Elder D. Todd Christofferson
Of the Presidency of the Seventy
Plead with God in the name of Christ to write the gospel in your mind that you may have understanding and in your heart that you may love to do His will.
My comments are directed particularly to young people, although I hope they
may be helpful to everyone.
Years ago when I served as a stake president, a man came to confess a transgression.
His confession surprised me. He had been an active member of the Church for
years. I wondered how a person with his experience could have committed the
sin that he did. After some pondering, it came to me that this brother had
never become truly converted. Despite his Church activity, the gospel had not
penetrated his heart. It was only an external influence in his life. When he
was in wholesome environments, he kept the commandments, but in a different
environment, other influences might control his actions.
How can you become converted? How can you make the gospel of Jesus Christ
not just an influence in your life but the controlling influence and, indeed,
the very core of what you are? The ancient prophet Jeremiah spoke of the law
of God, the gospel, being written in our hearts. He quotes the Lord speaking
about us, His people in the latter days: "I will put my law in their inward
parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall
be my people."1
Do you want this for yourself? I can tell you how that can happen, but it
must be something you want. The gospel cannot be written in your heart unless
your heart is open. Without a heartfelt desire, you can participate in sacrament
meetings, classes, and Church activities and do the things I will tell you,
but it won't make much difference. But if your heart is open and willing, like
the heart of a child,2 let me tell you what you can do to be converted.
As a first step, you must lay aside any feeling of pride that is so common
in the world today. By this I mean the attitude that rejects the authority
of God to rule in our lives. This attitude was described by the Lord to Joseph
Smith when He said, "They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness,
but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god."3
You hear it expressed today in phrases such as "Do your own thing" or "Right
and wrong depend on what I feel is right for me." That attitude is a rebellion
against God, just as Lucifer rebelled against God in the premortal world. He
rejected God's right to declare the truth and establish the law.4 Satan wanted,
and still wants, the power to declare arbitrarily what is right and wrong.
Our beloved Creator does not force us to accept His authority, but willingly
submitting to that authority is the first step in conversion.
Further, for the gospel to be written in your heart, you need to know what
it is and grow to understand it more fully. That means you will study it.5
When I say "study," I mean something more than reading. It is a good
thing sometimes to read a book of scripture within a set period of time to
get an overall sense of its message, but for conversion, you should care more
about the amount of time you spend in the scriptures than about the amount
you read in that time. I see you sometimes reading a few verses, stopping to
ponder them, carefully reading the verses again, and as you think about what
they mean, praying for understanding, asking questions in your mind, waiting
for spiritual impressions, and writing down the impressions and insights that
come so you can remember and learn more. Studying in this way, you may not
read a lot of chapters or verses in a half hour, but you will be giving place
in your heart for the word of God, and He will be speaking to you. Remember
Alma 's description of what it feels like: "It beginneth to enlarge my
soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to
be delicious to me."6 You will know that the gospel is being written
in your heart, that your conversion is happening, as the word of the Lord from
His prophets, past and present, feels more and more delicious to your soul.
I mentioned praying as you study to understand the scriptures, but your prayers
must not be limited to that. In the Book of Mormon, Amulek tells us we should
pray about everything in our lives. He says, "Pour out your souls [to
God] in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness."7
Your Heavenly Father wants you to pray about your hopes and fears, your friends
and family, your school and work, and the needs of those around you. Most of
all, you should pray to be filled with the love of Christ. This love is given
to those who are true followers of Jesus Christ, who ask for it with all the
energy of their heart.8 This love is the fruit of the tree of life,9 and
tasting it is a major part of your conversion because once you have felt your
Savior's love for you, even the smallest part, you will feel secure, and a
love for Him and for your Heavenly Father will grow within you. In your heart
you will want to do what these holy beings ask of you. Go often to your closet,
your secret place, your wilderness. Thank God for your blessings; ask for His
help; ask Him to bestow upon you the pure love of Christ. Sometimes fasting
will help.
After Amulek talked about prayer, he spoke about something else that is an
important element of your conversion—serving others. Otherwise, he said, "your
prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing."10 In other words, to be converted,
you must not only open your heart to a knowledge of the gospel and the love
of God, you must practice the gospel law. You cannot fully understand or appreciate
it unless you personally apply it in your life. Jesus said that He came to
serve, not to be served.11 So it must be with you. You must look outward and
care about others. You can be compassionate; you can be friendly; you can share;
you can help others in a hundred small ways. As you do, the gospel of Jesus
Christ will become a part of you.
Let me mention one other thing. In ancient times when people wanted to worship
the Lord and seek His blessings, they often brought a gift. For example, when
they went to the temple, they brought a sacrifice to place on the altar. After
His Atonement and Resurrection, the Savior said He would no longer accept burnt
offerings of animals. The gift or sacrifice He will accept now is "a broken
heart and a contrite spirit."12 As you seek the blessing of conversion,
you can offer the Lord the gift of your broken, or repentant, heart and your
contrite, or obedient, spirit. In reality, it is the gift of yourself—what
you are and what you are becoming.
Is there something in you or in your life that is impure or unworthy? When
you get rid of it, that is a gift to the Savior. Is there a good habit or quality
that is lacking in your life? When you adopt it and make it part of your character,
you are giving a gift to the Lord.13 Sometimes this is hard to do, but would
your gifts of repentance and obedience be worthy gifts if they cost you nothing?14 Don't be afraid of the effort required. And remember, you don't have to
do it alone. Jesus Christ will help you make of yourself a worthy gift. His
grace will make you clean, even holy. Eventually, you will become like Him, "perfect
in Christ."15
With conversion, you will wear a protective armor, "the whole armour
of God,"16 and the words of Christ, which come by the Holy Spirit, "will
tell you all things" you should do.17
In 1992 two sister missionaries in Zagreb, Croatia, were returning to their
apartment one evening. Their last teaching appointment had been some distance
away, and it was getting dark. Several men on the trolley made crude comments
and became rather menacing. Feeling threatened, the sisters got off the trolley
at the next stop just as the doors closed so no one could follow them. Having
avoided that problem, they realized they were in a place unknown to either
of them. As they turned to look for help, they saw a woman. The missionaries
explained that they were lost and asked the woman if she could direct them.
She knew where they could find another trolley to take them home and invited
them to follow her. On the way they had to pass a bar with patrons sitting
along the sidewalk in the gathering darkness. These men also appeared threatening.
Nevertheless, the two young women had the distinct impression that the men
could not see them. They walked by, apparently invisible to those who might
have had a mind to harm them. When the sisters and their guide reached the
stop, the trolley they needed was just arriving. They turned to thank the woman,
but she was nowhere to be seen.18
These missionaries were furnished a guide and other blessings to protect them
physically. As you become converted, you will have comparable protections to
keep you from temptation and deliver you from evil.19 Sometimes evil will
not find you. Sometimes you will be protected when evil is made invisible to
you. Even when you must confront it directly, you will do so with faith, not
fear.
We have talked of desire, submissiveness to God, study, prayer, service, repentance,
and obedience. From these, coupled with your worship and activity in Church,
will come testimony and conversion. The gospel won't be just an influence in
your life—it will be what you are. Plead with God in the name of Christ to
write the gospel in your mind that you may have understanding and in your heart
that you may love to do His will.20 Pursue this blessing diligently and patiently,
and you will receive it, for God "is gracious and merciful, . . . and
of great kindness."21 I so bear witness in the name of Jesus Christ,
amen.
NOTES
1. Jeremiah
31:33. Ezekiel said conversion is like the Lord taking away our "stony
heart" and giving us a heart that loves Him and His gospel (see Ezekiel
11:19–20). Surely this is what happened to the people of King Benjamin when
they said their hearts had been changed and they didn't even want to do evil
anymore "but to do good continually" (Mosiah
5:2).
2. See Matthew 18:3–4.
3. D&C 1:16; see also Helaman 12:6.
4. See D&C
76:25–29.
5. We are exceptionally fortunate to have so much of the recorded word of
God at our fingertips. In prior ages of the world's history, very few people
had copies of the scriptures in their possession. They had to try to remember
what they could whenever they heard scriptures read in sermons. What an incomparable
blessing that you can have your own copy to read whenever you want. You can
see how the gospel works in the lives of people who were converted, from Adam's
time down to our own time.
6. Alma 32:28.
7. Alma 34:26.
8. See Moroni 7:47–48.
9. See 1 Nephi 11:21–23.
10. Alma 34:28.
11. See Mark
10:45. Christ told Peter that when he was converted, he should
strengthen his brethren (see Luke
22:32).
12. 3 Nephi 9:20.
13. Along with the scriptures, the pamphlet For the Strength of Youth (2001),
can guide you.
14. Once when King David prepared to offer a sacrifice to the Lord, a loyal
subject said he would give the king the place, the animals, and the firewood
to make the sacrifice. But David declined, saying, "I will surely buy
it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my
God of that which doth cost me nothing" (2
Samuel 24:24).
15. See Moroni 10:32–33.
16. See Ephesians 6:13–17.
17. 2 Nephi 32:3.
18. As related by Sister Nicole Christofferson Miller.
19. See Matthew 6:13.
20. See Hebrews
8:10; 10:16.
21. Joel 2:13. "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me
diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall
be opened unto you" (D&C 88:63).
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