Reading 1 – President Henry B. Eyring wrote: “The trials of
mortality may increase in intensity, yet for us, darkness need not increase if
we focus our eyes more singly on the light that streams down on us as we follow
the Master. He will lead us and help us along the path that leads upward to the
home for which we yearn.” (Ensign, December, 2009)
Sister Julie B. Beck wrote, “Relief Society presidents who
get on their knees and ask Heavenly Father to tell them what they need to learn
will have revelation pouring down to them in beauty and detail.” (Liahona,
September, 2010)
Reading 2 – Doctrine and Covenants 8:2-3
Reading 3 - Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve
taught: “Visions do happen. Voices are heard from beyond the veil. I know this.
But these experiences are exceptional. … Most of the revelation that comes to
leaders and members of the Church comes by the still, small voice or by a
feeling rather than by a vision or a voice that speaks specific words we can
hear. I testify to the reality of that kind of revelation, which I have come to
know as a familiar, even daily, experience to guide me in the work of the Lord”
(“Teaching and Learning by the Spirit,” Ensign, Mar. 1997, 14)
Joseph Fielding McConkie, the son of Elder Bruce R.
McConkie, an apostle and marvelous scriptorian and student of church doctrine
and the grandson of President Joseph Fielding Smith, also a noted scriptorian
and student of church doctrine, tells the following storie: “I had a father and
two grandfathers who shared a great love of the gospel and who had devoted
their lives to its study. They were a marvelous source of understanding.
I have, however, a very distinct memory of the occasion that
I went to my father with some gospel questions only to receive the following
response: “Look, Junior, you have the same sources available to you as I have
to me.”
More important than any answers these men gave to my
questions was their teaching me how to get answers for myself. They are now
gone. Questions continue, as does the confidence that the same sources that
were available to them are available to me.” (Finding Answers, BYU Devotional, December
12, 2006)
Reading 4 – Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve
taught: “These delicate, refined spiritual communications are not seen with our
eyes nor heard with our ears. And even though it is described as a voice, it is
a voice that one feels more than one hears” (That All May Be Edified [1982],
335).
Elder Dallin H. Oaks cautioned: “Some [people] have looked
exclusively for the great manifestations that are recorded in the scriptures
and have failed to recognize the still, small voice that is given to them. … We
need to know that the Lord rarely speaks loudly. His messages almost always come
in a whisper. …
“Not understanding these principles of revelation, some
people postpone acknowledging their testimony until they have experienced a
miraculous event. They fail to realize that with most people … gaining a
testimony is not an event but a process” (Ensign, Mar. 1997, 11–12, 14).
Reading 5 – Doctrine and Covenants 11:13-14
Doctrine and Covenants 9:7-8
Luke 24:32
Reading 6 - President Boyd K. Packer explained: “This
burning in the bosom is not purely a physical sensation. It is more like a warm
light shining within your being” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1994, 77; or
Ensign, Nov. 1994, 60).
Elder Dallin H. Oaks said: “I have met persons who told me
they have never had a witness from the Holy Ghost because they have never felt
their bosom ‘burn within’ them. What does a ‘burning in the bosom’ mean? Does
it need to be a feeling of caloric heat, like the burning produced by
combustion? If that is the meaning, I have never had a burning in the bosom.
Surely, the word ‘burning’ in this scripture signifies a feeling of comfort and
serenity” (Ensign,Mar. 1997, 13).
Doctrine and Covenants 88:68
Reading 7 - Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught: “The Lord will
speak to us through the Spirit in his own time and in his own way. Many people
do not understand this principle. They believe that when they are ready and
when it suits their convenience, they can call upon the Lord and he will
immediately respond, even in the precise way they have prescribed. Revelation
does not come that way. …
“The principle stated in [D&C 88:68] applies to every
communication from our Heavenly Father: ‘It shall be in his own time, and in
his own way, and according to his own will.’ We cannot force spiritual things”
(Ensign, Mar. 1997, 10–11).
Reading 8 - Elder Boyd K. Packer counseled: “Sometimes you
may struggle with a problem and not get an answer. What could be wrong? It may
be that you are not doing anything wrong. It may be that you have not done the
right things long enough. Remember, you cannot force spiritual things.
Sometimes we are confused simply because we won’t take no for an answer. …
“Put difficult questions in the back of your minds and go
about your lives. Ponder and pray quietly and persistently about them.
“The answer may not come as a lightning bolt. It may come as
a little inspiration here and a little there, ‘line upon line, precept upon
precept’ (D&C 98:12).
“Some answers will come from reading the scriptures, some
from hearing speakers. And, occasionally, when it is important, some will come
by very direct and powerful inspiration. The promptings will be clear and
unmistakable” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1979, 29–30; or Ensign, Nov. 1979,
21).
President Joseph F. Smith wrote the following: “When I as a
boy first started out in the ministry, I would frequently go out and ask the
Lord to show me some marvelous thing, in order that I might receive a
testimony. But the Lord withheld marvels from me, and showed me the truth, line
upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, until he
made me to know the truth from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet,
and until doubt and fear had been absolutely purged from me. He did not have to
send an angel from the heavens to do this, nor did he have to speak with the
trump of an archangel. By the whisperings of the still small voice of the
Spirit of the living God, he gave to me the testimony I possess. And by this
principle and power he will give to all the children of men a knowledge of the
truth” (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939], 7).
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