Latter-day Commentary

President Boyd K. Packer

In one of our ward leadership meetings yesterday, I was asked to share the spiritual thought.  I thought about several things that I have pondered and written about lately and asked in prayer what would be best for that occasion.  D&C 100:5-8 came to mind.  I would like to elaborate on that here with the hope that it might be helpful for someone else who happens upon this essay.

I was first introduced to this scripture in seminary as we studied church history.  I was impressed with the basic promise of the Lord to Joseph and Sidney that he would inspire them and back up what they said when they spoke.  “That’s wonderful for them,” I thought at the time.  I’m glad the Lord gave them this promise because it must be hard to always know the right thing to say.

A powerful mission president

One of the joys of my mission was being taught by a man whom I already greatly admired for his devotion to religious education.  I had attended several Know Your Religion lectures presented by Joseph C. Muren in the year before I left for Central America.  Halfway through my mission I was delighted to learn that he had been called to preside over the mission in which I was serving.

Zone conferences with President Muren were simply amazing.  I don’t know how or why I was so blessed, but I will never forget the excitement I felt as President Muren taught us the principles of the lacing together effect.  He helped us to understand how natural it is for new converts to want to share their newfound faith with beloved family members and friends close to them.

A unique interpretation of scripture

During one particularly spiritual Zone Conference, President Muren taught us the importance of being teaching and testifying missionaries.  We weren’t having too much success getting the investigator to pray in the first discussion.  He powerfully demonstrated how he would like us to conclude the first discussion by kneeling in prayer and inviting the family to join us as we did so.

He then shared section 100:5-8 and testified that the Lord would put words into our mouths to know what to say that would bless the family the most with what they needed at that exact time we were there.  I remember thinking to myself at the time that this was going to be a leap of faith for me to go from something the Lord gave to Joseph to something I should use in my labors.

Applying the scripture in our work

So out we went to be a bit bolder in our teaching, testifying and challenging.  I vividly remember the first time we went to our knees at the end of a first discussion.  The family looked more than a little surprised but followed our lead.  After explaining what we were about to do, I opened my mouth to pray.  Something special and sacred happened at that moment that is hard to explain.

After thanking Heavenly Father for the blessing of being able to teach that particular family about Joseph Smith’s first vision, I began to bless the family.  I found that I was not asking Heavenly Father to bless them, but that I was pronouncing blessings upon them that I knew they needed.  I was astonished, as was my companion, but not nearly as much as that special family.

Powerful results of faith

At the conclusion of the prayer, I opened my eyes and witnessed a grown man sobbing as he was overcome with the spirit.  His wife and three children, who were teen-agers, still on their knees, moved closer to him and we quietly watched as they shared a sacred family hug.  Slowly, we stood and silently waited.  When the man stood, he extended his hand and thanked us profusely.

“How did you know?” he asked.  “What do you mean?” I replied.  “How did you know to say those things you did?  You blessed us that we would have family unity and good communication between us.  You blessed us that our love for one another would be strong and that we would be able to overcome any financial difficulties that we might be experiencing at this time.”

The Lord stands by his promises

“I didn’t know,” I responded, “but your Heavenly Father did and he inspired me with what to say that you needed to hear.”  We made an appointment to return in a few days and quietly excused ourselves as it was evident that the family had some things that they wanted to discuss among themselves at that time.  The spirit was strong with all of us and we fairly floated out of there.

As my companion and I talked about this sacred experience I found myself saying, “You know, President Muren was right.  The Lord sends His spirit to bear witness to whatever we feel inspired to say when we do it in the spirit of solemn meekness and love.”  Now, not all of our discussions went like that but we sure had a lot more of them after that with similar results.

Service over the years

Fast forward seventeen years.  By this time I had a family and had served in several teaching and priesthood leadership positions in the church.  Our little inner-city ward was dwindling and I was juggling multiple callings because of lack of people to share the load.  I was beginning to feel a little burned out when we were privileged to attend a multi-stake conference with Elder Holland.

This was 1994, just before the death of President Benson and before he was called as an apostle.  I greatly admired the man, having read many of his BYU talks over the years.  I was impressed that Elder Holland was concerned about the one, even though his assignments brought him into teaching environments where there were hundreds, if not thousands who gathered to hear him.

Taught by a General Authority

As we gathered in our conference priesthood leadership session, Elder Holland began to teach us the importance of speaking and teaching under the influence of the spirit when we are standing in front of a congregation or a class.  He then quoted D&C 100:5-8 and promised us that as we exercised faith in teaching the gospel, we would know what to say at the moment it was needed.

Even though I had witnessed this scripture fulfilled in my mission, I had not been as successful in my teaching assignments over the years since then.  I tended to over-prepare and always had more material than I could possibly present.  As a result, I found myself rushing through the lesson in an effort to fit as much in as possible.  I always felt exhausted after these experiences.

Pause while bearing testimony

Elder Holland then did something that I have rarely seen anyone do with such effect either before or since.  He told us that it is important that we pause after we teach a principle of the gospel so that the spirit can work on the people.  He then dramatically demonstrated this by slowly bearing his testimony and pausing to let the spirit sink it.  It was profound.  Silence can be so powerful!

This was an answer to prayer.  I was going so fast when I taught that the spirit didn’t have time to settle in people’s hearts when I bore my testimony.  I felt extremely grateful and wanted to get back to my ward to try this out.  I didn’t have to wait that long because Elder Holland asked for a volunteer to demonstrate this principle in action.  I soon found myself at the front of the chapel.

Practice is part of preparation

He asked my name and said, “Brother Malone, I want you to simply bear your testimony, but I want you to pause after each sentence as you look your brethren in the eye. Now, go ahead.”  I turned and faced hundreds of priesthood leaders including Bishops, Stake presidents, Elder’s Quorum Presidents and lowly ward executive secretaries and quorum instructors like me.

Maybe it was because I had a man who was about to be called as an apostle standing next to me but something sacred and special happened on that occasion that has rarely happened quite so powerfully since.  I did as Elder Holland taught and watched in amazement as men quietly began to wipe tears from their eyes as I bore witness to the truths of the restored gospel that I love.

Give the spirit a chance to work

When I was finished, Elder Holland invited me to sit down and then said very slowly and very quietly, “You see brethren, the Lord stands by his promises.  When we teach and bear testimony in solemnity of heart and in the spirit of meekness, the Holy Ghost is shed forth in bearing record to whatsoever we say because it is what the Lord inspired us to say at that moment.”

It was another one of those sacred moments for me.  I was immersed in the spirit while I was bearing testimony.  The Lord was strengthening me and bearing witness to me at the same time that I was bearing my witness to others.  I love that special and sacred experience and wish that it occurred more often in my life.  It took an apostle to teach me how to bear testimony with power.

Summary and conclusion

President Packer has said, “A testimony is to be found in the bearing of it.”  Because this is such a powerful principle, it has been attacked by the adversary through enemies of the church, many of them former members who never quite got it.  They like to call it lying for the Lord and claim that the bearing of testimonies to one another is simply a form of brainwashing in an evil cult.

President Packer is right.  There is nothing that can equal the experience of testifying of the truths of the gospel while under the influence of the spirit of the Holy Ghost.  D&C 100:5-8 can be one of the most difficult scriptures to internalize.  It takes a great deal of faith to trust that the Lord will inspire us but I know from experience that he does send his spirit to bear record to our words.

Although I have previously shared a couple of stories from my mission, I have been wanting for a long time to express how much I enjoyed my mission and how it changed my life. There is no doubt that serving a mission was difficult but it was also a period of unequaled and appreciated spiritual and emotional growth.

I served in the Costa Rica San Jose mission from August of 1976 to August of 1978. The first two months were spent learning Spanish in the LTM in the old Knight-Magnum hall on the BYU campus. We were one of the last groups to be housed there. All the missionaries after us enjoyed the new facilities of the MTC.

The decision to go on a mission

Up until the day I turned 19 years old I wasn’t sure that I would be going on a mission. Although I grew up in the church, I went through a short period of rebelliousness in my late teens in which I did not attend church for about six to ten months. That all changed when I went to Rick’s College in the fall of 1974.

While there I experienced a mighty change of heart as I listened to prophets and apostles who came to teach us in the weekly devotionals. For those who remember LeGrand Richards, I attribute my desire to serve a mission directly to his amazing testimony of the joy that attends the missionary bearing witness of the restoration.

An idealistic missionary

I wrote a little about that experience in a previous essay. I made up my mind about a year later when I watched and listened to President Kimball teach us that every worthy young man should serve a mission. So I prepared and finally sent in my papers in June of 1976. Three weeks later I was thrilled to receive a mission call.

I wanted to be the kind of missionary that I heard about from LeGrand Richards. I wanted to be a teaching and testifying missionary and so I spent the last six to ten months before my mission studying the doctrines of the restoration so I could feel prepared. I studied, fasted, prayed and did everything to strengthen my testimony.

The shock of reality

I felt I was ready but still, I was in for a shock when I got to the LTM. Anybody who has served a foreign language mission knows what I am talking about. From day three in the LTM we were to only speak our mission language. That was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life so far but it was extremely effective.

By the time I got to Central America I thought I could communicate fairly well in Gringo Spanish. Shock! The native people do not speak slowly and they had very funny accents. Of course, they said my accent was funny and didn’t hesitate to laugh when I spoke. That was tough but they laughed at my companions as well.

Discipline of memorization

In those days we memorized the discussions word for word. Every morning for the first two months of my mission I memorized those discussions until I had passed them all off. From then on I felt like I could concentrate on conversational Spanish and began to feel that I could understand and be understood. Spanish became easy.

To me, learning Spanish in less than six months was a miracle and one of the gifts of the spirit. Once I had the language down, I then focused on being the kind of missionary that LeGrand Richards had caused me to see in my mind’s eye a few years earlier at Rick’s College. We had plenty of opportunities to teach each day.

Teaching and baptizing

Teaching forty discussions in a week was a normal goal for our mission. Some days we taught ten or twelve discussions. We had no problems being invited in as we were tracting so teaching and testifying were everyday activities. Amazingly, I began to recognize early in each discussion those who were sensitive to the spirit.

Without resorting to kiddie baptisms like John Dehlin talked about in his mission, the typical missionary baptized sixty to eighty converts during their two years in Central America. There were four countries in my mission and we could only stay in each county six months. So we changed companions about every six weeks.

First half of my mission

The first half of my mission as a junior companion in Honduras and Costa Rica was a preparatory time for me. I learned a lot from my senior companions. After that I was sent to Panama as a senior companion and then to Nicaragua as a zone leader. We had great success in every county but especially in the poor areas.

In Panama, we found and taught a family that to me, made my time in the mission worth the price. When I think of my mission, I think of the Delgado family. They responded to the spirit and worked hard to qualify for baptism. The way we found them was a miracle and their sweet influence on our whole district was profound.

A vision fulfilled

It was in Panama that I found myself literally fulfilling the vision I had seen of myself as a missionary while at Rick’s College. After teaching a first discussion, we invited a family we had just tracted to kneel with us in prayer. Something special happened during that prayer that brought tears to the eyes of the family.

While still on our knees I testified to them that what they had felt was the spirit of the Holy Ghost bearing witness to the truthfulness of the message that we taught. We asked for and obtained a return appointment and left feeling blessed, knowing that the Lord fulfills his many promises to back up our testimony with his spirit.

Conclusion of my mission

When I arrived in Managua, I was amazed to discover that 85% of the membership in our little branch did not attend church. This was by far the highest inactivity rate we had discovered and we worked hard to change it. By the time we left Reparto Schick, the attendance had increased to 35% and we had new baptisms.

It was just a few months later that civil war engulfed this nation that had already been devastated by an earthquake that had destroyed their capital city. The stories of the missionaries coming out of the area were both frightening and amazing as they bore testimony of the hand of the Lord in protecting them in getting out.

The Returned Missionary

I came home determined to keep my testimony strong. But the transition for a missionary can be difficult. I found myself accepting a job that required working on Sundays. Slowly that fire became dim until I was able to change jobs and get back to regular church attendance. How I missed and appreciated church again!

Soon I met Carol and embarked on a whole new journey of learning to love and serve my own family. Because of what I learned on my mission, I feel I became a better husband and hopefully a better father than I would have been otherwise. I love serving in this church and appreciate the foundation I received on my mission.

Conclusion and summary

It’s hard to summarize the two-year Mormon mission experience in just a few short paragraphs. But if there is one thing I learned and cherish to this day, it is the fact that the Lord really does fulfill his promise that “the Holy Ghost shall be shed forth in bearing record” unto the things we say when speaking the thoughts he gives us.

The knowledge, gained by two years of testing and proving it as a missionary, has served me well in many callings since that day. I love to teach the gospel. What I love most about it is the feeling I get when I teach and bear testimony to the truth. The feeling is indescribable other than to say that it is delicious and most desirable.

One of the most oft-repeated admonitions by the Lord in scripture is to read the scriptures. It is also something that we hear often from the pulpits at the Conference Center and our local ward. In meeting with any Bishop, if you ask for advice on how to feel more spiritual, closer to the Lord, stronger in the gospel and happier, what do you think he is going to counsel you to do?

And yet, how much of our time each day is spent in reading scriptures and studying the gospel? Actually, I’d like to separate those into different activities. A verse by verse, chapter by chapter reading of the scriptures is one type of activity that can bring great blessings. You can feel very satisfied at having completed a task and a sense of accomplishment as you finish each chapter.

On the other hand, gospel study is more thematic and in my opinion, closer to what the Savior asks us to do when he invites us to search the scriptures. For many members of the church the only gospel study they get is obtained in Sunday school class or Priesthood and Relief Society meetings. Far too few of us have a regular gospel study program to understand doctrine better.

Educating the Saints

Members of the LDS church are at all kinds of different levels in their response to the Savior’s admonition to study His word. I know adult members of the church who have been members all their lives who have never read the Book of Mormon. Seriously. They come to church faithfully each week and enjoy listening to the discussions in class, but rarely add any insights themselves.

Then there are members in our midst who know the scriptures backward and forward and bless us as they teach our Sunday classes, and in our seminaries and institutes. Over the years, I have served with some priesthood leaders who are scriptorians, and with some who know the gospel, but are always saying, “I know it says somewhere…” Which do you think were more effective?

If we have been even partly conscientious in our efforts to follow the prophets over the years, we should be able to say that we have read the Book of Mormon a least a few dozen times by the time we reach middle-age. If we follow along with the reading schedule in our Gospel Doctrine class we will have also read the other Standard works seven to ten times by the prime of life.

Why we study the gospel

The objective of gospel study is to feed our souls. President Hinckley called it nourishing by the good word of God. I have felt this nourishment through classroom instruction and in my regular personal gospel study. It is a real thing and something that our spirits crave. Gospel study brings deep and powerful contentment when coupled with a close relationship with God through prayer.

Some people absorb this spiritual nourishment better in the classroom where they can discuss what they are learning with others. They may find it difficult to really get anything out of the scriptures without someone to guide them. I enjoy both classroom instruction from inspired teachers and the deep feelings that come in pondering from personal gospel study activities.

I have found that my personal gospel study has evolved over the years. When I was a missionary I focused almost exclusively on the basic doctrines I was teaching in the standard discussions. I added a lot of church history and a whole lot of the more uncommon theological doctrines to my personal study when I returned from my mission. Lately, I have studied controversial topics just so I could understand what the controversy was about and so I could discuss them intelligently.

Controversy does not satisfy

I have noticed over the past few years, as I have studied and written about the more speculative and controversial topics that the spiritual nourishment has not been the same as that which I get from the basic doctrines of the restoration. While it may be more intellectually stimulating and emotionally exciting, it does not feed my soul with the comfort of the basics of the gospel.

I’ve pondered about why that is and have come to the conclusion that, while I may have reached some unique understandings of the speculative doctrines, I have had a difficult time sharing that research with others in a manner that they feel comfortable. They have not had the advantage of digging into the same sources so they can’t share in my enthusiasm for what I have discovered.

So while I plan to continue my efforts to understand some of the theology that is not commonly taught or discussed in our Sunday classes, I do not feel that it does much good to help nourish my soul because I can’t share it. On the other hand, when I teach or speak about the comforting doctrines of salvation from the pulpit, I am greatly nourished and edified with my fellow saints.

Nourishing others in church

Elder Packer counseled us to teach the doctrines of salvation in simplicity. He said there is great power and safety in this approach. He challenged us to become proficient and expert in our ability to present the basic doctrines in such a way that our listeners understand the truths being taught and that they are also fed by the spirit of the Lord, which is beyond our natural ability.

I recognize that this can be difficult for some to accept, because they are looking for intellectual stimulation when they come to church. That is a problem. If you have been a member of the church for more than a few years, chances are that you have heard all the basic Sacrament topics and the Sunday school subjects more than a few times. We’re just not teaching any new stuff.

When Elder Holland visited our stake many years ago, he taught us about the importance of being edified. When we teach, we are not just imparting information, we are also charged with the task of being a conduit for the spirit to work through us in feeding the souls of others. To be edified is to be both instructed and uplifted. The Lord was serious when he said, “Feed my sheep.”

Summary and conclusion

The Lord asks us to study the gospel and be very familiar with the scriptures because he wants us to both be nourished and to be able to nourish others. I suspect that there are too many of us who have not yet understood the idea of nourishing. Sharing knowledge, facts, history, and scriptures without helping others find the hand of the Lord in that information is not helpful to our souls.

We are so much more than minds that need more information. We live in a world of information overload and yet there are so many among us who are starving for the things of the spirit. We are not asked to stand in front of a class or at the pulpit to demonstrate how well we can rehearse the basic tenets of our doctrine. We are charged to nourish and to feed the soul – not the mind.

That’s a real talent. No, it’s a gift – a gift of the spirit that needs to be requested of the Lord in prayer. As we study the gospel, especially the basics of the restored gospel, we should ask the Lord for help in understanding how we can effectively teach what we are studying. We need to teach in such a way that the Lord can work though us to answer the prayers of those we teach.

Back in the day when we had missionary farewells, I prepared and delivered my farewell talk with lots of fasting and prayer. I wanted it to be special for everyone in attendance, especially my own family. As I was giving the talk, I could tell it wasn’t going well but couldn’t figure out why. I plowed through anyway because I had spent so much effort in preparing the darn thing.

I later asked my family what they thought. “Oh, it was nice,” was the response I got from almost everyone. It wasn’t until I asked one of my older sisters for her opinion that I got an idea. “Well, you certainly knew what you were talking about,” as if to imply that she had no clue. That was my first experience in speaking over someone else’s level of understanding.

I didn’t think such a thing was possible. My sister was a BYU graduate and had sat through four years of mandatory religion classes but she didn’t understand my efforts to teach the basics of the conversion process that I was so excited to have experienced. I had spent the previous six months of my life going through an intense immersion in spiritual things and wanted to share it.

Not everybody is at the same level

Now this may seem like a very rudimentary piece of advice to share, but it is a major key to a successful teaching or speaking experience in the church. Sometimes in our zealousness, we can over-prepare and find ourselves teaching things that require much more time to understand the background information before the actual point can be accepted by the listeners or students.

For example, what if I were to tell you that there is absolutely no concurrent written record of one of the most important events in the history of the church? I’m referring, of course, to the restoration of the Melchizedek priesthood. We have Joseph’s record in the History of the Church 1:72, indicating that it would be conferred in time, but we do not know the exact date.

Now this may not seem to be a big deal, but to a historian, the lack of an original source document attesting to this fact is tantamount to a lie. The story is that the event was recorded in an early edition of Joseph’s history, but someone apostatized and took it with him. It was never seen again. Never mind that Joseph and every other prophet since has testified that it happened.

Implied occurrence of events

We have the word of thousands who have declared that the event did occur. For example, President Hinckley said, “We do not know exactly where it took place, but, from the description given, it was not far away. Nor do we know the exact date. However, by piecing together various accounts and bits of history, we may assume that it occurred in the following month of June.”

Do you see my point? It is a simple thing to state, “I know the Melchizedek Priesthood was restored to Joseph Smith through Peter, James and John.” That’s all that really needs to be said. There is just no need to say anything more unless asked. Nothing needs to be said about the incomplete historical record. It’s not like we’re hiding anything or trying to deceive anyone.

When the missionaries first teach about the restoration of the priesthood or when it is taught in seminary or institute classes, there is usually no mention made of this little fact that we have no actual written record of the event. I’m not a historian and I’m not a scientist trained in the importance of empirical evidence so I don’t know why this is such a big deal with some people.

To bear witness

Knowing that we possess no first-hand journal evidence attesting to the visit of Peter, James and John does not stop me from adding my witness that I know it occurred as Joseph said it did. What? How can I say that? I wasn’t there. There were no witnesses other than Joseph and Oliver and neither one recorded it in a journal on the day it happened. How can I be a witness?

Ah, there is the beauty of the gift of the Holy Ghost and the promise of personal revelation as found in Moroni’s promise: “And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” President Packer gave us a wonderful corollary to this promise when he said that “a testimony is to be found in the bearing of it.” It takes a leap of faith to do this.

I have taught this principle so many times that it has been ingrained into my soul by the spirit of the Holy Ghost. I could no more deny it than I could deny that I was born in Covina, California in 1957. I don’t remember the event but I’m told I was there. I have much evidence of the fact. Having or not having a birth certificate does not change the fact that I was born and I live.

Milk before meat

Back to the point of this essay. I know some people hate the analogy of milk before meat. Wait, that’s not an analogy, that’s scripture. Didn’t Paul say that? Yes, here it is in Hebrews 5:12-14. I’m sure you know what it says. The principle is that we simply don’t and can’t teach some of the more deep or obscure doctrines of the church before investigators or new converts are ready.

If you have ever taught a Primary class you know what I am talking about. That is the obvious example but unfortunately, it still applies even to whole congregations at the ward, stake and entire church level. The Brethren are so very careful when they prepare their General Conference talks to not present material that might be confusing or easily misunderstood.

I know what they are going through. I have experienced the same thing so many times as a High Council speaker. As much as I wanted to talk about some of the complex and difficult nuances of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, I felt impressed by the spirit to keep my talk simple. I felt I should only bear witness to those things that are easily explained and understood.

Summary and conclusion

I have studied the restored gospel of Jesus Christ all my life. I continue to do so and hope to do so until the day I pass into the spirit world. I love the wonderful discussion that is occurring on the Internet as so many other faithful members of the church share their understanding of the gospel and experiences in living it. Unfortunately, there are also some not so faithful dialogs.

I have yet to find a conflict between what I know and what is supposed to be shocking as found on the anti-Mormon, ex-Mormon or post-Mormon websites. I’ve confessed previously that I have visited and read many of the things on those websites. I read books that are considered controversial or apostate. I enjoy the research but not the conclusions of D. Micheal Quinn.

I guess I have simply come to different conclusions about the history of the church than Grant Palmer, Mike Quinn and others who have found what they consider to be irrefutable evidence of falsehood, lies, a cover-up and re-write of our history. As I’ve said before, I haven’t seen it. What I have seen is the Kingdom of God rolling forth in glory until it will fill the whole earth.