsibility for Your Testimony
Don’t expect the church to spoon feed you information. Our time in church is limited, so you have to do your own studying outside of it.
Take charge of your own testimony like President Nelson counselled in that quote from earlier. Remember that the Lord loves and expects effort on his behalf.
He had his prophets climb mountains to speak to him. He could have just spoken to them anywhere, but he made them work for it.
Be curious, ask questions, seek understanding, and learn to accept that sometimes answers may not come in this lifetime.
Joseph Smith as a Pattern for Seeking Answers
President Nelson taught:
The prophet Joseph Smith set a pattern for us to follow in resolving our questions. Drawn to the promise of James that if we lack wisdom we may ask of God, the boy Joseph took his question directly to Heavenly Father. He sought personal revelation and his seeking opened up this last dispensation.
There may be times when you feel as though the heavens have closed. But I promise that as you continue to be obedient, expressing gratitude for every blessing the Lord gives you. And as you patiently honor the Lord’s timetable, you will be given the knowledge and understanding you seek. Every blessing the Lord has for you, even miracles will follow.
That is what personal revelation will do for you. (Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for our Lives”)
Persistence in Seeking Answers
Joseph had questions and he couldn’t figure out the answer on his own. even though he studied the scriptures, he attended different camp meetings and different churches.
So, he prayed for understanding and guidance. He put in the work and then he got an answer. And even though it took him a few years to get that answer and many more years of preparation before he was able to receive and translate the golden plates, he did get answers to his questions.
Sometimes answers don’t come easily. Sometimes they require daily prayers, fasting, and sessions in the temple before you finally feel like you have an answer you can understand. If we just push through that though, eventually those answers will come.
When There Isn’t an Answer Yet
But what happens when it’s a question we don’t have an answer to yet? Some questions just don’t have answers. Like if I wanted to know how the world was created and I’m confused between what experts say about evolution versus what scriptures say about creation, what do you do?
Well, the Lord won’t abandon us when we go to him with questions even if the full answer hasn’t been revealed. He may not sit us down and explain to us exactly what the creation process entailed, but he will give us understanding and peace so that we can accept not knowing.
I am somebody who gets very frustrated when I don’t know things. I like having answers to my questions: I like learning, I think it’s fun. So, when I don’t have answers, it drives me nuts.
It was a very difficult thing for me to learn to have patience and to understand that some answers won’t come in this lifetime. There have been many times in my life when I have prayed for answers only to have one of these two scriptures pop into my head.
That’s my cue to accept that I need to be patient. And when I do, that’s when the peace I was talking about comes. God is not going to leave us comfortless.
Recognizing the Spirit—and Its Absence
He will come to us. He will be there while we grapple with questions if we let him. Learn to recognize the gloom that comes from the absence of the spirit.
Don’t trust the enemies of God to have your best interests at heart. Remember that studying the gospel is a lifetime pursuit. Don’t let anyone dictate your testimony to you.
Shore up the weak spots in your foundation so that you can withstand the storms. When you read anti- Mormon material, you’re going to feel darkness and confusion. That is the gloom that comes when the spirit flees. That’s exactly what happens when you read the material. The spirit runs away from it. It’s not cognitive dissonance the way that they love to claim. And it’s not the spirit telling you that the church isn’t true. It’s the spirit abandoning you because of what you’re immersing yourself in.
Light, Truth, and Discernment
As Elder Corbridge pointed out, that sickening darkness is the opposite of the spirit of light and truth. And I’m running a little short on time, so I’m not going to read that whole quote, but I just wanted to read part of the end.
There it says:
In stark contrast to the gloom and sickening stupor of thought that pervades the swamp of doubt is the spirit of light, intelligence, peace and truth that attends the events and the glorious doctrine of the Restoration, especially the scriptures revealed to the world through the prophet Joseph Smith. Just read them and ask yourself and ask God if they are the words of lies, deceit, delusion, or truth.
So, if you’re reading something that brings that sickening darkness feeling to you, put it away, say a prayer, and reach for your scriptures. Invite the spirit back in because you’re going to need it to help you discern the truth from the lies.
That’s the Holy Ghost’s job to guide you to the truth. He can’t do that if you’re engaging in behavior that drives him away.
Building a Foundation on the Savior
In short, we need to live so that we can discern between truth and error, light and darkness, and the things of God from those not of God.
When you live your life that way and you honor your covenants and arm yourself with critical thinking skills and you pray to have the spirit with you while you study, you are protected with the power of God. And you have everything you need to withstand whatever the adversary throws at you.
Remember to lean on the Savior. He needs to be the rock on which we build our foundation. All of the others studying can help supplement your testimony, but it cannot be the basis for it.
A testimony has to be built on the Savior first and foremost. He is the way, the truth, and the light.
Most of all, we need that connection and that relationship with him and with our father. We need to have that trust in them and we need to be able to communicate effectively with them to recognize their voices when they speak to us.
It is the very most important thing we can do. And just to reinforce that thought, he is the way that we need to follow.
Recap: Preparing Before a Crisis
This is my very long list of things that we need to do. And I know it feels like it’s a lot, but a lot of it overlaps. It’s not really as much as it seems.
So, just to give a brief little recap, when we use good study habits, when we honor our covenants and learn to communicate effectively and regularly with God, we arm ourselves against our enemies.
When you’re in a good place and you read new information and have the time to process it and allow it to change your assumptions, you won’t be thrown into a crisis when you hear it later. The more you know before it’s an issue, the less of an issue it becomes.
If you’re being proactive and putting in an effort, you will be blessed when with all you need to come through a crisis with your faith not just intact, but deepened and strengthened.
Trusted Resources and Ongoing Learning
The truth is out there. Answers are available. You can find a lot of them at places like FAIR, Scripture Central, MormonR, the Interpreter Foundation, and BYU Studies.
Get comfortable with resources the church has put out and those of its trusted advocates.
Allowing for Imperfect Knowledge and Adjusted Expectations
When we allow for the possibility that we don’t know everything perfectly and that that’s okay, we won’t come across much that’ll rock us. When you accept that you don’t know everything about Joseph Smith and you don’t know everything about the restoration and that there are missing records and gaps in our knowledge that need to be filled, new information doesn’t have to shake your foundations.
This quote about one’s expectations and not the history is a really important one that I think we all need to remember going forward. Because a lot of times people will say that it’s intellectual issues that cause a faith crisis, and sometimes it is, but a lot of times it’s not. A lot of times, like what the Hafens were saying, it’s because we had certain expectations, and when we learned the truth that those expectations were not actually met.
That’s okay. It’s okay to be upset by that. And it is okay to push forward and to let the new information change your way of thinking.
Strengthening the Foundation Before the Trial
We are all going to be tested in some way. It’s part of life. When you’re prepared in advance for trials to hit, they will only fan the fires of your faith. They will not blow out the candles of your commitment.
Put another way, when you shore up the weak spots in your foundation and you exercise faith, those weak points become strong. When you arm yourself with knowledge and with the power of your covenants, you’re making your foundation strong.
Instead of being poisoned by degrees, you can instead retain your position on the high ground, and you can defend yourself much more easily against whatever attacks might come.
Not Fighting the Battle Alone
Always remember, the Lord and his angels are here with us through every battle we face and every trial we endure.
- He will not abandon us.
- He will be with us every step of the way.
- He wants nothing more than for us to return home to him and our father.
So make sure you’re not left unarmed in the battle of wits against the adversary. You have all the tools you need, and the Lord will not leave you to fight that battle alone.
Preparing Before a Crisis
I just wanted to say how very important it is to be prepared before you come to a crisis. That is one of the very most important things that you can do.
I know adding more studying on top of everything else we have to do is difficult. It just always feels like there is just not enough time in the day. But if you know that information before you hear it from a critical source, it is a lot easier to overcome it and to push through and to get to the other side where your faith is stronger and deeper.
Teaching the Next Generation
So, those of you who are parents, I would urge you very strongly to introduce things to your children as they’re growing up. All of the difficult questions.
You need to do it in an age appropriate way and maybe just a little here and there as they grow. But as long as they have that foundation, by the time they’re old enough for the difficult stuff, it will not bother them.
Thank you.
Q&A Session
What’s the most trying faith question you’ve experienced?
(Questioner) So, what do you think is the most important trying faith question that you’ve run into that you found resolution to?
(Sarah) Oh my goodness. I think probably the toughest one for a lot of people is either polygamy or the priesthood ban.
As far as the priesthood ban goes, honestly, I don’t know. I have no idea if it was an opinion of Brigham Young’s, or if it was revelation. I just don’t know. That’s one of those ones I had to learn to be okay with.
Polygamy though…I got a testimony of polygamy a long time ago. That sounds weird, I know, but it was something I grappled with. So I prayed about it. It took a while, but I eventually got my answer that yes, that was a commandment.
Questions, Humor, and Perspective
(Questioner) What are the funniest arguments of churches that you’ve ever heard or the most ridiculous argument?
(Sarah) I love the secret combination ones about how groups like FAIR and Scripture Central are working to undermine the church from within. Or the church historians. We’re all in league with the devil trying to destroy the church. I love that one. It’s hilarious.
(Questioner) There seems to be a new phrase going around. I don’t know if you’ve heard it or not. That’s faith expansion. Have you heard that one or anything like that?
(Sarah) Yeah, some people take it to mean something positive or it’s a good thing where you’re growing to encompass more interpretations and more nuanced views. Other people use it as kind of a mocking term. So it really depends on how you are using it.
(Questioner) Okay. So thoughts on it as a mocking term?
(Sarah) I think it’s kind of silly because obviously you want your faith to expand. That’s a good thing. I mean, obviously that’s what we want. That’s kind of what FAIR exists to do, right?
Maintaining Faith Through Difficult Questions
(Questioner) I’m going to ask you one more stupid question.
So, you have had the opportunity to read through a number of critical questions of the church and you’ve been able to go through them in detail and look at them. How is it you’ve kept your testimony when a number of other people run into these things and they have not?
(Sarah) Well, I knew a lot of it beforehand like I was saying. Um, because I like to read. I have always enjoyed reading history so I knew a lot of it before I was rattled by it.
You know, I had to take a lot of breaks. It left me feeling like I needed to take a shower a lot of the time. So, I would take breaks, I would read my scriptures, I would say prayers, I would get up and take a walk, whatever.
But most of it was exactly what this was about. It was inoculation before I came across it.
(Questioner) And after reading all of that, you still have a testimony, right?
(Sarah) Yes.
(Questioner) Okay. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Thank you.
