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English | French | Portuguese | SpanishDear brothers and sisters, I am deeply grateful for this opportunity to speak to you today.I realize that many of you have to have work so hard every day to do your online studies while at the same time having to work to provide for yourself and your loved ones; many don’t even have an ideal place or tools to navigate your online course; so I want to congratulate you for your desire and determination to learn and grow, despite these challenges, so you can reach your full potential as sons and daughters of God. You are truly amazing!I want you to know that learning truth and gaining understanding is not just an academic endeavor that can lead to success in this world; it is also one of God’s divine purposes for each of us in this mortal life.Our Savior Jesus Christ is the perfect example of the importance of learning. The New Testament tells us that, as a young man, Jesus “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” When Jesus was only 12 years old, His parents found Him in the temple “sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.” He learned the trade of His earthly father, Joseph, who was a carpenter, while also learning the eternal truths of the gospel from His Heavenly Father. We can see through His example that the Savior sought knowledge, both in the secular and the spiritual arenas.Seeking to obtain secular knowledge and education and become more skilled is a key part of God’s plan for His children. To the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord declared, “The glory of God is intelligence.” The Savior then invited the early members of His restored church to “study and learn, and become acquainted with all good books, and with languages, tongues, and people.” Heavenly Father wants you to learn and to become more educated and skilled in your chosen professional fields, so you can become a strong, independent, and self-reliant person who will then be able to start your own family and support them, while also blessing the lives of those around you through your success.However, as important as the pursuit of secular knowledge is to your personal growth and well-being in this world, it alone is not enough to fulfill your divine potential. You also need to learn the eternal truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Remember that Jesus taught, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” As you strive to learn, understand, and live gospel truths, you will be blessed with increased faith and strength to overcome your life’s challenges; you will feel greater hope towards the future; you will receive guidance to make good decisions; and you will experience more joy as you feel God’s love in your life.So how can you gain more knowledge and understanding of eternal truths and enjoy these blessings we talked about?
The Savior explained that truth is the “knowledge of things as they are, as they were, and as they are to come.” In today’s world, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to determine what is true or not. Many voices today claim that truth is subjective or relative — that it changes from person to person. The evolution of artificial intelligence has made it even harder to discern what is true and what is not.For example, look at this photo of me receiving a BYU-Pathway diploma a couple of years ago. Isn’t this a great picture? I like this picture and I wish I had indeed had the opportunity to study side by side with you in this excellent program. However, as you can imagine, this is not a real photo! It is an AI-generated image. Unfortunately, I have never studied or received a diploma from BYU-Pathway!
In such a challenging world, how can we discern truth from error?
Our loving Heavenly Father has given us a divine pattern to help us learn gospel truths for ourselves and avoid the deceptions of the adversary.
This pattern starts with an invitation to seek for spiritual truths in the right sources. Jesus said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” The scriptures contain the word of God as revealed to His prophets and are His authorized source of truth. He invites us not just to read the scriptures casually but to study them every day and to take time to reflect on and ponder the meaning and application of gospel principles in our lives. He has also invited us to hear the words of modern prophets and apostles.Then, we’re invited to ask God in sincere prayer to confirm in our hearts the truthfulness of what we have studied and pondered. We can trust in the promise Jesus Christ made in the Sermon on the Mount: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”When we pray with open hearts and sincere intent, God promises to confirm the truth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. He said, “I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you, and which shall dwell in your heart.” Thus, we can gain knowledge by using our cognitive abilities to read and ponder the scriptures, but true understanding of gospel truths comes as our hearts are touched by the Holy Ghost.Elder David A. Bednar taught, “Knowledge certified as true by the Holy Ghost yields understanding and produces an illumination, a comprehension, a perspective, and a depth of desire and commitment not obtained through reason alone.”Moroni, a prophet in the Book of Mormon, described this same pattern when he invited all to read, ponder, and pray to know the truth of the Book of Mormon. He said, “I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things … and ponder it in your hearts … that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”I have seen this divine pattern work in my own life. When I was about 20 years old living in São Paulo, Brazil, I left my family for two years to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At the start of my mission, I desired to know for myself that the Book of Mormon was true. Although I had read and believed its teachings since my childhood, I had never asked God directly. One night, I decided to accept Moroni’s invitation and trust God’s promise. I knelt beside my bed and offered a heartfelt prayer, asking for His confirmation. What I felt in response was one of the sweetest, most powerful spiritual experiences of my life — a peaceful, unmistakable assurance from the Holy Ghost confirmed in my heart that what I had read in the Book of Mormon was true.
The final step in this divine pattern is to act on gospel truths we learned through study and divine revelation. The Savior invited all to “seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” What does it mean to learn by faith? As taught by the Apostle James in the New Testament, faith without works is dead.We demonstrate our faith through our actions, as we strive to obey God’s commandments and act according to the gospel truths we learned. God will only reveal His truths to you if He knows you are willing to live them. As you do so, He promises you will grow in intelligence and wisdom. Elder Bednar said, “Intelligence is the righteous application of knowledge and understanding in action and judgment.”My dear friends, as you seek to learn, understand, and live gospel truths, your ability and capacity to learn and excel in the secular arena will be enhanced. God has promised to each of His children that if we are willing to make covenants with Him (such as being baptized), and to strive to obey His commandments, and follow the example of Jesus Christ, we can be blessed with the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost; and the Holy Ghost will, as Elder Bednar said, illuminate our minds and empower us with greater ability to understand and act on the knowledge we received.Let me share one final personal experience that happened when I returned from my mission, which illustrates this principle. Before my mission, I had studied for two years in college and done fairly well, though not exceptionally. Upon returning from my mission, I worried that two years without any academic study would set me back. After all, I hadn’t touched a schoolbook in two years! To my surprise, as I resumed my studies, I found that my mind was sharper. My ability to understand and retain my class subjects was greater than before my mission. Even my grades improved! I realized that my spiritual growth during my mission — my time spent studying the scriptures and striving to follow Jesus Christ — had increased my capacity to learn.
Brother and sisters, I invite you to be truth seekers! Continue to work diligently to learn truth in your lives — both secular and eternal. As you do so, I promise the Holy Ghost will guide you in your efforts. You will be blessed with the wisdom to know how to effectively organize your time so you can better balance the time dedicated to your studies, work, family, and other important responsibilities. You will be blessed with added strength to persevere, even when you feel tired with the burdens of life. You will be blessed with hope and confidence that your hard work will pay off and your future will look brighter as you allow God to guide you in your decisions. Finally, you will be blessed with the joy and happiness we all experience when we make Jesus Christ the center of our lives. I leave you with these promises and my love, in the sacred name of the Savior Jesus Christ, amen.
