"What is truth?" Elder Lynn A. Mickelsen of the Seventy asked as he began his Saturday afternoon address.

In answer, he quoted D&C 93:24-25: ". . . truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning."Noting that many members of the early Church brought with them customs, traditions and practices that did not conform to the will of the Lord, he asked, "How can we know the truth?"

He said the Lord in a revelation in May 1831 "referred to both sides of the issue of teaching and receiving. Not only must we teach by the Spirit, we must receive by the Spirit. If we do not receive the truth by His Spirit it is not His word." (See D&C 50:19-20.)

Elder Mickelsen then cited D&C 10:20-21, in which the Lord said " . . . Satan hath hold upon their hearts . . . they love darkness rather than light, . . . therefore they will not ask of me."

Elder Mickelsen, who was sustained to the Seventy last April, told of a friend who visited him on the pretext he had questions about the Church he needed help answering. However, the friend quoted articles and books "written by the enemies of the Church."

When Elder Mickelsen suggested he devote "at least equal time to the right side of the issue," he realized his friend had come with a decision, not a question. "His mind was made up. His heart was closed," said Elder Mickelsen.

He referred to the Lord's explicit declaration, "If any man will do [the Father'sT will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God." (John 7:17.)

"This was His constant rejoinder to those who rejected Him," said Elder Mickelsen.

He said the same conditions exist today as in the time of the Pharisees and Sadducees to whom the Savior said, "Search the scriptures." (John 5:39.) They looked in the right places with the wrong objectives, and failed to find Him because their foregone conclusions had not allowed the Spirit to guide them.

"We must ask the right questions, we must seek in the right places, and knock on the right doors," said Elder Mickelsen. He added, "We must prepare our hearts and our minds with a sincere desire to know the truth."

He said men on the day of Pentecost, upon hearing Peter and John, asked what they should do. "In order to receive the truth," explained Elder Mickelsen, "we must do the same. That is our responsibility, to ask and to seek."

He referred to Moroni's counsel that " . . . all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; . . . " and " . . . the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil." (Moroni 7:12, 16.)