The Lord Hastens His Work

The phrase "hastening the work" has a specific scriptural reference found in D&C 88:73 wherein the Lord says, "Behold, I will hasten my work in its time." A similar reference is found in Isaiah 60:22 where the Lord says, "I the Lord will hasten it in its time." (See also 2 Nephi 15:19 [Isaiah 5]).  

The phrase is (or more accurately was--it is no longer on our radar having faded quicklyI) repeated 'mantra style' by many members of the church. Mantra style means repeating a phrase without regard to its accuracy or meaning, which, in this case, means there is/was no reference to 1) what the Lord's work is or 2) what our role is in preparing for the Lord's hastening of His work. His work as He refers to it here is His great and marvelous work.

Just as vague ideas exist about the so-called “gathering” or “gathering of Israel,”  the same applies to the idea of “hastening the work.” But do we really know how the scriptures define what these are? Both are an integral part of the same end-time scenario, and neither has yet occurred according to their scriptural definitions. Our misunderstanding their prophetic context, however, may risk turning our zealous labors (zeal without knowledge) into wild fruits. It is critical that we know and teach these events accurately, and understand our role in them. Since the organized church is not and has not been teaching these events correctly, is God telling us to go and figure things out on our own?

 

First, the scriptures define “Israel” as the house of Israel, which today consists of Israel’s natural lineages—the Jews, Ten Tribes, and Lamanites or Lehi's descendants. Israel’s assimilated lineages—identified as “the fulness of the Gentiles”—consist of Ephraimite Gentiles a few of whom will serve as spiritual kings and queens in gathering remnants of the house of Israel in a new exodus to Zion in God’s worldwide Day of Judgment. Word links in the scriptures identify this end-time restoration of the house of Israel as the Lord’s great and marvelous work that is hastened.

 

In other words, up to this point it is largely Ephraim that has been gathering so that, when that time arrives, its spiritual kings and queens can assist in performing the work of gathering the house of Israel. As the context of this gathering is God’s Day of Judgment, however, these events don’t transpire until the Ephraimite Gentiles as a whole apostatize. The scriptures make abundantly clear that it is the falling away of God’s end-time people—those who today claim to be under the covenant—that precipitates God’s Day of Judgment upon the world.

 

Isaiah and other Hebrew prophets such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel further predict that God does not gather the house of Israel until his people’s shepherds begin to fail in their roles and mistreat the sheep. Those actions, too, form a part of the great end-time apostasy that occasions God’s Day of Judgment. He who gathers the sheep is God’s end-time servant David. With the help of God’s servants the spiritual kings and queens of the Gentiles, he brings about the house of Israel’s restoration that constitutes God’s great and marvelous work.

 

It is the Ephraimite Gentiles’ rejection of the fulness of the gospel after they have received it that in the end causes it to turn back to the house of Israel. Indeed, this very turn of events heralds the coming of the Lord to his ancient covenant people the Jews, Ten Tribes, and Lamanites as he remembers his covenants with their ancestors and takes steps to fulfil them. His hastening of the work more fully occurs as translated beings among his servants transcend time constraints and accomplish gathering the house of Israel by supernatural means.

What is our role in the Lord hastening His work? He gives us detailed instructions in D&C 88 as to what we are to do before the Lord hastens His great and marvelous work. It all has to do with our being prepared so our "souls will escape the wrath of God" and be prepared to assist in the Lord's great and marvelous work, i.e. to be found on one hand or the other (1 Nephi 14:7).

We begin in D&C 88:73 wherein the Lord says, "Behold, I will hasten my work in its time." Like all His words it is essential in searching and hearing them that we know His definitions of the words he uses, in this case "my work." You be the judge whether we are doing as the Lord tells us.

"And I give unto you, who are the first laborers in this last kingdom, a commandment that you assemble yourselves together, and organize yourselves, and prepare yourselves, and sanctify yourselves; yea, purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean" (vs 74).

In other words repent, turn to Him and rely wholly upon His merits, so that He can make us clean.

"That I may testify unto your Father, and your God, and my God, that you are clean from the blood of this wicked generation; that I may fulfil this promise, this great and last promise, which I have made unto you, when I will" (vs 75).

As we become His, we become our Father's. It is through His goodness, His righteousness and His merits that we are saved.

"Also, I give unto you a commandment that ye shall continue in prayer and fasting from this time forth" (vs 76).

Validate your repentance by enduring in Faith in Him.

"And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom" (vs 77).

His doctrine as He teaches in 3 Nephi 11.

"Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand" (vs 78).

So critical is our preparation, but treated so lightly by us. Note phrase "more perfectly" and yet we do nothing to seek out those with the gift of knowledge of the word of God to teach us.

"Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms" (vs 79).

Not just doctrine, but everything including prophecy, which of course requires that we seek out those with the gift of prophecy.

"That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you" (vs 80).

Prepared in ALL things before being sent to magnify (teach word of God [Jacob 1:19]).

"Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor" (vs 81).

Of course this requires that we know what to warn of. See blog post entitled "An Awful State of Blindness--Wild Fruit."

"Therefore, they are left without excuse, and their sins are upon their own heads" (vs 82).

No excuse when we have it all.

"He that seeketh me early shall find me, and shall not be forsaken" (vs 83).

Don't wait until it is too late so you are not caught unprepared. 

"Therefore, tarry ye, and labor diligently, that you may be perfected in your ministry to go forth among the Gentiles for the last time, as many as the mouth of the Lord shall name, to bind up the law and seal up the testimony, and to prepare the saints for the hour of judgment which is to come" (vs 84).

Are you "perfected in your ministry" that you may go forth for the last time, and then be prepared to "assist" in the gathering of Israel? 

The Truman Show

From owlofthedeseret.com/blog

We've all been living in a sort of Truman Show, haven't we?

For those of you who haven't seen the movie, ​here's a recap (SPOILER ALERT):

At birth, Truman is legally adopted by a major television network to be the unknowing star of a television series, in which his entire life is watched by an audience of millions through an intricate series of hidden cameras.

Everyone participating in this created world is an actor except for Truman himself. Truman is the only “authentic” person in this constructed world; even his mother, father, and wife are paid actors/actresses.

Throughout his entire life, the television network is on a continual mission to keep Truman in ignorance of his situation through the manipulation of his environment.

The film follows Truman’s eventual realization of the true nature of his reality and his dramatic escape from the artificial world.

(http://www.philfilms.utm.edu/1/truman.htm)

Fake News

Years ago I stumbled across something that flipped my paradigm. It was life-altering (kind of like when Truman realized he was living in a Studio Set rather than the real world).

You see, during my youth and my missionary years, I had been told that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was going to build Zion. 

. . . I had been taught that the Church was the "stone cut out of the mountain" and that "no unhallowed hand" could stop the work from progressing.  

. . . People said we'd follow the Prophet's call when it was time to return to Jackson County.  

. . . I understood that the early saints had missed their chance to see the New Jerusalem, but maybe this generation of members would succeed where our ancestors had not. 

Well, guess what?  

Not the Main Show?

So, you're probably wondering what I learned that changed my outlook so dramatically.

I was reading in 3 Nephi and . . . well, I'll let the Savior speak for Himself:

​   But if they [the Gentiles] will repent

  and hearken unto my words,

  and harden not their hearts,

  I will establish my church

  among them, and they shall come

  in unto the covenant

  and be numbered among this

  the remnant of Jacob,

  unto whom I have given this land

  for their inheritance;

  And they [the Gentiles]

  shall assist my people,

  the remnant of Jacob,

  and also as many of the house of Israel

  as shall come, that they may build

  a city, which shall be called

  the New Jerusalem.

  And then shall they assist my people

  that they may be gathered in,

  who are scattered

  upon all the face of the land,

  in unto the New Jerusalem.

(3 Nephi 21:22-24)

Did we catch that?!

  

  Q No. 1:  Who does the Lord call "my people?"

  A:  The remnant of Jacob (not the Latter-day Saints).

  Q No. 2:  Are the Latter-day Saint Gentiles in charge of building the New Jerusalem?

  A:  No, the Lord promised that the New Jerusalem will be built by the remnant of Jacob.

  Q No. 3:  So what is the role of the Latter-day Gentiles in the building of Zion?

  A:  Our role is to "assist" the remnant of Jacob.   

  Q No. 4:  Will all Latter-day Gentiles be able to assist?

  A:  No, only those who have:

  

     1.  Hearkened to the voice of the Lord; and

     2.  Not hardened their hearts; and

     3.  Been numbered among the remnant of Jacob

What Does This All Mean?

​   1.  We're not the main show.  We're the opening act.  We're playing on stage warming up the crowd.  That's right ― the crowd that came to see the headlining band play (which is not going to be us!).

2.  It was never the job of the Church to build Zion (which explains a lot, since we haven't been able to).

  3.  The mission of the Church was to bring the gospel to the "remnant of Jacob" (i.e., Lamanites).  They're the ones who will build the New Jerusalem.

  4.  Everything that has occurred since 1820 in the Restoration has been prelude to the main event.  We're the stage hands.

  5.  The Latter-day Gentiles, for all of our money, status, and keys, will not be in charge.  The irony!  If we're "numbered among the remnant of Jacob" we'll get to "assist." 

(So we better humble ourselves because we're going to be second string, the junior varsity, the water boys, the assistants to the president.)

And I would ask: how are we doing? Not very well since we don't even understand our role even though Joseph Smith did. And why? "...for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be" (2 Nephi 32:7). So not only will most of us be unprepared to "assist" His people, our children and grandchildren will also be unprepared because we don't (perhaps can't is a better word) teach them!

Gratefully there are those like Tim Merrill who love enough to teach us.

​

Is it a Good Seed?

If you have some seeds and you want to plant them, and you have had them for awhile, how do you know if the seeds are good? The Internet provides a couple of methods or tests to help you determine whether your seeds are good. One is the water test. Take your seeds and put them in a container of water. Let them sit for about 15 minutes. Then if the seeds sink, they are still viable. If they float, they likely will not sprout. According to the source, this is not the most reliable because you cannot see the seed germinate.

The more reliable test is the germination test.  Take some of your seeds, preferably 10, and place them in a row on top of a damp paper towel. Fold over the paper towel and place in a zip-up plastic bag and seal it. This helps to keep the towel moist and protected. Then put it in a warm location, like a high shelf or on top of the refrigerator, and check the seeds often--once a day--to see if they have started to germinate and/or to check the moisture of the paper towel. If it needs more water, carefully mist the towel to where it is damp, but be careful not to apply too much water. Make sure the location you have chosen is away from exposure to direct sunlight. This can overheat your seeds.  

Your seeds should begin to germinate in several days or up to a couple of weeks, depending on the seed-type. A good rule of thumb is to wait roughly 10 days; however, if you want to give your seeds the best chance, research the germination time of your specific seeds. Once the allotted time has passed, check to see how many have germinated. If you placed 10 seeds on the paper towel, this will be pretty easy to calculate. If less than 5 seeds sprouted, your packet may not have much success when it comes to planting. If more than 5 sprouted, then your seeds still have a lot of vigor left in them.

I use these methods of testing the viability of a seed as an introduction to the most important experiment for you to consider. It will change your life. It is a test to prove the viability of the word of God, by comparing it to a seed and planting it in your heart to see if it will germinate. As with both the water test and the germination test, there are some important instructions, which you must follow. It does not matter that you may not believe in God.

Many people say they do not believe in God. But belief has no bearing on whether there is or is not a God. The question is not what we believe or do not believe. The question is:  Is there a God? Not, do you believe in God?

Man cannot prove either the existence or non-existence of a God. But if there really is a God, He can certainly prove His own existence and much more about himself. How? By communicating with man. In other words if God spoke to men or sent messengers to speak for Him, then His words can prove His existence.

There is a back story, however, that will help to lay the foundation for this experiment.  A man named Alma was speaking to some people upon a hill named Onidah when there came a great multitude unto him. A spokesperson for this multitude told Alma that because of their poverty, they were despised, especially by the leaders of the church to which they belonged. He told Alma that they had been cast out of their synagogues which they had labored to build, and that they had been cast out because they were poor. Now the church that they belonged to was led by a man named Zoram, and they called themselves Zoramites. They met together once a week in their synagogues where they had built a stand which was higher than the height of a person standing. Only one person could stand on it at a time, and those that desired would stand on the top of this stand and stretch their hands towards heaven and cry with a loud voice saying in effect. "Holy God, we believe that you are holy and that you are a spirit.... And we thank you, O God, that we are a chosen and a holy people. Amen."

When Alma had heard from the spokesperson for this multitude, that they had been cast out by the Zoramites because of their poverty, he was glad because he knew that because of their afflictions they had been humbled, and unlike the Zoramites who thought they were chosen, may be prepared to hear the word of God.

The spokesperson asked, what should we do?--for we are cast out of our synagogues and we cannot worship our God. Alma said that because they had asked him what they should do, he taught them concerning faith--that it was not a perfect knowledge.  He said that it is the same with the words he would speak to them. They cannot know at first, if the words he would speak to them were true. He told these people that God had imparted his word by angels unto men and women also, and that the words were written and preserved for the benefit of all who would receive them.

Since these people desired to know what to do, Alma gave them an experiment they could use to test whether the words were true. Alma told them that 

(1) they needed to awake and arouse their faculties--in other words wake up their minds, their eyes, their ears and their feelings. Once they had done so they could then begin the experiment to know if the words he was going to speak to them were true. 

(2) He told them they needed to exercise a particle of faith which, he explained, was just a desire to believe, and then 

(3) he told them to let that desire work in them, so that they could hear just a portion of his words. 

(4) He next told them to compare the word to a seed, 

(5) allow the seed (word) to be planted in your hearts, which means to make it a priority among the desires of your heart, and 

(6) not cast it out because of your unbelief. If they followed these instructions they would know whether the seed was good. 

If the seed was good, 

(7) the seed or the word of God would begin to swell within their breasts, and 

(8) they would feel these swelling or growing motions. He then told them further that if the seed was good 

(9) it would begin to enlarge their souls, 

(10) it would begin to enlighten their understanding, and 

(11) it would begin to be delicious to them.

While this experiment, he told them, would increase their faith, it would still not yet be a perfect knowledge. However, because the seed germinated and sprouted and began to grow, they would have a perfect knowledge that the seed was a good seed.

He then explained to them that they could then be sure that the seed was good because it would begin to germinate. If the seed was not good it would not grow within them and they could cast it out. Once, however, that they knew that the seed was good, they would then know that their knowledge was perfect concerning the seed being a good seed. He said to them that they would know that the word had swelled their souls, that the word had sprouted, their understanding enlightened, and their minds expanded.

He then asked them "is not this real?" Yes, he says, because the word is light and light is good because it can be discerned and they can know that it is good. Because they had only exercised their faith to plant the seed in order to try the experiment to know if the seed was good, their knowledge was only perfect in that they knew that the word they planted was good. He explained to them that if they nourished the word or continued to receive more of His words, a tree would begin to grow. He told them that when that happens to nourish it with great care that it may get root and bring forth fruit unto them. He promised them that if they nourished it with great care, it would get root and bring forth fruit. If they neglected the tree, however, and took no thought for its nourishment it would not get any root, and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorched it, because it had no root, it would wither and die. This was not because the seed was not good, neither was it because the fruit would not be desirable, but because their ground was barren. 

He explained that the tree is the word of God growing within them and by nourishing the word (which was a seed) and by feasting upon His words, His words would take root in them. He described to them that the fruit was most precious, white above all that is white and pure above all that is pure, and that if they feasted upon this fruit they would never hunger or thirst because it is the fruit of the tree of life.

Because this experiment is personal to those who try it, the fact that others have tried it and know that the seed is good, is not sufficient for someone who has not tried it. Even if thousands tell you that this experiment works and that the seed is good, and I am one who can tell you that I have tried the experiment and it works, it is still not enough for you. You must try for yourself to know if the seed is good. You do not have to rely on what others say or what others believe, or what others may say you must believe. You can know for yourself. You do not have to believe anything that is not true! God can, however, tell you of His existence.

Let's try the experiment using these words spoken by God to Adam.  It is recorded in the Book of Moses that God, by His own voice, spoke to Adam and said: "I am God; I made the world" (Moses 6:51). 

Here are the instructions for conducting the experiment. Remember that this experiment is as scientific as any experiment can be, and as with any experiment, you must follow the instructions.

(1) arouse and awake your faculties--your mind, your heart, your ears, your eyes, your feelings (this can be done by meditation or just focusing on your faculties):

(2) exercise just a particle of faith which is just a desire to believe;

(3) let this desire work in you, so you can hear the words

(4) Compare the words "I am God; I made the world" to a seed;

(5) Allow these words to be planted in your heart or make room in your heart for them;

(6) Don't cast them out because you don't want to believe them.

Now wait for these results to see if the seed is a good seed and germinates:

(1) the seed or the words "I am God; I made the world" will begin to swell within your breast;

(2) you will feel these swelling or growing motions;

(3) these words will begin to enlarge your being and increase your awareness of this earth and the cosmos;

(4) these words will begin to enlighten your understanding; 

(5) these words will begin to be delicious to you.

(6) you will now know for yourself that these words are true, and that there is a God and that He made the world;

(7) you will want to read more of His words and learn how God organized the world, and why you are here, whether you existed before this earth and whether there is something for you after you die;

(8) the more of His words you receive the more you will desire to know--your tree is starting to take root;

(9) you will be hungry for more of His words and will seek them out and find all the records that contain His words;

(10) you will feel His love for you, and you will come to know that He is your Heavenly Father and that you also have a Heavenly Mother;

(11) you will desire to serve Him by serving others;

(12) you will learn why Adam and Eve partook of the fruit and of our condition on this earth and what we can do to overcome our condition

(13) you will learn that God allows Satan to be here so that we have a choice between Good and Evil;

(14) you will know that God does have a plan for us to return to Him and to our Heavenly Mother;

(15) you will know that Jesus Christ is our Savior,  and that He came first as Jehovah, then as the mortal Jesus and then as the resurrected Jesus to save us from ourselves and from our sins;

(16) you will know what you need to do to take advantage of Christ's atonement and how you can obtain His mercy.

There is so much more, however, and you will learn and know, worlds without end, eternity, eternal family, and on and on, forever living, loving and learning as we become more like God. 

Doesn't it appeal to you that you do not have to depend on others for this knowledge? Now you have a truth--He is God, and He made the world. The more of His words you receive, the more truth and light you will have. You can use the truth (His words) as the standard by which to compare everything you hear and read. Men's words become important so that we learn the difference between what men have written and what God has revealed, but you will recognize when others communicate His words.

You now have a choice whether to try this experiment, and you will fall into one of these categories. 

(1) You may choose to ignore this experiment for a variety of reasons, one of which is that you don't want to know. 

(2) You may think it is foolish and no matter how many of His words you hear, you will ignore them because your heart is hard or not receptive, which means 'set' on things and activities of the world). 

(3) If you do try, you may hear the word and receive it, even with joy, but others may ridicule you, and the seed will die because your soil is hard and the word/seed cannot take root. Or 

(4) you may hear the word, but because of the cares of the world, the word will be choked and die. Imagine weeds choking the seed. 

Regardless of which one you are, the problem will not be because the seed is not good. Or 

(5) finally, you follow the instructions and complete the experiment by planting the seed in your receptive heart--good soil--and it grows, and you nourish it by receiving more of His words. You will come to know that the fruit is most desirable, and then you partake of the fruit. 

My desire is that you plant this word in your hearts, and as it begins to swell even so nourish it by your faith and by receiving more of His words. And if you do, it will become a tree, springing up in you unto everlasting life. What is the best book to start with?

Get your own digital copy of the Book of Mormon here and begin to search for more of the word of God.

Feasting On His Words

When I was called to be the Stake Sunday School President in our stake in Lehi, Utah, a calling I essentially asked for when our new stake president, whom I had sat by in high council for 5 years, asked if I was ok being released as a high counselor. I told him I was but asked if he would go to the Lord and ask if I could be called as the Stake Sunday School President.  He did and about a month later I was called. For my counselors I selected the previous stake sunday school president, whom I will call Tim, as my first counselor and a man whose older brothers I had known well. I will call him Mike.

Believing the handbook about being the teaching specialists in the stake and by that time having spent many years treasuring up the words of life, I wanted to focus all our efforts on teaching and learning and so our weekly presidency meetings were only teaching and learning experiences. I put together a rather aggressive proposal to also include the Ward SS Presidents and even ward SS teachers whom we invited to attend a monthly meeting designed to teach and be taught the word of God, recognizing that if Christ only taught what His Father commanded Him to teach (John 12:46-50), then as teachers we should do the same. But in order to do so, as teachers, we needed to be armed with the word of God, otherwise we could not teach what the Savior taught.  

Unique to a Stake Sunday School Presidency, is that there is not a lot of 'business' that needs to be taken care of in a Presidency Meeting, and so we were free to spend more time on learning and teaching. My experience with many leadership meetings has been that a disproportionate amount of the time was spent on the 'business' and very little time teaching. So many opportunities, I thought, had been lost when leadership is gathered and no teaching of the word of God takes place or whatever teaching was done was shallow and most often done under the guise of a spiritual thought. But more on this later

In the very first presidency meeting I asked Tim to teach us without first warning him. He did and then Mike and I took a few minutes to teach each other. This became the pattern for our meetings. There were no subject matter assignments. The only criteria was to teach the word of God and to the extent possible follow the admonition in D&C 84:85 to treasure up His words and teach them as moved upon by the Holy Ghost. The pattern became that Mike would begin, then Tim and then I would finish up. We met in a classroom and taught by standing and using the board or other teaching objects as desired. We met every Wednesday evening at 7 pm and only for one hour, making sure that we never took more time. We also invited a ward Sunday School President, and on occasion ward SS teachers on a rotational basis to our weekly presidency meetings.

It didn't take long before I came to realize that these weekly meetings were becoming and would become my favorite meetings of all time. I came home one night and told my wife that it was like going to the candy store, not in the sense of what Elder Holland called a Spiritual Twinkie or that which does not edify and passes for teaching, but in the sense of being able to have so many choices of His words. I looked forward to these meetings and it didn't take long to experience the power of the word of God and how it not only edified and enlightened my understanding, but also how it nourished me.  Alma was right when he taught that the word of God edifies, tastes delicious, swells and sprouts within us and strengthens our faith in Jesus Christ as our minds expand with His words.

We were teaching each other to understand more perfectly His words, His gospel and His doctrines, and I began to understand and experience why the Lord commanded us to "teach one another the doctrines of the kingdom...that ye may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain to the kingdom of God.." (D&C 88:77-78).  Being in my seventies at the time, I had experienced so many meetings where I was not edified and nourished and had not been instructed more perfectly in theory, principle, doctrine and the law of the gospel.  Most of the learning I had done on my own, and so to be able to learn from these two great teachers, more of the word of God, and its effect on our lives, was a testament that there is nothing so sweet, so broad, so deep, so nourishing, so edifying, so enlightening, as the word of God. We did experience the joy of hearing His words, planting them in our hearts, tasting them and exclaiming how delicious they are!

I also learned that by treasuring up His words and seeking first to obtain His words, our teaching was directed by the Holy Ghost, whose purpose it is to bring to remembrance the words of Christ. Each week I was nourished, not only from being taught but from having the opportunity to teach His words. The more I experienced His words and 'heard' them, the more they became part of me, and I began to understand and experience what Alma meant by His words being found in us. The clarity and the brilliance was felt and seen and the light communicated to my intellect from heaven began to change me.

I experienced an increase in faith in Jesus Christ and knew that what Paul said about faith coming by hearing, and hearing by the word of God was true. I understood how faith increased as ministering angels taught the words of God to Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Joseph Smith, and then to us through the records that they kept. Like Alma writing down all the words of Abinadi and teaching them to others, I could do the same and  experience the light of His words, not only in the enlightening of my understanding, but in seeing myself and the need for repentance. I further experienced my own lost and fallen state and my personal need for Christ and His atonement. I experienced His spirit in His words and understood that His words are His spirit. It soon became clear that we only teach by the spirit when we teach His words.

When I was set apart as the Stake Sunday School President, the Stake President admonished me to learn all that I could about how the Savior taught. I did and through that experience it became clear that it was more about 'what' the Savior taught, than about how He taught. He only taught what His Father commanded Him to teach, and therefore spoke and taught the word of God. But equally important was 'why' He taught the word of God, and why He sent the Holy Ghost to bring to remembrance the words which He taught, and why we have been commanded to teach the word of God. Through His words I learned that to repent means to turn to Him and rely wholly upon His merits and not our own. For in order to obtain His mercy we must repent. His words helped me see myself as I really am and awoke in me the desire to continually turn to Him and rely upon His merits. His words caused me to feel joy in His great plan and to share it with others.

While we may have been the ones standing and talking, we were actually being taught and being instructed by our Father and His words were becoming our words. Isaiah asks the questions "Whom shall he (the Lord) teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine?" (Isaiah 28:9). This was becoming my experience. The more I treasured up His words, the more instruction I received from Him, and since we were each treasuring up His words and sharing them with each other, He was teaching us knowledge and making us to understand His gospel and doctrine. Since a mystery was anything we did not know, He began to reveal His mysteries to us through His words. I cannot overstate the importance or experiencing His words as light, spirit and even His spirit.

I also experienced the Spirit of Revelation and the Spirit of Prophecy as He revealed the truthfulness of His words and the testimony of His Son Jesus. His words are always accompanied by the prophecies concerning Christ and His work in these last days. The Book of Mormon is a book of prophecy and helps us to see the events which are yet to take place as the Lord will soon take His gospel to the House of Israel--the Jews, the 10 Tribes and Lehi's descendants. My views of that which is to come became greater and clearer. 

It became clear why Book of Mormon prophet writers would exclaim the greatness of God and His plan--how they could shout for joy and sing the song of redeeming love.

I also experienced the following:

I was humbled because of the word (Alma 32).

I heard his voice in His words (D&C 18).

I was nourished and edified (Moroni 6:4).

I experienced light, truth, spirit, even spirit of Jesus Christ (D&C 84:45).

I treasured up his words (D&C 84:85) and never prepared a talk or lesson again.

His words became my words (Abinadi and Alma Sr)

I experienced planting His words in my heart, and experienced the word growing, tasting delicious to me and enlightening my understanding ( Alma 32).

I came to understand the Parable of the Sower and how it is the story of each of us in relation to either receiving or not receiving His words.

I experienced that by believing His words, I believed Christ and by believing Christ, I believed his words.

I experienced that His kingdom is hidden to us and that while we have heard of it, we must search it out through His words.

I experienced that in God and Christ are found all treasures.

I experienced more of His love in me and a desire, no, a fire to share His words with others so they too could know as I know and tasted as I tasted.

There are many other experiences, but one  more I would like to mention is that by teaching each other the word of God, my love for Tim and Mike increased and they were in fact my brothers. I experienced His love for them and was filled with His love, and my desire to repent or turn to Him and rely on His merits alone, became what I really wanted, not only for me, but for Mike and Tim, and my desire to teach others of His goodness and mercy increased, as I received more of His words and love. I knew I would be redeemed because of His righteousness and certainly not my own.