based on "Conversations" with Elder and Sister Bednar
Our lesson on Sunday, August 3 was based on excerpts of an episode from an audio program on The Mormon Channel called "Conversations." The episode the lesson was based on is an interview with Elder and Sister Bednar that was conducted by Sheri Dew. The excerpts below are elements of doctrine that Elder Bednar, and in some cases Sister Bednar, talked about during the interview. We shared and discussed these during the lesson. The link to the full audio is above. If you haven't yet listened, it is a great interview!
Joseph Smith taught that faith is a principle of action and of power in all human beings.
When we act in accordance with correct principles, we are then taught by the Holy Ghost. The teacher is never a man or a woman, teacher is the Holy Ghost.
When we act in accordance with truth, we get it for ourselves.
Acting in accordance with truth > receiving witness from Holy Ghost > Touches our heart
This is what moves us from intellectual knowledge in our mind to spiritual conviction in our heart.
Not enough to know it in your mind, you need to have a spiritual conviction in the heart to stand in the midst of adversity that we now experience and will yet experience.
"If I thought we had to execute this transition relying on our own experience, then I would be terrified. But we will have help from heaven. No, I'm not scared.
You have to take a step into the darkness, anticipating that the light will move. Most of us would like the light to light the pathway. Take the step and then the light moves. (Elder Bednar's comment to a colleague who asked if he was scared on the evening before Ricks College became BYU-Idaho. Elder Bednar was then President of Ricks College and oversaw the transition from a two-year college to a four-year university)
Sometimes we talk and act like recognizing the Holy Ghost in our lives is the rare and exceptional event. Remember that the covenant promise is that we may always have His spirit to be with us.
Covenants help us access the power of the Savior's atonement. In covenants we use our agency to accept the terms and conditions of agency as they have been established by God. We give to God the only thing we can give. Not my will, but thine. Only then do we have access to the full power.
Learning how to receive personal revelation comes when we are acting and moving, not when we are being acted upon or sitting and waiting.
D&C - Oliver Cowdery is directed to meet Joseph Smith. Section 6 - intended to help Oliver understand he had been receiving revelation and didn't know it.
Sometimes we think revelation is before the fact, but Nephi went back to Jerusalem, to obtain the plates of brass, not knowing why.
Action first - revelation when we go.
Sacrament meeting. We covenant to Mourn with those that mourn, etc. During Sacrament meeting, Sister Bednar said that she thinks about the Savior, and asks that the spirit help her identify someone who needs help - maybe just a smile or a note, etc. She said the Spirit helps you recognize someone, then she will write down the name and sometimes take it home, etc.
Revelation comes as a conclusion, not as an explanation. We want to attach a reason to an impression. There is rarely a why, there is always a what.
To the degree that we respond to impressions, the capacity to receive revelation is increased. To the degree that we do not act upon that impression, our capacity is decreased. And if we don't respond to those simple, obvious promptings, then we won't be able to.
Revelation comes most clearly when it moves us to help others. This shows how eager our Father is to help his children.
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