Conviction: Truth carries its own evidence
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Every principle God has revealed carries with it its own convictions of truth to the human mind, President Gordon B. Hinckley declared to a congregation in Albuquerque, N.M., on Nov. 9.
He took those words from a sermon given by President Brigham Young in Salt Lake City on Jan. 12, 1862. He went on to quote President Young: "There is no calling of God to man on earth but what brings with it the evidences of its authenticity." (Journal of Discourses 9:149.)
Nearly 8,000 Latter-day Saints from four stakes gathered in the Albuquerque Convention Center for the regional conference at which the Church president spoke, as well as Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder H. Bruce Stucki of the Seventy and North America Southwest Area presidency and Elder Perry M. Webb, Area Authority Seventy. Additional speakers were Elder Stucki's wife, Cheryl Stucki; President William B. Mansell of the New Mexico Albuquerque Mission and President Allen E. Litster of the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple. The meeting was preceded by a Saturday afternoon priesthood leadership meeting attended by nearly 900 local leaders.
"The proof is in the pudding; the proof is in the eating; the proof is in the doing," President Hinckley remarked, commenting on President Young's words. "And when we do, there comes a reward."
He applied that to several teachings of the Church:
The doctrine of the Godhead. "Does anyone here doubt that God our Eternal Father lives?" he asked. "Does anyone here doubt that Jesus is the living Son of the living God? He who left the royal courts on high and came to earth to be born out of the most humble circumstances in a vassal nation, there to walk the streets of that country teaching, healing, and blessing. Then, while still a young man, offering Himself to be nailed to the cross of Calvary, to give His life for each of us, to arise the third day to become the firstfruits of them that slept." If anyone doubts it, he said, "get on your knees. Talk with the Lord about it. Think about it Pray about it. Read about it. And I promise you there will come into your hearts by the power of the Holy Ghost the truth, the conviction of the truth and the authenticity of this doctrine."
The Book of Mormon. Read the Book of Mormon in its entirety and then do what Moroni asked, President Hinckley counseled. He told of a man who, in response to his secretary's question of how she could stop smoking, encouraged her to read the Book of Mormon. She read it through without seeing anything about smoking. But she said she got on her knees and talked to the Lord, doing what the book told her to do. In a way she couldn't explain, the desire for tobacco left her.
The priesthood. "Brethren, if you have any doubt, try living up to the requirements and standards of this holy priesthood," he said, admonishing them to look into their hearts and determine if they are the kind of husband, parent, neighbor or professional men that they ought to be. "Change your ways if you are not measuring up, and I promise you that there will come into your heart knowledge that is power."
Tithing. "You pay tithing, and you will reap the promise," he declared. "I do not know how the windows of heaven will be opened in your behalf, but I do not hesitate to promise that they will be open, and you will be blessed in a marvelous and wonderful way."
The Word of Wisdom. "Some people argue about whether the Word of Wisdom is a commandment," he observed. "I do not care whether the Word of Wisdom is a commandment. The Lord says that it was His work and His will. That is enough for me. . . . If you have any doubt concerning the Word of Wisdom, put it to the test, and God will bring you a knowledge of the truth and the authenticity of this great principle."
Temple work. "The way to solidify your marriage, to make it eternal, to make it everlasting, to bind your families together, is to go to the house of the Lord," President Hinckley said. "And having been there once, to go again and again and again in the most unselfish act of which I know, and that is to stand proxy in behalf of someone else who cannot move forward in the eternities unless you do the work."
Family home evening. "All through the years, I've seen the observance of [family home evening] in my father's home, I've seen it in my home, and I see it in my children's homes," he said. "I want to say that if you have any doubt about it you try it. God will bless you with a conviction and testimony that it represents His will and wish."
Prior to the meeting, President Hinckley warmly greeted John B. Stagg and his wife, Dorothy. "Seventy years ago we walked the streets of England as missionaries, and what a joyous privilege it is to see him again," President Hinckley told the congregation. "There are not very many of our kind around."
