Kevin G. Brown · Of the Seventy
1My dear brothers and sisters, lately I have been reflecting on three powerful truths from the Restoration. These truths have profoundly blessed my life. Today, I would like to share with you how these truths have guided me on my journey toward a sure witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
2He is omniscient and omnipotent. Through the Light of Christ and the ministration of the Holy Ghost, His influence is everywhere. It is in His nature to bless us.
3He sees our past, present, and eternal destiny. Nothing can be hidden from Him.
4President Russell M. Nelson’s invitation to “think celestial” encourages us to emulate our Heavenly Father’s vision and nature.
5Because of His divine attributes, our Heavenly Father gives us every good gift, each with His eternal perspective and vision in mind.
6It is also the responsibility to choose well.
7Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price for that privilege with His precious blood.
8Sometimes we might believe that agency means doing whatever we want. But the fact that the price was paid means agency is a sacred gift.
9We are agents, and agents are responsible for something. In this case, we are responsible for the choices we make based on the knowledge we have and the gifts we are given. We cannot make a choice without being responsible for the consequences.
10Why do we have agency?
11To choose good.
12To choose Christ.
13To choose eternal life—again and again.
14A witness from the Holy Ghost is greater than sight. He is the preeminent witness of the Father and the Son. President Nelson taught, “In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”
15Brothers and sisters, this is why we each need the power of the Holy Ghost today.
16A testimony through the Holy Ghost can come in many ways. Like a light bulb in a dark room, it can come on dramatically and suddenly. It can come like the sunrise gradually and over time. It can come like rays of light, intermittent exposure to pure intelligence. Whatever the way, it comes through the Holy Ghost.
17I grew up in beautiful Jamaica; it was fun and wonderful. However, when I started high school, some classmates and friends could not understand my decision to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. “How could you join that church?” they would ask. “How could you believe that story?”—referring to the First Vision. “How could you read that book?”—referring to the Book of Mormon. “Do you really believe all that?” And “Why are you wasting your life away?”
18It was painful, especially when it came from people I cared about.
19But what they didn’t know was this: I had an experience with the Holy Ghost. As that testimony filled my heart, it dulled the pain of days, and “for one brief moment, heaven’s view [appeared] before my gaze.”
20Perhaps you have been asked some of these questions. Perhaps even now you are being bombarded as I was.
21The gift and witness of the Holy Ghost are available to everyone.
22Jamaica is to me like Palmyra was to Joseph Smith. It is my Sacred Grove. I do not know the exact spot where Joseph knelt to pray in the Sacred Grove, but I know exactly where I was when my Sacred Grove became a reality. It happened at Four Grove Road, Mandeville, Jamaica, in my bathroom, at 6:00 a.m. on a Wednesday three years after my baptism. This sacred experience happened because two weeks earlier an inspired sister missionary invited me to read the Book of Mormon. Sister Audrey Krauss is attending this conference today with her family, and I forever love her.
23That experience changed me.
24Brothers and sisters, a testimony is not given for temporary use. This gift from our loving Heavenly Father is meant to be eternal because the giver is eternal. A testimony should not have an expiration date. It should not weaken or diminish because something in my life has changed or something in the world has changed. It should get stronger because, like the servant’s talents in the parable of the talents, my personal testimony is a gift to be multiplied—not buried.
25Looking back on those difficult days of testing and persecution that I went through as a child has helped me get to the place where I now know for myself. I not only believe, hope, or trust, even though these are significant particles of faith on the pathway to a sure witness. I commend you for making your own way by asking questions, studying, praying, fasting, and pondering. Please don’t stop. It is worth every effort to pursue this path to testimony. Who or what will you allow to take that away? “What greater witness can you have than from God?”
26Every son or daughter of God can gain a deeper, firmer, and surer knowledge for themselves. Like Joseph Smith, who affirmed his testimony despite opposition, we can boldly say, “I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it.”
27My dear brothers and sisters, let the small seedling of testimony work in you until it springs up to an everlastingly glorious sure knowledge.
28If you are a baptized and confirmed member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but still struggle with “I am not sure if I know,” please remember this promise in the sacrament prayer: “That they may always have his Spirit to be with them.” Because of this promise, each of us can pursue the path to testimony and a sure knowledge.
29Now here is a grand truth: In whatever way a testimony is given—whether it is distilled like the sunrise or comes in a glorious vision—it still requires a choice to receive this precious gift.
30Saying “I choose to believe” makes it easier to receive a witness from God. If we find our testimony weakening, remember that it is the choices we make that diminish the power of the testimony. But the testimony has not gone anywhere. We just need to choose to reconnect with it.
31Choosing to believe is a wise and powerful way to use our agency.
32I cannot see a better way to use my agency than in defense of my testimony.
33President Nelson taught: “I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth.”
34To me, the words take charge, work, care, own, nurture, and feed sound like an agent given stewardship for something precious and important.
35In the early Church, Parley P. Pratt felt disgruntled with the Prophet Joseph Smith and chose to criticize him and the Church. When John Taylor, whom Parley taught the gospel, came to town, Parley took him aside and warned him not to follow Joseph. John Taylor said to Parley:
36“Before you left Canada, you bore a strong testimony to Joseph Smith being a prophet of God, … and you said you knew these things by revelation and the gift of the Holy Ghost.
37“… I now have the same testimony that you then rejoiced in. If the work was true six months ago, it is true today. If Joseph Smith was then a prophet, he is now a prophet.”
38I testify that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the prophetic mantle he received continues today. Jesus Christ directs this work.
39I invite you to think about your path to a sure witness of Jesus Christ and His gospel. Take charge of your testimony; use your agency wisely and acknowledge the giver and all His glorious attributes. I bear witness that the power is within you. No one can choose for you. No one can take this gift away. You can choose to believe.
40I promise that as you do this, your testimony will be a “well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life.” It will be an anchor and a motivator, and it will sustain you through difficult times. It will enable you to develop spiritual gifts. It will help you in your personal ministry and service. It will be a weapon against Satan and your adversaries. Your testimony will be a joy as you see it replicated in your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and in those you love and serve. It will be powerful when you share it and use it to testify.
41If you know, you know. I know that I know. We need more sure witnesses of Jesus Christ and His gospel. Get there! Seek it! It is urgent! This is the final dispensation—the dispensation of the fulness of times.
42Jesus Christ declared this truth: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
43Brothers and sisters, a testimony of Jesus Christ was never meant to be a temporary gift. Nothing about it is temporary—not the giver, not the gift itself, not the deliverer of the gift, not who the gift is about. May your testimony be described in this same way. Though “heaven and earth shall pass away,” your testimony and witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ will not pass away. Now is the time to lay hold on this precious gift. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.