Knowing that we know

When sweet beautiful children stand up in a Fast and Testimony Meeting and say something like, “I know the gospel is true”, they are expressing the tender feelings of their young hearts. They speak with all the innocence of youth, nothing doubting. They do not doubt because they have complete trust and faith in the words of their fathers and mothers, their loving teachers, and even the Prophet himself. They base their simple testimony on the faith of others. They set the example for us. The Savior said:

“Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them (Mark 10:14-16).

In October Conference, Elder Douglas L. Callister of the Seventy offered a wonderful discourse to us entitled “Knowing that We Know.” He said:

“In the genius of the gospel plan, there ultimately only has to be one witness, but that witness must be you. The testimony of others may initiate and nourish the desire for faith and testimony, but eventually every individual must find out for himself. None can permanently endure on borrowed light.”

So, while the simple faith of a child is beautiful to behold, eventually each child, each member of the Church, each convert to the Church, must gain a testimony for themselves through the power of the Holy Ghost. Each must, at some time, receive that witness for themselves. The process may be different for each of us. For the sons of Mosiah, for instance, it was a rather disconcerting experience. They, along with Alma, the son of Alma the High Priest, were “were going about rebelling against God” (Mosiah 27:11) and seeking to destroy the Church. An angel whose voice shook the ground confronted them. The angel was so irritated with their conduct that they fell to the ground and Alma was struck dumb and was so weak he could not move. His friends, the Sons of Mosiah, carried him to his father. It took two days of fasting and prayer on the part of the assembled high priests before Alma’s strength was restored and he could speak. When he spoke, he said:

“I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit. …My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more. (Mosiah 27:24, 29)”

Alma was “born again” as to the things of the gospel. He knew very suddenly and miraculously that he “knew that he knew.” Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained in 1976 to students at Brigham Young University that:

"...we are born again as we die as pertaining to unrighteousness and when we live as pertaining to the things of the Spirit. But that doesn't happen in an instant, suddenly. That...is a process. Being born again is a gradual thing, except in a few isolated instances that are so miraculous that they get written up in the scriptures. As far as the generality of the members of the Church are concerned, we are born again by degrees, and we are born again to added light and added knowledge and added desires for righteousness as we keep the commandments" ("Jesus Christ and Him Crucified," in Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year, 1976, 399-401).

If I had to guess, I would say that most of us would not want such an experience as Alma had. We would prefer to be led to the truth in a gentler way. In his talk, Elder Callister told the following story about Heber J. Grant. Note that there are three Prophets of the Church involved: one current prophet and two future prophets who were taught a great principle by President Taylor.

"When the 23-year-old Heber J. Grant was installed as president of the Tooele Stake, he told the Saints he believed the gospel was true. President Joseph F. Smith, a counselor in the First Presidency, inquired, “Heber, you said you believe the gospel with all your heart… but you did not bear your testimony that you know it is true. Don’t you know absolutely that this gospel is true?”
"Heber answered, “I do not.” Joseph F. Smith then turned to John Taylor, the President of the Church, and said, “I am in favor of undoing this afternoon what we did this morning. I do not think any man should preside over a stake who has not a perfect and abiding knowledge of the divinity of this work.”
President Taylor replied, “Joseph, Joseph, Joseph, [Heber] knows it just as well as you do. The only thing that he does not know is that he does know it.”
Within a few weeks that testimony was realized, and young Heber J. Grant shed tears of gratitude for the perfect, abiding, and absolute testimony that came into his life." (Taken from Heber J. Grant, Gospel Standards, comp. G. Homer Durham (1941), 191–93)

So, for most of us, it is a lifetime’s work to finally “know that we know.” We gain knowledge “line upon line” and “precept on precept” as we read in 2 Nephi 28:30,

"For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more;…"

Personally, there are some things that I know are true, and others that I still accept based on faith and the testimony of others. In D&C 46: 13-14, we read:

"To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world. To others it is given to believe on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful."

It would seem acceptable, then, that our testimonies consist of both knowledge and faith. My own certainly does. In 1982, President Kimball came to Jackson, Mississippi to speak at a regional conference. We traveled to Jackson and stayed overnight in a motel, got up the next morning and went to a sports coliseum where the conference was to be held. There were more than 11,000 people present that morning. President Kimball was held up by traffic, so he was about 10 minutes late. We were all waiting with great anticipation for him to arrive. When he finally walked in, we rose as one person and (of course) spontaneously sang “We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet.” At that moment, the Holy ghost testified to me personally, in a crowd of 11,000, that Spencer W. Kimball was indeed a Prophet of God. I can still remember the overwhelming feeling that coursed through me from head to foot. I have never before or since had such a powerful witness.

This witness helps me to “know that I know” that many other things concerning the gospel are true. If Spencer W. Kimball was (and still is) a prophet, then all of the other 15 men who served (or are serving) in that calling are also prophets. This means that Joseph Smith was the prophet of the restoration. He really did translate the Book of Mormon miraculously from golden plates given him by the Angel Moroni. He really was given the keys of the priesthood by John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John. The gospel is true. Thomas S. Monson is our prophet today. He receives inspiration and guidance for the governance of the Church and for the doctrines of the Gospel from the Lord through the spirit. President Monson holds the same keys today as did Joseph Smith. All of this gospel knowledge flows naturally and correctly from the witness I received in that coliseum in 1982.

There are still many things concerning the gospel that I believe, but do not yet know of myself. These things I accept on faith. It is my hope that as I continue to study and live the gospel, that it will, as Alma said in Alma 32:28: “be delicious to me.”
So let each of us, as Elder Callister suggests in closing:

“…be on our knees every morning and night pleading with the Lord that we never lose our faith, our testimony, or our virtue. There only has to be one witness, but it must be yourself.

You have a testimony. It urges to be expressed and needs to be nourished with the good word of God; relying on the merits of the Lord for continuing growth and strength. (see Moroni 6:4)