Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has heard individuals say that had they lived in earlier instances — of Jeremiah within the Previous Testomony, Lehi of the E-book of Mormon, Joseph Smith within the latter days and even Jesus Christ Himself — they might have discovered it simpler to consider.
“But when we had, I’m not fully sure it might have been really easy to consider,” he mentioned, talking in a Sunday night, March 17, devotional on the Salt Lake Metropolis Utah College Institute of Faith.
“Irrespective of the period, there have been causes to dismiss the prophets,” he mentioned. “At all times there have been these insisted it was all ‘faux information’ and that the prophets deceived, misled and defrauded the individuals.”
Disbelief was not simply within the prophets. Many rejected and despised the Savior.
Elder Uchtdorf requested a collection of questions, equivalent to: “Would we’ve dismissed the miracles as mere coincidences or exaggerations from gullible believers? Would we’ve Googled Him and been influenced by headlines that learn, ‘Prime 10 causes Jesus can’t be the Messiah’?”
He then requested point-blank: “Would we’ve believed?”
Then and now, perception requires each need and motion, he mentioned, providing three invites to behave upon a need to consider:
- Search to know.
- Stand up and settle for the decision to journey and discipleship.
- Give your finest to the Lord.
“As you do this stuff, I bless you that the Spirit of God and His goodness will fill your soul with hope and perception. … Religion, if pursued with [a] honest coronary heart and actual intent, will assuredly result in a lifelong testimony and conviction,” mentioned Elder Uchtdorf.
“I’ve come to be with you in the present day to testify with all my coronary heart and soul that God directs the work of His kingdom. He speaks to His kids in the present day. He directs prophets and apostles in the present day.”
Elder Uchtdorf was accompanied by his spouse, Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, who shared temporary impromptu remarks at his invitation, acknowledging the facility and spirit of the institute choir and the particular hymns they sang.
‘Search, and ye shall discover’
Of the Savior’s promise “search, and ye shall discover” (Matthew 7:7-8), Elder Uchtdorf defined, “God will reply your prayers, even when that reply won’t come as rapidly as you need.”
To these in search of with a need to know, he requested them to do — “only for a time” — the next:
- “Look for causes to consider in God and in His interactions with mortal beings.
- “Guard your thoughts from voices that tear down religion, alienate your coronary heart from God.
- “Steer clear of influences that can entice you to stroll on paths that lead away from Jesus Christ.
- “Give God an opportunity to talk to your coronary heart. Give Him a chance to reply your prayers.
- “Take Alma’s invitation to coronary heart to make ‘an experiment upon [God’s] phrases, and train a particle of religion, yea, even when ye can not more than need to consider, let this need work in you, even till ye consider in a way that ye may give place for a portion of [God’s] phrases’” (Alma 32:27).
Elder Uchtdorf added: “I don’t know the way lengthy this ‘only for a time’ will take you — it might be just a few days, weeks, months, possibly years. However I do know this: Out of the labor of your ‘only for a time’ will blossom a lifelong blessing that can enrich your life for eternity.”
Heed the decision to comply with the Savior
The Apostle requested the younger adults to take heed to the voice of the Holy Ghost, to listen to the Savior’s invitation to “come, comply with me” (Luke 18:22) and to see life as “a name to journey and discipleship.”
“When Jesus Christ, your Savior, speaks to you and tells you, ‘Come, comply with Me,’ He’s urging you to stand up and settle for the problem of discipleship. He’s inviting you to affix His path by way of life and discover your true self.
“To do that, you have to act. You could do the exhausting issues. Select to consider. If that appears too troublesome, start with a need to consider.”
‘Give it your all’
Of his third invitation — “give it your all” — Elder Uchtdorf mentioned: “Give it your coronary heart, would possibly, thoughts and energy. Give it your finest, when you make the choice to consider. When you’re keen to provide unto Christ your complete self, that’s when perception and data come.”
He concluded along with his testimony and promised blessings: “As an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I offer you my blessing, that as you search to consider, you’ll be taught along with your coronary heart and soul that Jesus Christ is your Savior and Healer, that He’s your energy. I promise He’ll stroll beside you, and He’ll lead and bless you. I bless you with the braveness and dedication to enter His path, immerse your self on this thrilling journey by way of life and rejoice in His title.”
What they realized
What did attendees be taught from the Spirit as they listened to Elder Uchtdorf’s message on needing to consider?
“It reassured me that believing is a selection. Identical to a whole lot of issues in life, it’s a selection whether or not I’m going to consider in God, consider in Jesus Christ or not,” mentioned Nathan Ritchie of Cedar Hills, Utah, who additionally was touched by the invitation “to place away distractions and actually deal with coming near God and Christ — ‘only for a time,’ however taking nevertheless lengthy wanted.”
Bria Hill of Alpine, Utah, appreciated the linking of religion to motion. “A very necessary factor within the Church, particularly in my very own private progress, is with the ability to act,” she mentioned. “And I cherished how he talked about being round individuals who assist deliver the Spirit — people who find themselves going that will help you really feel God’s love for you.”
Ansley Crofts of Salt Lake Metropolis mentioned she was reminded of the significance of “simply praying quite a bit and feeling the Spirit by way of prayer.”
Mentioned Madi Scivally of Saratoga Springs, Utah: “The Spirit taught me that if you happen to really are in search of to seek out Jesus Christ, you’ll discover Him. If you happen to open your eyes to see, He’s in abundance throughout.”
Jackson Hill of Nice Grove, Utah, added: “It’s not daily you get to listen to the testimony of Christ from one in all His Apostles, and I used to be actually impacted by that. What additionally stood out to me was the facility that selecting to consider can have in every of our lives — what which means and what that appears like.”
