John Bytheway - How Do I Know If I Know?

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bytheway, John, author.

How do I know if I know? / John Bytheway.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-60907-921-5 (paperbound)

1. Witness bearing (Christianity)The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 2. Spiritual lifeThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 3. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsDoctrines. 4. Mormon ChurchDoctrines. I. Title.

BX8643.T45B98 2014

248.4'89332dc232014016978

Printed in the United States of America

Publishers Printing, Salt Lake City, UT

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Ashley, Andrew, Natalie, Matthew, Timothy, and Bethany

What Do You Know?

Many years ago, a young man (he was only twenty-three years old) was called to be the new stake president in Tooele, Utah. In those days, stake conferences had two sessions, and at lunch between the sessions, Joseph F. Smith, one of the General Authorities attending, said to the new stake president, You said you believe the gospel with all your heart, and propose to live it, but you did not bear your testimony that you know it is true. Dont you know absolutely that this gospel is true?

I do not, answered the young man.

President Taylor, said Elder Smith to the President of the Church, John Taylor, who was also in attendance, 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 just laughed and said, Joseph, Joseph, Joseph, he knows it just as well as you do. The only thing that he does not know is that he does know it.

That story brings up a very interesting question: Is it possible to know that the Church is true, but not know that you know? Is a testimony that hard to detect? This story is even more interesting when you learn the identity of the new stake president. His name was Heber J. Grant. Yes, the same Heber J. Grant who later became the President of the Church.

Interestingly, the next time Heber J. Grant faced members of his stake, he spoke powerfully for forty-five minutes. This time, he knew. And he knew that he knew. What did President Grant do in between believing the Church was true and knowing? And how can we do the same thing?

Today, youth and young adults are facing huge decisions, and theyre facing them a little sooner than their older brothers and sisters did. Many teenagers facing the mission decision may be wondering, Is my testimony strong enough? Do I really know the Church is true? How do I know if I know? Because of the lowering of the age at which young people become eligible to serve missions, there is a greater urgency than ever before to answer this kind of question. I once heard Sister Sheri Dew tell a group of young people, We want you to figure out what weve figured out, and we want you to figure it out quicker than we figured it out.

Spiritual Gut Check: Why We Must Know That We Know

What are the biggest problems facing the members of the Church today? Immorality? Pornography? Drugs? Worldliness? Idleness? No. Those are secondary problems. Those temptations lose much of their power if we solve the real problem. The real problem is weak testimonies. Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone observed:

Number one on our agenda, above all else, is faith in Christ. I dont know anything that will take the place of it. Whenever we find problems in the Church, we usually find them under one of two umbrellas or canopies, either transgression or lack of faith in Christ.

What the members of the Church need, more than anything else, are strong testimonies of Jesus Christ and the gospel He restored. They need to know. And they need to know that they know. This is the best protection against the tsunami of temptations and the waves of immorality that crash against us. Perhaps this is just another reason why the first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!

What Is a Testimony, Anyway?

If we want to gain, discover, or rekindle a testimony, wed better know exactly what it is. True to the Faith describes a testimony as a spiritual witness given by the Holy Ghost. Yet some of us are unsure how to recognize the Holy Ghost when it is present, or we believe that the Spirit must come in a certain way. Some people share amazing spiritual experiences about how, in one moment, they receive a powerful witness. They hear a voice, or feel an overwhelming sense of peace and assurance, or experience a burning in their hearts. Others speak of their testimonies growing slowly, or line upon line, as time goes by, but they cannot point to a specific day or event when they suddenly knew what they didnt know before. Still others say, Oh, I cant really say when I gained my testimony; I guess Ive just always known. Then, perhaps, theres another categoryPresident Grants categorythose who know, but who dont know that they know! This book was written mostly for them, and for anyone else who wonders if his or her testimony is strong enough to survive and thrive in this world.

The first syllable of the word testimony is test, and yes, there is a test in acquiring the knowledge you seek. But whatever you do, please dont be discouraged on this quest! The Lord wants to send His Spirit to youHe wants you to know! But He also wants you to act in faith and to move forward even when you dont know. So the important thing is that you keep trying. Its obvious that you are trying, because youre reading this book!

A Testimony Is Like...

My friend Brad Wilcox suggests that we shouldnt speak of testimonies using light switch terminology such as its on or its off; I have a testimony or I dont have a testimony; I had it, but I lost it. A testimony is not an all-or-nothing proposition. There are different levels of testimony, and our testimonies can grow or dwindle based on our experiences, our circumstances, and our choices.

A testimony is a mixture of things we know, things we feel, things we believe, things we hope for, and maybe even things we doubt! Perhaps this is why the man seeking a blessing for his son told the Savior, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief (Mark 9:24). This man, like many of us, believed some things for sure, but he also had some doubts, or some unbelief. Most important, he wanted help, and he went to the Saviorhe wanted to believe more! If we have some doubts, or some unbelief, we should go to the Savior too.

A Flash or a Sunrise

If your testimony doesnt come in a flash, dont be concerned. Yes, some have received powerful spiritual experiences in one bright moment. Paul saw Jesus on the road to Damascus, Enos prayed all day and was visited of the Lord, and King Lamoni said a prayer and was suddenly overcome. These experiences were so remarkable theyve been preserved forever in the scriptures! Some young people conclude, Wow, nothing like that has ever happened to me. I guess I dont have a testimony. President Ezra Taft Benson corrected that type of thinking when he warned: