Seeing is not always believing, said Elder Lynn G. Robbins, especially in matters of the Spirit.

Photo by Shaun Stahle

Elder M. David Knight, assisted by Sister Adrienne Elizabeth Criddle, greet visitors.

Photo by Shaun Stahle

Sister Veoma Johnson, accompanied by Sister Molly Ranae Cundiff, encourage two young woman who are members to refer names of friends to be taught gospel.

Photo by Shaun Stahle

Elder McKay and Sister Vazquez converse in South Visitors Center while waiting for visitors.

Photo by Shaun Stahle

Elder Barry McKay and Sister Flor De Maria Vazquez greet a family on Temple Square. Elder McKay was one of eight who spent an afternoon greeting visitors as part of the yearly training for directors of visitors centers and historic sites.

Consider Laman and Lemuel, he continued. They received a manifestation of God's power by means of each of the five senses. They even tasted raw meat made sweet without fire. "But they did not receive a testimony.

"A manifestation of the Spirit, not the physical senses, is the only means of gaining a testimony," he said.

Speaking Jan. 16 during the annual seminar for the eight newly called directors of visitors centers and historic sites, along with their wives, Elder Robbins of the Seventy emphasized that, like Laman and Lemuel, members and investigators will not gain a testimony through the physical senses when visiting Church sites.

But, he said, visitors centers and Church historic sites provide an "environment where faith may flourish by providing a proper context where the significant events and key personalities of the Restoration can be documented.

"These sites aid the Holy Ghost in solidifying faith," he said.

He invited the directors and their wives to imagine themselves as Mormon, who had responsibility to compile a thousand years of history, and challenged them to try abridging just the past 170 years during which Church leaders have written more than 500 books.

The Book of Mormon is a compilation of history with great talks included to give context to history, Elder Robbins said.

The Church doesn't go to great lengths to build and maintain historic sites for the amusement of members, but to solidify faith and reveal the hand of the Lord in Latter-days, he said.

"Historic sites help us remember important things in the Church's history," he said. "These sites become expressions of gratitude for those gone before. They are a means of helping the Lord's sheep hear His voice when they step on site."

President M. Garfield Cook of the Salt Lake Temple Square Mission told the directors that during his two years of service the most frequently asked question of the 3.8 million visitors who came to Temple Square in 2002 dealt with, "differences between your Church and other churches."

"You never know who you will meet," President Cook said, describing the variety of people who visit Church sites. "Some are students who pose as interested investigators but try to convert the sister missionaries.

"Others are like the 2,200-member Japanese contingent in Salt Lake City right now who know little or nothing about the Church. Many members of the media are interested, like the camera crew from Madrid, Spain, who is going around today."

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