Well I’m delighted to be with you tonight and have the opportunity to share some thoughts as I’ve thought about you came to my mind.
Most of you are in the process of pursuing a formal education or training to help you earn a living during life. This is a necessary and important pursuit. I applaud your efforts and recall President Gordon B. Hinckley encouraging Church members to get all the education they can. I am of the firm opinion that no education or experience is ever wasted. You will find ways to use the knowledge you obtain to bless your life, your friends and family members for the rest of your life.
So, in the vein of pursuing an education, I’d like to talk about gaining and retaining spiritual knowledge. Just like gaining and retaining other knowledge, gaining spiritual knowledge requires work. It is a different kind of work but requires your time and attention.
To illustrate this principle, I will confess to an experience I had in high school.
Perhaps you’ve had a similar experience, too. I hope I’m not alone. I was a good student in high school, usually able to learn a subject by attending class and studying for an exam. In my junior year I decided to take a pre-calculus class. Each day, I attended class and watched the teacher, Mr. Barton, work a problem on the board. It was clear that Mr. Barton knew pre-calculus.
I treated this class like all the others. I attended class and planned to study before a test. It did not take long before I was completely lost in class and the further behind I became, the less interest I had in studying. I had not done any work in the class except watch Mr. Barton solve the problems. But as it turned out, his knowledge did not transfer to me as I watched him work. Rather than put in the necessary work to learn and understand the subject for myself, I decided to drop the class. Well, you understand, I had my GPA to think about. Today, I will admit that I know nothing about calculus. I have not taken a math class since. I am not really proud of this, but it is true. I did not put in the work.
Gaining spiritual knowledge is similar. To know something, you have to do something.
It requires some work. I fear that too many of us give up on learning and understanding spiritual matters because we only attend class, be it Institute or Sunday School, but do no additional work to have our own spiritual experiences. Without additional spiritual experiences it can be easy to lose interest. The work it requires is the same things you have always heard should be part of your righteous routine: studying and pondering the scriptures, praying sincerely, keeping God’s commandments and the covenants you’ve made with Him and attending church to partake of the sacrament. Why are these things key to gaining spiritual knowledge?
Because they put us in a frame of mind to communicate with the Holy Ghost who confirms truth to our mind and heart. Spiritual knowledge is more than mastering a set of facts. It is knowing or believing that which comes through the confirmation of the Holy Ghost.
Please do not be discouraged or give up on gaining spiritual knowledge because you don’t feel that you know the Church is true or that the Book of Mormon is from God. Gaining spiritual knowledge can be gradual as well as cumulative. But always keep in mind that you must do something in order to know something.
The scriptures talk about this principle frequently.
For example: John 7:16-18
Jesus said, “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” [1] It is the doing that’s important to the knowing.
I like to think that the way we express our faith is with our feet. In other words, act in faith and your faith will grow until it becomes knowledge as described in Alma 32 in the Book of Mormon. [2] We can have both faith and knowledge of different spiritual truths at the same time. So keep working until it becomes knowledge.
There is a corollary to this principle of gaining spiritual knowledge: once you know something, you must return to it regularly or you won’t remember what you once knew.
Here’s another embarrassing experience from my formal education. When I was in high school, I took a French class. I spent a summer in France to have an immersive experience. It helped me increase my vocabulary, improve my pronunciation and expand my French cultural knowledge. I continued my study of French at the University of Utah and graduated in 1976.
My life path for the next 33 years did not require me to speak French, nor did it call upon my French cultural knowledge. In fact, other than eating an occasional éclair, I did not even think of French.
In 2009, my husband was called as a General Authority Seventy and he was assigned to the Area Presidency in the Africa Southeast Area. At that time, the Area included 34 countries, several of them French speaking. Great, I thought. I’ll be able to give my talks in French and communicate with the members. I sat down to write a simple talk in French and found myself asking, how do you conjugate “to go?” What is the French word for “understand?” I could not remember. Well sure, I still knew the French word for éclair, but that wasn’t much help I can tell you in Africa.
My memory had faded until I knew almost nothing. I started working on learning French again. I hired a tutor, listened to a French language tutoring program, sought out people who spoke French to have conversations. It took a lot of work to be able to give a simple talk in French and understand French conversations again. I was embarrassed and mad at myself that I had let my French competency disappear, but I had done nothing to maintain the knowledge I once possessed.
The same thing happens to our spiritual knowledge if we do not regularly visit the scriptures, pray to God the Almighty and reflect on His goodness in our lives, and renew our baptismal covenant weekly with the sacrament because our testimonies fade as the memories of our spiritual experiences recede.
One of the most frequently repeated admonitions we read in the Book of Mormon is to remember. Remember what? For example, the words of Helaman?
Helaman 5:12 “…remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation.” [3]
And the words of King Benjamin in Mosiah 2:41?
"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.” [4]
It is a condition of the human state that our memories fade. So, once you know something, you have to return to it regularly or you won’t remember what you once knew.
We may forget the feeling we had when the Holy Ghost confirmed truth to our soul.
We may forget the direction we received from the Holy Ghost that helped us in making a decision. We may forget the peace we felt at a time of loss or confusion. We may forget that we have been given the gift of the Holy Ghost to have his constant companionship.
Please remember that if you are doing your best to live God’s commandments and to keep your covenants, you are entitled to have the Holy Ghost in your life. The more you look for His influence in your life, the more you will see Him.
The most important knowledge the Holy Ghost will convey to us, however, is the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ as restored to His Church, the Church of Jesus Christ. I love the words of President Russell M. Nelson who taught:
“You don’t have to wonder about what is true. You do not have to wonder whom you can safely trust. Through personal revelation, you can receive your own witness that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that this is the Lord’s Church. Regardless of what others may say or do, no one can ever take away a witness borne to your heart and mind about what is true.” [5]
Gaining and retaining spiritual knowledge is essential for us because it has eternal consequences. It takes some work and constant attention, but no other knowledge can provide a substitute. The Holy Ghost will help us in this pursuit of gaining and retaining spiritual knowledge. I know this from experience. I know through the Holy Ghost that Jesus is my Savior and that this is His Church, restored upon the earth today. But my knowledge does not transfer to you, any more than Mr. Barton’s knowledge of pre-calculus transferred to me. You need to do your own work. I pray that your spiritual work will be fruitful and joyous, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes:
[1] John 7:16-18
[2] Alma 32
[3] Helaman 5:12
[4] Mosiah 2:41
[5] Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 95