My Sacrament Meeting Talk 1/1/2012

Candace White—Sacrament Talk 1/1/2012  based on Richard G. Scott’s Oct. 2011 Conference talk:  “The Power of Scripture”

Good afternoon and happy 2012 to everyone!

“Scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our minds and give place to guidance and inspiration from on high.”

My talk today is based on the trues and inspiration found in Elder Richard G. Scott’s most recent General Conference talk entitled “The Power of Scripture.”  I remembered this talk quite well, and I would encourage each of you to read it, as it is a beautiful reminder of the impact and the importance that the scriptures have in our lives.

The scriptures, otherwise known as the Standard Works, include the King James version of the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.  Each of these divinely inspired books has had a great impact on my life, and has especially made an impact in my life with my sweet husband Dan.  If not for the scriptures, I undoubtedly would never have even met the man.  Elder Scott testifies that each book has absolute treasures within them that can lead us all “to greater happiness, peace, and attainment in this life.”  I believe he’s quite right.

Years ago when I wasn’t making the world’s greatest decisions, and for some silly reason I thought “my” way was perhaps better than the Lord’s way, I found myself to simply not be happy.  Life wasn’t bad.  I was doing well with work, and had plenty of friends and comforts, but deep down inside, I was not happy.  Like I said, I wasn’t making the brightest decisions.  Church attendance was sporadic at best.  I wasn’t living how I’d been taught growing up in the church.  I knew better, but I didn’t do better.  And I certainly was not reading my scriptures.  Now, I’ve been told a time or two in the past that I’m a stubborn girl.  I believe they were right.  I’m less stubborn now…thank goodness.  But when important grown-ups in my life, and at this point in life I too was essentially a grown-up (though who here really feels grown up?)  Anyway, when I would talk with these significant people in my life or past who helped teach me to have high standards and who taught me the gospel, they could detect the difference in me.  They could see I wasn’t happy, but because I wasn’t “Happy Candy”, it was obvious to them--they knew I wasn’t living the gospel.  They’d give me the expected love and encouragement, but remember--I knew better than everybody else.  I was stubborn—It was my way and nobody else’s.

It wasn’t until several years ago when I was visiting a friend I grew up with, that we attended sacrament meeting together and something changed.  I was sitting there in the middle of the chapel only half soaking the talk in when something really caught my ear.  I don’t remember the talk.  I assume it was about faith.  But the scripture that was quoted turned on a light bulb in my head and heart.  I’m sure plenty of you know it, but it is truly one of my top three favorite scriptures. 

Alma 32:27  “But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

See, I had been doing it wrong for so long at this point, that I didn’t remember how to do it.  And I mean live the gospel.  I was a young adult who had forgotten how to practice faith.  I knew I wasn’t happy.  I knew my way wasn’t working.  I wanted to believe there was a good way to get happiness to fill my life.  I just had to figure out how again.  This scripture is so very powerful to me.  It gave me hope.  It gave me a way.  See, this powerful little verse doesn’t tell us that we need to have humungous glowing testimonies every day of our lives.  It didn’t tell me that I had to have buckets full of faith either.  I didn’t have those things!  It did tell me, however, that in the beginning, all I really needed was to just simply desire to believe.  I did want to believe.  I wanted that special feeling back.  Plus, the only faith required of me at that point was just a particle.  That’s it.  A particle.  Certainly I could muster up a particle of faith.  We all can muster up a particle of faith.  But this verse was incredibly important to my life and my happiness.  I found that particle of faith.  I tried the experiment.  My goodness, I don’t think there’s a day that goes by anymore where we aren’t doing an experiment with our faith.  But the results of the experiments are astounding.  Just one little experiment involved me not having the desire to sit through all three hours of church.  That can be a big deal, and I know I’m not the only one who has felt this way.  Golly--anymore, a three hour church day seems like a small miracle.  But that’s beside the point.  I tried an experiment at one point with this in mind.  I decided to see how I would feel after I committed to going to church every single Sunday without leaving early.  Being sick or traveling didn’t count in my experiment, of course.  But what I found was not that I was simply able to endure the three hour block better, but that I truly enjoyed my time at church.  I looked forward to going.  I looked forward to hearing other people speak.  I looked forward to partaking of the sacrament and renewing my covenants.  I think it was a good experiment, and a very healthy way to approach or even tackle a problem.  I’m very grateful for Alma 32:27.  It has changed my life.

Elder Scott teaches us that because scriptures are “generated from inspired communications through the Holy Ghost, they are pure truth.  We need not be concerned about the validity of concepts contained in the standard works since the Holy Ghost has been the instrument which has motivated and inspired those individuals who have recorded the scriptures.  Their use provides a foundation of truth that can be awakened by the Holy Ghost.  The scriptures also provide the strength of authority to our declarations when they are cited correctly.”  Elder Scott goes on to say that great power can come from memorizing scriptures. 

I’m pretty sure every woman or young woman in here who went through the YW program in the last 25 or so years has a firm grasp of at least part of the wording of Mosiah 18:9.  During this past General Conference, I couldn’t help but notice that in no less than five different talks the words “to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” was ever-present.  A long time ago I memorized this beautiful scripture.  It speaks of our baptismal covenants, and has been a wonderful reminder to me, in good times and bad, of the way we are to lead our lives.  Knowing that at least five times this scripture was used during General Conference must mean it’s pretty important.  We must pay particularly close attention to what it has to say, to what it teaches us.  These words were important around the year 147 B.C. and they are important now. 

Elder Scott said that Heavenly Father “provided tools to help us be successful in our mortal probation.  One set of those tools is the scriptures.”  How many times have we been in a situation where we had a big choice to make?  How many times have we simply not known what to do?  Perhaps we’ve been in situations where on the surface, there seemed to be no wrong answer, but deep down we knew that Heavenly Father wanted or needed us to make a particular decision.  When little things or big things come up, we need to go to our toolbox to tackle these issues or problems.  Of course, one of these blessed tools is prayer.  Prayer ought to be a well-worn in tool in all our toolboxes, but so ought to be the scriptures.  I recently saw a graphic on Pinterest that read:  “A falling apart Bible is usually owned by someone is who isn’t.”  I really liked that.  Our scriptures can provide us with very real answers to our very real problems.  This past year, my husband and I had an important decision to make, which required fasting and prayer.  During our prayers, afterward while we listened, and even during our fasts, we didn’t quite get the answer we needed.  We did however receive a very clear, loud, and distinct answer from the book of Matthew chapter 25.  This is a WONDERFUL chapter, as it covers so very much.  But for our particular prayer and needs at this very particular time, Matthew 25: 31-41 said it all.                                

<HOW ARE YOU FOR TIME?> skip to blue if short :)

“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:  And before him shall be gathered all nations:  and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat:  I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink:  I was a stranger, and ye took me in:  Naked and ye clothed me:  I was sick, and ye visited me:  I was in prison, and ye came unto me.  Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee?  Or thirsty, and gave thee drink?  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in?  or naked, and clothed thee?  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Sister List taught this lesson to her Primary class this year, and the kids know it.  It was summed up to me in Primary as “Do you want to be a sheep or a goat?”  Another way to look at this scripture is simply how to live our baptismal covenants.  When Dan & I had an important decision to make, these verses are how Heavenly Father answered our prayer.  We are quite grateful for this tool.  So many times in life important verses or passages will be the key.  Elder Scott said “throughout the ages, Father in Heaven has inspired select men and women to find, through the guidance of the Holy Ghost, solutions to life’s most perplexing problems.  He has inspired those authorized servants to record those solutions as a type of handbook for those of His children who have faith in His plan of happiness and in His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.”  It is no wonder why we are counseled to pray often and to read our scriptures daily.  With so many obstacles to our happiness in the world, the scriptures offer a most powerful source of strength and wisdom to each and every one of us.

Several years ago, when I really began making much better choices, and was really trying to be the daughter of God I know I can and should be, I made a commitment to read the Book of Mormon that year.  At this point in my life, I did have a testimony.  It just wasn’t as full as it could have been.  But I was working on it, and that was good.  I remember reading pretty early in the Book of Mormon, perhaps in Enos or Jarom, but something happened.  I had a very clear and distinct feeling of love and appreciation for the Savior that I had never known before.  The Savior became more real to me.  He became not just a figure or a name, or someone who did a pretty marvelous thing for me even though I didn’t know who he was.  It’s hard to describe how I felt previously to this experience.  It wasn’t that I didn’t love or appreciate him, because I think I did.  It just wasn’t full.  It just wasn’t personal.  But as I was reading about other people, not necessarily the Savior, it happened.  I was filled with a tenderness and love for Him that warmed me, and made me feel so much closer.  It made me feel like I thought I should be feeling.  I know that this was only made possible by my obedience to reading the scriptures.  The Holy Ghost will help us in our reading.  We will be warmed and comforted.  We can be comforted with knowledge, light and love.  I am forever grateful for that special experience.  It helped me in bringing the gospel to my husband.  Without it, my testimony was lacking.  And Dan will also testify that it was my testimony of love for and of our Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ that spurred his own interest in learning more about the gospel.  Again, I’m truly grateful for the scriptures. 

As stated earlier, there can be great power in memorizing scripture.  I see this as something that gets better with time.  When we’re young, memorizing the Articles of Faith or a particular verse is often just foundational.  We learn them in Primary.  In some cases, they’re learned or memorized to simply move on to the next thing to learn, rather than as information to be cherished.  I daresay memorizing for the sake of memorizing is better than not memorizing at all though, as it can be recalled in important times and given more meaning by the power of the Holy Ghost later.  As we grow and mature, and often while still in our youth, the things we have memorized can begin to have more meaning.  It can be as simple as if perhaps when someone finds out that you’re a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and they ask you “what do Mormons believe?” or someone saying they heard Mormons aren’t Christians…  You can respond firmly and faithfully with the first article of faith from memory “We believe in God the Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.”  It’s simple, it’s true, it comes to mind quickly, and when we cite scripture correctly, we are provided with strength and authority.  It is our job as members of the Lord’s church to share the gospel and spread it throughout the entire world.  When we are able to stay close to the Holy Ghost and can quickly recall a special verse at just the right time, we help bless the lives of others.  As Elder Scott said “Learning, pondering, searching, and memorizing scriptures is like filling a filing cabinet with friends, values, and truths that can be called upon anytime, anywhere in the world.”

In the past couple of years, I have found that I have several favorite scriptures.  I have not memorized any of them to perfection, but I’m working on it.  I know the point isn’t to just memorize scriptures, but to learn from them, ponder them, and search them out.  By memorizing them, we’re able to carry the lessons we’ve learned with us in beautiful, powerful “packets of light that illuminate our minds and give place to guidance and inspiration from on high.” 

Just because I can, I’d like to share another one of my favorite scriptures with you.  This one is a favorite because it is more of that blueprint needed for life.  Just like Alma 32:27 tells how to we can begin the journey, this scripture tells us how we should build our lives and how it is that we are to succeed in this life: 

Helaman 5:12  And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.”

‘In closing, I’d like to challenge each of us to make 2012 a year of greater reliance on the power of scripture.  Perhaps make this the year that we read one of the Standard Works cover to cover for the first time, or the fiftieth time.  Whatever our case may be, may we dedicate precious time and energy to reading and pondering our scriptures, for they are truly powerful tools and gifts from our Heavenly Father.  Perhaps this is the year to find your new favorite verse, or memorize your favorite scripture and share it with a new friend.

I testify that the scriptures are more precious than gold; that they have been given to us to help us in our day.  I know the scriptures are the word of a living Father in Heaven who truly does love us.  He has provided a plan for our happiness and all we have to do is follow Him by way of His Son Jesus Christ.  I leave all of this with you, and pray we all have a beautiful new year in the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.