Say What is Truth

" . . . he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost, and by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."  Moroni 10:4-5

Rainbow Lorikeets in Australia.  Photo courtesy of Elder and Sister Hendrix in Australia (they were in the Missionary Training Center with us).  They have dozens of these birds coming into their home and eating out of their hands.

A woman shared this story in a meeting at church.

It is Either True or it is Not--Find Treasures in Truth

A young man once approached an older man with the idea that a person can choose any of many roads in searching of spiritual meaning, picking up truths along the way, and eventually end up in the same place.  The older man begged to differ and asked the young man to take a walk with him by the sea.

As the walked along the beach, they trod upon rocks and patches of sand.  Soon, the older man noticed a bird's nest on the ground.  Looking closer, he saw one small egg in the nest.  The older man said,  "This nest must have been blown from a nearby tree.  If I don't take the egg, the tide will wash it away."  He carefully wrapped the egg in his handkerchief and carried it gently along as they walked.  The young man walked ahead and picked something out of the sand.  He called back to the older man, "I have found and egg as well!"  He too wrapped up his egg, and the two men returned to the older man's home. 

At the house, the older man took some straw and soft cloth and formed a little nest, put it into a shoebox and therein gently placed the egg.  He then put the box near the fire for constant warmth.  The young man saw this, so he went home and prepared a similar nest for his egg, placing it in front of his own fire for warmth.

As the weeks passed, the two men checked with one another on the progress of their eggs and tenderly watched over them.

One week, the older man noticed a tiny crack in his egg and rang the young man to tell him.  He asked if there was a crack in his egg, but the young man said he saw nothing.

The next day, the older man watched as a little bird pecked its way out of the egg.  Excitedly, the older man called the younger man to tell him the egg had hatched.  The young man told him his egg still showed no signs of hatching.

Another week went by.  

Finally, the older man decided to visit the young man and look at his egg.  Upon closer examination, the older man realized it wasn't an egg.  It was a rock!

The young man could not believe it.  The rock had looked exactly like the egg, but he knew now that no bird would every hatch from it no matter how much attention he gave it.  It was a rock and not an egg.  No matter how much he wanted to believe it was an egg, in truth it was a rock and that is what it would stay.

Moral of the story:  Effort invested in following true principles will produce rewarding results.

 President Joseph F. Smith once declared:  "We believe in all truth, no matter to what subject it may refer.  No sect or religious denomination [or, I may say, no searcher of truth] in the world possesses a single principle of truth that we do not accept or that we will reject.  We are willing to receive all truth, from whatever source it may come; for truth will stand, truth will endure."  (Gospel Doctrine [Salt Lake City:  Deseret Book, 1939] p.  1.)

Is it true we are being translated in this photo?  Ha, ha!  Truth is, this is just a bad shot of our district in front of the Preston Temple.  We (the senior missionaries) are on the left--me with the skirt.

Our Blackburn District--the last district meeting picture for some of us

From Faith, the Essence of True Religion, by Gordon B. Hinckley:

"The marvelous and wonderful thing is that any individual who desires to know the truth may receive that conviction.  The Lord himself gave the formula when he said, "If any man will do [God's] will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." (John 7:17)

It will take study of the word of God.  It will take prayer and anxious seeking of the source of all truth.  It will take living the gospel, an experiment, if you please, in following the teachings.  I do not hesitate to promise, because I know from personal experience, that out of all of this will come, by the power of the Holy Ghost, a conviction a testimony, a certain knowledge.

Many people of the world seem unable to believe that.  What they do not realize is that the things of God are understood only by the Spirit of God.  There must be effort.  There must be humility.  There must be prayer.  But the results are certain and the testimony is sure."