sacrament talk

I gave a talk in church the Sunday before conference. During my preparation, I learned a lot and would like to share: The Old Testament prophet, Amos, prophesied: "Behold the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: "And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." (Amos 8:11-12) That time of famine has passed and, as Alma says, "The scriptures are laid before you" and Nephi instructs us to "feast upon the words of Christ." How do the words of Christ taste? King David wrote that they are "pleasant", and "sweeter than honey". Alma describes them as "delicious". Moroni speaks of the nourishment of the word of God. In her book " The Hiding Place" Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch Christian tells what the word of God was to her as she suffered in a Nazi death camp. By some miracle, she was able to keep a copy of the Bible and with it, she led scripture readings with the other prisoners. She described the affect reading the scriptures had on them all. "Our Bible was the center of an ever-widening circle of help and hope. Like waifs clustered around a blazing fire, we gathered about it, holding out our hearts to its warmth and light. The blacker the night around us grew, the brighter and truer and more beautiful burned the word of God. . . "Life. . .took place on two separate levels. One, the observable, external life, grew every day more horrible. The other, the life we lived with God, grew daily better, truth upon truth, glory upon glory." (Corry ten Boom, The Hiding Place, New York City: Bantam Books, 1974, pp. 194-95). King David might have said it this way: "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." I recently reread a book I had read in high school. It tells the story of a young man who desired to be the Greatest Salesman in the World. His mentor entrusted him with 10 scrolls in which he would read the secret to success as salesman. The first scroll outlined how he would proceed to study the remaining scrolls. One by one, each scroll would be read for 30 days; silently in the morning, silently at midday, and aloud at bedtime. The reason for this procedure was explained: repeating the words makes them part of his "active mind" and, more importantly, they would become part of his subconscious, what he called his "other mind, that mysterious source which never sleeps. . ." The words of these scrolls would give him vitality, vigor, enthusiasm, and courage. Eventually, he said, he would find himself reacting to all situations as he had been taught by the scrolls to react. His actions and reactions would become easy, habitual and a pleasure to perform. The work necessary to acquire these new good habits he considered a small price to pay for the happiness and success that would result. Elder David A Bednar has given us helpful instructions for our personal scripture study, instructions to help make the scriptures part of our conscious and unconscious thoughts, our words and our actions: The first is to pray for understanding. Jesus taught that the Holy Ghost "shall teach (us) all things." When we invite the Holy Ghost in our study of the scriptures the Spirit speaks directly to our spirit and we are taught in a more powerful manner than human words can do. I read of one woman who, before beginning her scripture study would kneel in prayer, to thank her Heavenly Father for the scriptures, to request that the Spirit be with her as she read, and then to tell the Lord what she needed from the scriptures that particular day -- one question she needed answered. . .perhaps confirmation of a decision." She would then open the scriptures. . .and begin reading. She never had to read very far. . .before the Spirit gave her the answer she was seeking. Through these daily question-and-answer sessions with the scriptures and the Spirit, her sensitivity to the whisperings of the Spirit increased -- and she fell in love with the scriptures." (Wendy L. Watson, "Let Your Spirit Take the Lead," in The Power of His Redemption: Talks from the 2003 BYU Women's Conference) The second instruction from Elder Bednar is to work. The Lord instructed the Pharisees not to "read" the scriptures but to "search" the scriptures in order to gain understanding of who He was and their own salvation. The work required to search the scriptures may be ordering your day in such a way as to have quiet time to read and meditate. It may require clearing our minds of distractions in order to focus on, compare, and personalize the verses, stories, and teachings we read. Third is be consistent. The salesman's scrolls required daily, nearly hourly, attention over months at a time in order for him to see the results he sought. One meal of nourishing food weekly does not make a healthy body no more than one hour weekly in Sunday school makes a healthy testimony. I have occasionally talked myself into working out, and I confess it feels good to work muscles previously ignored and/or unknown and imagine becoming buff. However, after about the third or fourth day of counting seemingly inconsequential and uncomfortable push-ups, my enthusiasm lags and I allow other things to fill that time. Consequently the number of push-ups I am able to do never increases. Similarly, there are those who, having not felt lately that overwhelming fire of the spirit and lacking a strong testimony, allow things of the world to consume their thoughts and time and minimize the influence of the gospel in their daily lives.(Donald L. Staheli, "Securing Our Testimonies, " Liahona, Nov 2004, 37-39) Elder Bednar suggests we schedule a set time and place each day during which we can study half an hour. Just as physical muscles are strengthened, often unperceived, by the cumulation of small and repeated movements daily, so our spiritual strength increases by the moments and minutes engaged in the study of the word of God. The fourth instruction is ponder. The Prophet Joseph Smith did it this way, he said "I enquire, what was the question which drew out the answer, or caused Jesus to utter the parable." President Ezra Taft Benson approached his study of the Book of Mormon this way, "If [the Book of Mormon writers] saw our day and chose those things which would be of greatest worth to us, is not that how we should study the Book of Mormon? We should constantly ask ourselves, 'Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me live in this day and age?'" On a visit he made to a mission president and his family in Russia, Elder Neil A. Maxwell sat down with the five young daughters in the family one morning for a chat. The first thing he asked them was what scripture they had been pondering that day. The question took the girls by surprise. But. . .if we did as he suggested and always had a scripture in mind, scripture study would be happening as we walked between classes, drove to appointments, or cleaned our houses. . . We would be continually feasting. (Susan W. Tanner, Scriptures -- More Precious Than Gold and Sweeter Than Honey, 2005 CES Fireside for Young Adults, 11 Sept 2005). Elder Bednar's last item is to write down impressions, thoughts and feelings. Elder Richard G. Scot frequently has emphasized the importance of doing this: "You will find that as you write down precious impressions, often more will come. Also, the knowledge you gain will be available throughout your life. Always, day or night, wherever you are, whatever you are doing, seek to recognize and respond to the direction of the Spirit. Express gratitude for the help received and obey it. This practice will reinforce your capacity to learn by the Spirit." The whisperings of the Spirit to us are personal revelation. Just as the prophets are instructed to write the words spoken by God to them and the fulfillment of those prophesies, so we should record the impressions we receive by the Spirit and the result of our acting upon those promptings. Sheri Dew, former second counselor in the General Relief Society presidency, marked her scriptures every time she found evidence in what she read of direct communication between God and man. She found the scriptures to be a handbook for the language of revelation. She wrote "If we will regularly immerse ourselves in the scriptures, we'll get clearer, more frequent answers to our prayers." (Sheri Dew, No One Can Take Your Place, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2004, pp. 71-72) We have been blessed to live in a time of spiritual plenty. A Thanksgiving feast, as it were, has been laid before us. How sad it would be if we chose not to partake, not even to nibble a bite as we walked by the table. In the words of Isaiah, "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Harken diligently unto me, and eat that which is good; and let your soul delight itself in fatness." (Isaiah 55:2) I testify that the scriptures can be a strength and a comfort and and a source of nourishment and personal revelation as we learn to study them with diligence and seek the Lord's words in our lives daily.