CC Interview (Stevenson)

The transcription is a conversation about recognizing and following the promptings of the Spirit. The hosts discuss their experiences with promptings and how they recognize them as coming from God. They also talk about the importance of using one's own judgment and intelligence in making decisions. The conversation concludes with a discussion on four things that can help invite and recognize the Spirit: standing in holy places, being with holy people, testifying of truth, and listening to the Spirit's voice. Surely, the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets. How blessed we are to have a living prophet today. Brothers and sisters, the Savior declared, whether by my own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same. Welcome to Conference Chronicles, where we systematically take one conference talk per week from the previous conference and dissect it and learn from it. I'm your host, Taylor Lithgow, and I firmly believe that as we listen to and apply the Lord's teachings through His living prophets, we will fulfill the full measure of our creation and we will be prepared for the Lord at His second coming. So please join with me each week as we take this quest called Conference Chronicles. Okie dokie, everybody. So this week we're starting something new for the first time. So in addition to the weekly Sunday episodes I'm going to release, I'm also going to have on some of my friends and have more of like a discussion, interview-style episode. I realized that I had so many thoughts, you know, every week, and it would be a lot of fun to discuss those with some of my best friends. And so this week we have on my friend Alex and my friend Jeremy. I have known Alex my whole life. Literally, I say this to everyone, I've known him since I came out of the womb. Our mothers were best friends, and so I have not known this earth life without Alex. And I might not know the pre-earth life without him, too. I think we might have been friends before we were born. And then my other friend is Jeremy, who I've known for a shorter amount of time, but who I also really love. We all work together at Sunrun, the solar company, and I've really come to love and appreciate Jeremy, especially just for the man that he is and the testimony that he has. And so I'm really excited to have on these guests. I think that you all will really come to love and appreciate them as well. And so let's kind of dive into our discussion. And I really think that, Taylor, you and I will know each other in the next life. I get a good feeling about that. So you're talking about pre-earth, earth, and post-earth. I think better. Yeah, I think you're right. I think you're right. So this week's episode is based off of the talk from Elder Gary E. Stevenson entitled Promptings of the Spirit. He goes over a lot of wonderful things that we'll, of course, discuss in our Sunday episode. But I kind of wanted to ask Alex and Jeremy, do you guys recognize the promptings of the Spirit? Like, what it feels like to you, how you notice and recognize when you're receiving a prompting and kind of what that's like? Yeah, I've thought a lot about this. I tend to live by the truth that anything good comes from God. So when I was thinking about this question, that's really what came to my mind. Anything good comes from God. So anytime I have a good thought or a good idea of something to do for someone, something good to say that might be of benefit to someone, I just try my best to do it. Because that's what the Scriptures teach. That's what the Brethren teach us, is that all good things do come from God. So if ever I have a feeling that is good, I try to do it. Yeah, I think that's a really good perspective, because oftentimes we have those moments where we think, ah, is this just my own thoughts, or is this a prompting, or where is this coming from, what's the source? And I really like how you've simplified it to where, hey, a good tree can't bring forth evil fruit, and an evil tree can't bring forth good fruit, so if it's good, it's coming from God. So I might as well listen to it and do it. And just to add on to that, there are times where, of course, because we all are imperfect, I don't act on those things, and I tend to catch myself, and I'll usually repent and try to recommit to be better, but certainly when I have felt those promptings, whether they're subtle or a little less subtle, and I act, I feel the Spirit, and I know that it's what my Heavenly Father wants me to do. And there have been times where I have had interactions with people, even work, like working this job, on the doors, where I have felt like you need to say this to this person, or you need to do this, and I just can't deny that it is Him speaking to me, so I'm grateful for that. Yeah, I think that's another good point, because I think the Savior Himself says that for any of us that will do His will, we'll know for ourselves whether it's just Him speaking for Himself, or whether it's actually coming from God, so when we act in faith, we'll then receive kind of a confirmation on that. Yeah, along those lines, too, thank you, Jeremy, for sharing that, it reminds me of the Scripture in Moroni, I think it is, where He talks about good things come from God, and anything that's good that inviteth and entices us to do good comes from God, anything that doesn't comes from the devil, where you can know with a clear, pure knowledge what's right and wrong. But to your point, Taylor, you're saying it's about doing, it's about acting, and I feel like in my life, I'll notice that there's sometimes just a knowing, and a lot of times in my life, I'm trying maybe kind of too hard in a way, trying to think about what should I do, and where should I go, and did I make the right choice there, and so concerned in my head about following the Spirit, good intentions, but then I'm just trying to be in charge, and I'm trying to understand everything, and thinking in terms of should, where the times in my life I feel like I'm being guided and prompted by the Spirit the most in a state of flow, is when I recognize I'm doing my best, I'm trying, I'm studying the Scriptures, I'm praying, and I might not be perfect at everything, but I'm doing my best, I pray for guidance, and then I just kind of go, I just kind of have an inner knowing, and even if I didn't do my very best that day, I can come to the Lord and seek forgiveness, and then trust Him, and just kind of act. Like that. There's that Mormon message, or now they're called inspirational messages, from Elder Bednar called Patterns of Light, have you guys seen those ones? Yeah. And he talks about how if you have your mother's words reminding you to remember to say your morning prayers, remember to say your evening prayers come into your mind, why would we need the voice of an angel to tell us to do that, when we can just have the remembrance of our angel mother reminding us to do it? But I think he goes on to describe if you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, keeping your covenants, you should just trust the flow state that you mentioned. I like that. Because I think I can get into a flow state in my life when I think of work, and gym, and other things like that, but I hadn't thought of it in that phrase when it comes to spiritual things, but I think it's totally true. And one more thing to add to that, Alex, what you mentioned, Elder Stevenson, towards the end of his talk, offers what he says some words of caution to remember when it comes to promptings of the Spirit. And this is one thing he says, he says, use your own best judgment. Sometimes we want to be led by the Spirit in all things. However, often the Lord wants us to use our own God-given intelligence and act in ways that are consistent with our best understanding. I like that, and I feel it's important to not always force or always expect some miraculous prompting and realize that sometimes the Lord just expects us to act in accordance with what we already know. Did you guys have anything you wanted to add to that? Yeah, one thing I'll add, Elder Bednar talks about this, and he mentions how there are things, like it says in the Scriptures, there are things that are to act and things to be acted upon. There are objects and there are agents. And often we tend to think of ourselves as an object or a victim, thinking that God's just going to, and this is, again, a good intention. We want to be His tool, we want Him to work through us. It's the Spirit that does the work, it's the Lord's work. But often we think, what should I do, Father, asking Him for everything and guidance. God wants us to use our brain, use our heart, use our intuition and the Spirit to direct us and make choices. Right. Yeah, I think that speaks to a lot of things, but I think it also shows how much He loves us. As His children, He wants us to learn and grow. And as you said, if He was telling us everything that we were to do, we would probably not be learning or growing nearly as much as we do because we have our agency and we get to choose. And of course, in my life, at least when I've seen those promptings come, I still do learn and grow from them. But oftentimes, I think when I experience the most growth, it is when I maybe do have to exercise my faith or have the ability to exercise my faith more and move forward, trusting that I am doing what is best and I'm using my judgment to make that call. And I know that He is leading me and that He's with me. Totally. I think it just shows He's a loving Heavenly Father. The core doctrine is that He loves us. We're His children. So yeah, He's not going to leave us alone. That's why He's given us the Spirit, but He wants us to choose and grow too. Totally. I like that. Yeah, I do too. And if children, then heirs, right, as the Bible says. And so if He really wants us to become like Him, He's going to have to let us learn some hard lessons, kind of like you mentioned. Learn some spiritual independence, if you will. So moving forward a little bit later in the talk, Elder Stevenson points out four things that he would invite us to do in order to invite the Spirit and recognize the Spirit more clearly. The four things are to stand in holy places, to stand with holy people, to testify of holy truths as often as we can, and then to listen to the Spirit's voice. Thinking and pondering on those four things, I kind of wanted to turn the time over to you guys a little bit to think, have you recognized your own ability to recognize the promptings of the Spirit more because of one or all of those things, and do you have any personal experiences in your life in relation to those things? I guess just to give a little context, I teach seminary, and that's been probably one of the biggest blessings in my life since serving a mission and just in general has been being able to be tutored by the Spirit and by my Heavenly Father and also to learn so much from the kids who I have the privilege of learning from and of hopefully teaching. I'm looking at where he talks about testify of holy truths, like every morning I literally get to bear testimony of the doctrine of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and feel the Spirit pour into my being and just encompass the room around us, and I hear the testimonies of these youth, and they are some of the most pure people that I know, and they testify with such truth and with such power that we feel the Spirit confirm to us the truth of what they're saying. So I think when he says, third, testify of holy truths as often as you can, and he says the Comforter always shares his voice when we testify with our voice, I really am grateful for that truth because I feel it every morning, and Alex and I were actually talking about this recently. We had a little car talk, and I was just expressing to him, like, I am grateful. I feel like I have been blessed with the testimony, and it's one of, I think, the gifts that I've been blessed with, and I don't take it for granted, but I really get to share my testimony, and as I do, it continues to grow because I feel the Spirit testifying of what I'm saying, and then it's like this really cool cycle. I don't know how else to explain it other than when we share truth, the Spirit testifies as long as it's truth, and it's within the bounds that God has set for us, and it helps the person who's sharing it, and it also helps those who hear, and I'm just really grateful for that. So as far as testifying of holy truths, I have definitely had the privilege of seeing that in my life and of being the recipient of just such powerful testimonies of our youth. Like, when people talk about, oh, the world is going to chaos, you know, the current state of the world is just terrible, like, no one could ever tell me that the world is in bad hands because the youth that I get to be around, like, every day, they are special, and this world is just fine, so I'm grateful for that. That's a beautiful testimony, Jeremy. I know that it can be difficult sometimes to wake up at 6 a.m. every morning to do that. I've subbed, of course, for some of those early morning seminary classes in the same building that you teach at, but truly, what an amazing experience that you get to do it every single day, and as they say, a testimony is found in the bearing of it, and I believe you when you say your testimony about the experience that you've had every morning with those kids. I envy you for that, and I think that Heavenly Father is really proud of you for the service that you put in every morning, and He clearly blesses you with experiences that deepen your faith in Him by so doing, so thank you for sharing. Do you have anything you wanted to add, Alex? Yeah, and Jeremy, I agree. I've also subbed a few times, and it's always a great experience, and it's also a reminder of how it's not easy. I'm like, dang, the alarm goes off, and I don't want to get out of bed. Why did I volunteer to do this? And then I think, yeah, and the night before, too, I'm thinking, oh, man, and then I prepare the lesson. I go, I teach, and Taylor and I were talking about this recently. We both were subbing the same day. It's like when you're teaching, you feel good. After you teach, you feel great. And so I have a lot of respect for you, Jeremy, and other seminary teachers who day in and day out do this every morning, and it kind of goes back to the point we talked about, that flow state, where getting in that flow state of the Spirit doesn't mean that it's easy. It takes grit. It takes hard work. It's not like, oh, I'm just always ready to go, and maybe you are sometimes, but having that flow of the Spirit and that ease comes from hard work. Right. That's a really good point. It kind of leads into a little bit of what Elder Stevenson said in his talk. He talks about, at the beginning, the World Cup, the Soccer World Cup for the women that was held in Australia and New Zealand, and he goes on to talk about these great gifts, right, that these athletes have, and they're God-given gifts, and he says, therefore, they are gifted people, and then he compares it to the spiritual gifts that we receive, and he said that we then, in turn, are gifted people, but he then points out that, as we all know, any gift needs to be nurtured and worked at in order to grow and develop, and that just perfectly aligns with what you just said. I kind of wanted to ask you guys if you don't mind sharing some of the spiritual gifts that you've recognized in yourself. Maybe Heavenly Father has helped you realize them through Revelation, or maybe it talks about them in your patriarchal blessing, or maybe somebody else has pointed out some of these gifts in you, but I guess the question is, have you noticed some spiritual gifts in yourself, and if so, how do you cultivate them and work at growing them, kind of like you mentioned? I definitely feel as though, and I hope this is okay to say, as long as I give credit where it's due, which is to God, I feel like he has blessed me with faith and with a testimony. Just from as long as I can remember, I don't really think that I ever doubted that this was his church, and that the Book of Mormon is of God, and that it's the truest book, or that Joseph Smith, you know, saw what he said he saw. I really do feel strongly that I have just been blessed with a testimony of the foundational truths, and I'm grateful for that. The way that I keep it nurtured and continually growing is, I do try to bear it. I know we've talked about that, and in seminary I have the privilege of doing that, but also throughout the day I try to just, and I notice myself doing it, and sometimes I think to myself, like, Jeremy, is this a little bit extra, or whatnot, but then I realize, no, I need to give credit where it's due, but what I'm saying is, I'll notice that I point out little things, and how they're gifts from God. Like, if I'm talking to my wife, or if I'm talking to someone else, I'll say, yeah, this is such a blessing, or I saw this little miracle, or this is a little tender mercy today, and I don't know, I think in a sense that helps me to remember who I need to be looking at, and also it is just showing, like, man, I do see his hand in my life, I have a testimony that he knows me, that he loves me, that he is aware of me, and after all, it's the least that I can do to help others to see that as well. I owe everything in my life to him, so I need to speak up about it, how there's no other way of going about it. So, I hope that answers the question, that's what came to my mind. Totally. What I kind of heard in a nutshell is that you've been blessed with the gift of faith and the gift of testimony, and I didn't need to hear you say that to know that about you as well. It's hard to spend even a couple minutes with you without feeling your faith and feeling your testimony, so I agree wholeheartedly, and sometimes it's easier for others to recognize gifts in us than it is for us to recognize them in ourselves. I think sometimes we are our own biggest critic, so I guess I just wanted to confirm that I recognize those spiritual gifts in you as well, and the people that are closest with you in your life, I'm sure could go on and on about how that gift has blessed them, of course, in their lives too. Thank you, and I love you both. You're both awesome. Love you too, man. Love you too, man. It's funny that when Taylor asked that, I really sat and pondered, like, what are my spiritual gifts? And I was literally thinking faith too, and I'm sure they all have to do with faith, and you said that, but it mentions it in my patriarchal blessing about how I was full of faith in the premortal realm, and that that faith continues with me as a special blessing, and I see that in my life where, to be clear, faith has been, it has been a spiritual strength of mine, a spiritual gift, but faith is not a perfect knowledge, and like it says in the scriptures, it's not to have a perfect knowledge of all things, otherwise it wouldn't really even be faith, and so I recognize that. There's been so many times in my life where I have doubted, I have had questions. I remember prior to my mission, I was really unsure if the church was true, if I should go on a mission. I was questioning, so I think that's become really clear to me recently, is the phrase the opposite is also true. This is just something that's, there's paradoxes in everything. I feel whatever we feel like our struggle is, our weakness is, the opposite is also true. Sure. I think God has given us these gifts. He's also given us weaknesses. Right. The scripture in Ether 12, 27, I give unto men weakness, that they may be humble, so we never need to be, my mission president taught me, we never need to ask forgiveness for our weaknesses. Right. He gave them to us, right, and so I just think about how we have weaknesses, but underneath those are strengths that God gives us, and so, so many times in my life, I've struggled with doubt, with uncertainty, you know, wondering what's right and what's not, but then when I go to my heart of hearts, a strength of mine is just a knowledge, an inner knowing, this is right. At some point, after studying prayer, I found, no, I know I need to go on my mission, even though I don't know fully if the church is true. Right. And I've never had this overwhelming experience where, boom, I knew the book of Mormon was true, and I knew Joe Smith is a prophet. That's never actually happened to me, but I have a burning, bright testimony of these things because of trusting God and doing the little things, and following him, and that, to me, that's faith. And so I feel like I have a gift of following the things that I've been taught from the Lord and knowing that they're good and true. Right. And how admirable is that? Like you said, that is faith, to do what you believe is right, not knowing it yet. Like you even said, going on a mission, right, you still had doubts, yet you acted in what you believed to be right, of course, and then your faith gets confirmed, right, as we talked about earlier, sometimes we don't figure out a perfect knowledge of something until we've experienced it first. Totally. Yeah. Yeah, I really like that. Can I point out another strength that I think I've noticed in you, Alex? Yes. Bless me as your friend. I think you have the ability to listen and have compassion and relate with others. I never feel that when I'm talking to you that it's falling on deaf ears, and I never feel like you don't care. I think that's an amazing gift that you have, is the ability to help somebody feel heard and seen, and I know that has really helped me, you know, as your friend. I appreciate you saying that. It's good to notice. We can see sometimes in each other what the spiritual gifts are. Sure. And can I just say one thing on that? Yeah, yeah. Back to my point of the opposite is also true. Yeah. I feel like it's so interesting, and I feel like this is something where I've struggled with in my life. Yeah. Of listening to my wife and remembering things she says, right? Sure. And remembering that the true me is that person. Right. And I, you know, strive to do my best with my wife, and I'm sure that I'm good at listening, but how we can sometimes, like, Satan wants us to, he wants to put filters and walls around our spiritual gifts. Right. And so, like, I can go into the realm of comparing myself to other people or judging other people, judging myself, which that's like a, that's the complete opposite of connection. Right. And then, so, yeah. But anyways, it's just interesting to notice that if you feel like you're, and listeners, if you feel like there's something that you in particular struggle with, that's just Satan trying to make you think that that's not a strength of yours. Totally. Really, I believe you that that is a strength that I have and that I can cultivate. Totally. If I could add something. Yeah. I also have been the recipient of Alex's listening gears, and I'm really grateful for that. And I agree with everything that you said, Taylor. And just a spiritual gift that I see in you, Taylor, if that's okay. I was hoping you'd bring up something. I was just kidding. You have the ability to help everyone feel heard, I think. And I'm able to see that most in work. Just, unfortunately, we don't go to church together. We go to separate buildings. I'm sure it's there as well. But at work, you just help everyone to feel heard. I have seen that. And I've felt that. And that is a spiritual gift. I mean, if we look at the life of Jesus Christ, he dined with people who no one else would want to be with. He was around people who society cast out. And he really helped everyone to know that they had a voice. And so I've seen that in you. So I just wanted to point that out. That's definitely a gift. Thanks, Jeremy. I'm glad this turned into a group complimenting session. No, but I think that does point to the fact that spiritual gifts, of course, they benefit us and bless us. But they're really intended to bless and lift others. And that's when they grow the most is when we're in service. It's incredible how we can have a gift that seems relatively dormant. But the moment we go to do something service-oriented, it's there. It opens. God opens that gift to us and essentially is saying, okay, you're using this gift I gave you for the purpose that it was intended. And so now it can be operative in your life right now. There's no secret that we learn so much about our spiritual gifts as missionaries or when we're teaching seminary or the more and more we serve, we start to learn more about our own spiritual gifts when we do that. And so I guess that's an invitation to us three, as well as anyone listening, to try to serve, right? You'll learn more about yourself and your spiritual gifts as you do so. I also want to do extended invitation to think about the people in your life that you know and love and consider how their spiritual gifts have benefited and blessed you because I'm sure there's so many that's hard to count. In closing, did you guys want to add anything to what we've already discussed? Anything that stood out to you from the talk or just anything in general? Well, I think really along the lines you were just barely saying, I love how everything God gives us, every gift is intended to bless others and us. It's never really one or the other. Right. I love how Elder Stevenson in his talk mentions, he mentions he gives spiritual gifts to bless us and to use in blessing others. Right. Both. I think about, I was reading in 1 Nephi chapter 8, how Lehi in the dream, he didn't just tell his family, hey, go eat that fruit, it looks good. Sure. He went, ate it first. Yeah. Was filled and blessed and he was able to bless them and guide them. And so we can't just like fill, give someone water from an empty cup, right? And so the Lord, he gives us these gifts and to give an example, I love playing the guitar and God's given me a guitar in my life and even though I have the ability to play the guitar and I have an actual guitar, I can't just take that and be like, cool, now I can go bless others with this gift. I have to actually learn how to play first and enjoy that. Right. And so it blesses me, but if I'm like learning to play the guitar and I can play a song and I don't let anyone hear that, then what's it even for? It's not like anyone's being blessed by it. And so, which is a good reminder, you know, sometimes we get a gift and we don't do anything about it. My wife bought me a guitar a year ago for Christmas, a new electric guitar. And I really haven't taken time to play that and get better at it. Right. And so the gift right now has become idle. It's there. I've got the ability. Right. It's just making the time. So I just love that that's just something that comes to my mind, whether it's a gift like that, a talent or a spiritual gift. It's like, we just need to put in the effort and he says in there, spiritual gifts require spiritual exercise and then it will bless us and others. Yeah. I love that. It kind of reminds me of one thing he said that even some gifts we receive on the box will say some assembly required. It reminds me of what you said with the guitar. I've noticed people that are musically inclined. That is one of those gifts that really blesses others a lot. Like you think of the people that play the organ or the piano every week on Sunday. I'm sure they receive some joy from that. But think about all the people in the congregation that it's blessing. It really is a service. I'm so thankful for anyone who helps add to the spirit of our meeting. So with that being said, did you have anything you wanted to add before we closed, Jeremy? Funny you asked. Yeah. Just at the end of his talk, well, actually not the end, about halfway through, he talks about inviting and recognizing, prompting the spirit and how we can better do so. One of the points he highlights is standing with holy people. I really do just have a testimony of this. Throughout my childhood, some of the most impactful memories are with people who are walking with Christ. Most of them happen to be from church and young men. My young men's leaders especially, just these relationships that I still treasure to this day that impact me and that I really love and appreciate. And any of them who are listening to this, they know how special they are. But I just want to say I am so grateful for the people in my life who are holy, who try to be like Christ, who will definitely admit that they are not perfect, but they love God and they are trying. My parents are on that list of wonderful people who are trying, and my family. So I am just grateful for those holy people. And I do have a testimony, like he says, the spirit cannot be restrained from attending a gathering of holy people. If you hope to feel the spirit, be with people with whom the spirit can easily dwell. And I am so grateful that I've had that privilege. And it's just been such a blessing. And I do want to share my testimony with those who are listening, but also for both of you here, because you are my brothers. I do know that Jesus Christ lives and that He is our Savior. I have come to know that by prayer and by asking questions and through experiences, through reading the scriptures and studying it out for myself. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that He is our Savior and that He performed the atonement for each of us individually. And I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father who truly loves us enough to allow us to come to this earth to change, to become better, and to have a way to return to Him. That way is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's a plan of happiness. He's given us all the tools that we need. So we just need to turn to Him. I'm grateful for that. And I do have a testimony of the power of repentance. And of change. And I am grateful that Jesus Christ allows us to change. And I testify that He is the only way to any sort of lasting change and lasting joy. And I testify that the Book of Mormon is true and that it's the Word of God. And I have felt, as Joseph Smith says, that we can get nearer to God by abiding by the precepts of the Book of Mormon than by any other book. I've felt that in my life as I've lived it. And I'm grateful for that. And I'll close that in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Jeremy. The spirit really was palpable. And Jeremy was bearing his testimony. For any of you that are listening, I hope you felt it as well. But here in the room and you can just see it on his face to the conviction that he has. So I'm grateful for that. Just to add on to that one point you mentioned about standing with holy people. That's kind of one of the reasons that prompted me to have this little session with us three. Because I trust both of you implicitly to be people in my life that will always help me to be better and to become more like Christ. And I cherish those types of relationships. And so I look forward to continuing to do episodes like this. I think that it will only help all of us, you know, as we have these types of discussions and have these types of friendships. So thank you for being those types of people in my life that I can count on to be holy, right? And to be a good example to me. You're welcome. Thank you for the same, Taylor. My life is only better because of you. And you want to surround yourself with people like that in your life. For sure. Amen. Amen. I appreciate anyone and everyone who's tuned in to this episode. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any feedback, let us know in the notes on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or on the social media platforms at Conference Chronicles. And I look forward to doing more of these each and every week. Just a heads up, we'll release these kind of discussion-based episodes on Wednesday. And then I'll still release my normal episode every Sunday that you guys have become accustomed to. So thank you again, Jeremy and Alex. Love you guys. And cheers to the future. Okay, thanks. Talk to you soon.