Building a testimony (general post)

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A TALK ON MAKING AND KEEPING A TESTIMONY (OR GAINING AND MAINTAINING IT)
Given by James Raehl in sacrament meeting at Suncrest 6th Ward, March 13, 2005

General comment on fasting and prayer: Fasting and prayer are twins. Fasting cleans the potbelly, which makes it easier to be in tune with the spirit in prayer.

Making and keeping a testimony -- today I really get a chance to bear my testimony of the gospel, by explaining how my testimony was built. Your strategy may be different. And your mileage definitely will vary. And be aware that I like to draw pictures that I can relate to.

First, get a pen and writing surface -- paper, hand, husband's forehead... On the left, write "Build", in the center "Temple", on the right "Holy Ghost". Draw a two-way arrow from Build to Temple, and from Holy Ghost to Temple. Explanation: the temple is where testimony building comes together. More later.

Next, I want to squash the idea of keeping or maintaining a testimony. That sounds like plateau, (maybe even preserving in formaldehyde) which is dangerous. A testimony is only for building, brick by brick. It is either building, or evaporating away. Larry Driskill recently referenced Jeffrey Holland, when Elder Holland said, "There is no neutral ground in the universe."

I'll be using Alma 32 as the building plans. The standard reference manual. Verse 38 explains evaporating, "if ye neglect the tree", what happens.

I started as a teenage Baptist farm kid, wanting to see a living prophet. Verse 27, "if ye can no more than desire to believe".

The first brick while building my testimony -- I bought a book of Mormon at Deseret Book, near Temple Square. Then the Church sent a copy of "A Marvelous Work And A Wonder". By the time I finished the Work, I knew I was on to something. A gut instinct, from the Holy Ghost. Which I acted on. I rounded up the missionaries, and got myself baptized. Verse 27, "Even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words".

Each brick is composed of two parts, information stuff and inspiration from the Holy Ghost. Now, under "Build", let's write "pay attention", in sacrament meeting, Sunday school, everywhere. Take notes (holding up my notebook) -- February 13, Larry says... You are accumulating useful stuff. Under "Holy Ghost", it's the same, pay attention, continuously as Joseph Smith says.

Here's a recent example of another brick. I have copies of some apocryphal books. With some, the Spirit immediately went, "A-oo-ga! Up periscope! Something's fishy." A feeling like passing our daughters' cat, just before she swipes at me. (Hand up) I lose sometimes.

Last Sunday, the bishop calls and asks me to speak. He says, quote, "The exact words that came to my mind were, making and keeping a testimony." That's my exact topic. The Spirit then did something else it often does. It went whap (on the head). Listen up. I have another brick in my testimony of inspired bishops and stake presidencies! (I'd already told him a story about an inspired stake presidency counselor.) See, the Lord personally hand-picks bishops and stake presidencies. Different story here. Another brick. In addition to what Brother Minert said about his first-person experiences as a clerk.

See, some stuff happened, and the Holy Ghost put in a few ideas. Without the Holy Ghost, the stuff is just entertainment. That's basically what Hugh Nibley says. Verse 28, "if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the spirit of the Lord".

I can't describe the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Call it instinct, warm and furry feeling, oh yeah knowledge, whatever. You have to keep trying, though I know it's a lot easier in the temple. Satan is not allowed there, to create noisy interference. More on that later.

I have been wrong in my inspiration, usually when I was out of my bailiwick. Joseph Smith had problems with that. I was correct 4 out of 4 on gender and character for our first 4 children before they were born. I just tried that on our daughter Karen's baby. Had a feeling about girl. Her husband said boy. The sonogram a week ago said-- boy. Boy was I wrong! (The other two girls, I messed up gender, but got the character right, in reverse order. Maybe they swapped positions before they were born.) I keep practicing this revelation stuff.

Once I was baptized, I bought books and read like crazy. When we moved out of our house, my church library was 10 feet long by 5 shelves high. All kinds of interesting stuff. I still do. The current book is Hugh Nibley's "Temple and Cosmos".

Early on, I learned about source quality, the hierarchy of stuff. (Write quality on both sides.) On one hand, you have Brother Raehl yapping at you about 50 feet of books. Well, they are actually useful. On the other, President Hinckley talking about dodging commentaries, and instead reading from the pure fountain of the scriptures. (I forgot to take notes on that, shame on me. I think Brother Mackey used it in a lesson.) Which is the better source. Maybe mull that over in the bathtub, like I do. Verse 28, "if it be a true seed or a good seed".

Quality applies to everything that hits the 5 senses. Church books versus scripture. What's on your living room wall. Watching smutty stuff like "Friends", or uplifting like "Sound Of Music". Our daughters playing hymns on the piano and singing together. I never imagined I would be so blessed when I was single and lonely. Rock versus classical music -- Michael Ballam the opera singer (and temple movie actor) has an eye-opening video about that. He says classical music is the most organized thing in the universe. Other than the celestial kingdom.

I developed a sifting tool, file #12. (Write file 12) That's the pending confirmation file. Everything goes there first. It's next to file #13, the circular file (wastebasket). I nearly constantly mull that file 12 stuff over. In the bathtub. When I'm trying to sleep. Stuff has loitered there for years, then one day a general authority says something. There's another brick built. Verse 31 and 32.

On the Holy Ghost side of quality, I had a dream the same night as the bishop called. I found a pot with ice cream residue in the clean dish rack. Someone had put the dirty dishes in the dishrack! Ah, yes, we need to clean up the old potbelly, that's the dishsoap of "repentance". Not much Holy Ghost residing in a messy body. Repentance is critically important for receiving the Holy Ghost. Insert hour talk on repentance, here.

Now the big key to working with the spirit, and building a testimony. After a short while, I plateaued for about 30 years. Hardly anything spiritual to write in my journal.

In 1991, my wife and I started attending the temple every week, instead of whenever. Pay attention: once a week. There is more than an order of magnitude difference. The dam broke wide open. Interesting things started happening. Remember, your mileage many vary. Gradually, the stuff I'd accumulated over 30 years, started popping out.

I learned that the temple is a place to practice receiving revelation. It's the most fertile ground to plant the testimony seed. It's the purpose of the Church. President Pinegar of the Mount Timpanogos temple said, "Let the powerful and sacred words of the ordinances teach you." I was glad I went to an extra sealing session after the High Priest assignment last Friday morning. Brother Lunt made that quote during that session. Verse 37, "Let us nourish it with great care."

Brother Duncan, another sealer, pointed out Ezekiel 37. The river is a river of knowledge. It flows to us, and heals the dead sea within us (scrubs the potbelly). I like that view of that chapter. It describes the temple very well.

The temple is the ultimate book. It's written in symbols, which are like hieroglyphics. You have to learn the language in Sunday school and so forth. That's another reason to pay attention. The dove represents the Holy Ghost. Three's represent presidencies. And Joseph McConkie (son of Bruce McConkie) said in his gospel doctrine class that circles are wonderful teaching tools. God, heaven, eternity, and some other stuff.

So I observed every little detail. Every time someone wiggles or opens their mouth, there is a lesson. Let the Spirit lock on to interesting stuff. Often I'd wait years, then a lesson would pop into my head. King Arthur and chivalry, how to treat women, very early in the endowment. Look for it. Arms (hold up arm). Hot stuff looks. Indeed, a whole college degree in marriage and family relations. How to teach, Management. The three stages of work, learn, do, report. See D&C 9 on work. Whatever a god needs to know.

Brother Duncan also said you cannot put nuclear material into any old container. The container has to be specially prepared. So it is, with the spirit of the Lord. The temple is the refinery that purifies us. That's its other side. It is basically an acceleration tool in revelation and purification. The gospel after-burners. Do you want to travel the celestial path on tired legs, or in an F-16 with after-burners. See 2 Nephi 9:41 about the temple path. Revelation and purification are the big temple secret that I think hardly anybody knows.

Emphasis in the church and gospel is for people who want all the marbles. That's the celestial level. However, it will greatly benefit all. On the telestial level, it solves all the world's problems. Terrestrial, it's a beautiful lifestyle.

With the temple training in revelation, I was far better able to observe interesting stuff out of the temple. The spirit flowed much more freely. Out and in the temple flows both ways. The testimony bricks were in mass production.

Now about another favorite testimony subject, prophets. I'm going to be bold about this. Over the years, I've come to understand the business job of a prophet. His job is to consult face-to-face with the Lord, as the CEO of a company consults with the president. Exact same thing.

I was fortunate to be at an all-day Saturday lecture by Paul Royal, formerly head of the Church genealogical society. He told several first-person stories about his prophet friends, and their tools. The young Joseph Fielding Smith bounced baby Paul on his knee. President Smith was the source of several stories, as was President McKay. That was the start of my understanding of a prophet's skills, tools, and job.

I heard Boyd Packer talk about modern general authorities. The impression that came to my mind, is that the communication between the Lord and the authorities is as clear as a glass of clear water. And many other stories, published and unpublished, all told to me in first person, or from my own experience. Bricks, confirmed by the spirit. We have real prophets.

President Hinkley (and I lucked into an interesting story about him, too) will fit very well with Isaiah and Moses on the other side. They will talk shop, perhaps about the knuckleheads who didn't pay attention, in olden times, and in modern times.

I testify that the Lord walks the earth among us, especially in the temple. President Faust said in the Tuesday afternoon Mount Timpanogos temple session that I was in, "Perhaps he walks the halls of the temple. Perhaps he checks on the ordinances, to see how they are done." He thereby confirmed what I already knew for years. If you attend the temple often, chances are very good that you will walk past him. He may smile at you, and say "There goes my boy, there goes my girl."

Brothers and sisters, build the bricks. Repent. Every hour. Pay attention to what's around you, and to the spirit. The full knowledge of religion is here in this church. The rest have only part, with big chunks entirely gone, as Hugh Nibley says. Write your experiences in your journal.

I testify to all this, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Saviour. Amen.