Nothing to say, yet
Transcription
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. Hello, hello, everybody, and welcome on in to this week's episode of Discuss with Friends. The talk that we're going to be discussing today is by Elder Ballard, Praise to the Man, and it ended up being his last talk ever given in mortality, and so I always like giving a little extra heed, you know, to somebody's last talk. It's kind of fun to hear what they say before they pass. First, before we dive in, I wanted to introduce our guest this week, first time having her on. Her name is Regan Kimball. Hey, Regan. Hello, thank you. Thanks for having me. Of course, excited to have you. So I go to church with Regan. She is a really special person, makes you feel comfortable about yourself really quickly, and I've subbed for her early morning seminary class a couple times. I've been grateful to do that, and so I'm excited to have you on and hear some of your thoughts about this topic. Thank you. Yeah, I love Joseph Smith, and I was excited to read over this talk and remember it again, and President Ballard for sure. So thank you for having me. I'm excited to discuss this. Yeah, when I gave you a couple talks to choose from, you were like, yeah, I want to talk about this one. I love the prophet Joseph Smith. Absolutely. So with every talk that I listen to, I think, you know, this prophet Seer and Revelator has a single talk to deliver to us this general conference. Why did they choose this topic? And then even more importantly with this one, it was the last talk that Elder Ballard gave on this earth. Why do you think he chose to speak about the prophet Joseph and this topic in particular? I think I love the gratitude he showed to Joseph Smith, to his family. He talked a lot about gratitude, and I think he did that because we need that. Maybe he did it because maybe I need that. You know, I'm like, I need to be maybe more grateful. I love how he specifically mentioned Joseph Smith's mom and how grateful he was for her, which was great because it changed her life. And he specifically mentioned his dad and his brothers and his sisters and how it changed their life. And I've been to some of these places that Joseph Smith had some of these experiences at, and the spirit that you fill really helped my testimony grow. So I think that President Ballard wanted us to know these things, wanted to know that if this is his last will and testament in a way, that this is what's important to him. And I think it's kind of cool that he's also related to, you know, back to Hiram, I think, which is just kind of cool. So the love he showed for Joseph Smith, I guess, was a great example for me to continue on knowing that. I like that as well. Yeah, it is cool that he's related to Hiram, a direct descendant. You mentioned that you've been to some of the places that are mentioned or some of the that Joseph Smith had these experiences at. What places have you been to? I went to the Sacred Grove. I've been there twice, actually. And it was fantastic. The second time we went, no one was there. It was cold. And I went there with my husband and my three daughters, and we kind of walked to different spots in the Sacred Grove, and we just kind of said, take your time, however long you want. Yeah. And, I mean, literally walked around, no one was there, and man, it was powerful. We went to a lot of the different areas. The Hill Cumorah was really cool. My husband's family, my last name's Kimball, related back to Heber C., and my husband's grandmother was asked from the church to go live in, right by the Hill Cumorah, and have a farm there, and kind of let them get to know the Mormons, you know, back then. And while that was a struggle, as time went on, they got to know them better. But it was cool to go there and be like, we had family that lived here, just the beautiful it is. And it was cold there, just like bitter cold. And it was like that for them, too, you know? Sure. When did you go then? Was it in the winter? Oh, good question. Yeah, maybe. It might have been spring break time. Yeah. I went there once, but it was in the summer. I think it was in August. And yeah, it was beautiful. It was the last year, I think, that they did the pageant, the Hill Cumorah pageant. So Cassidy and I got to go and see that. Oh, that's cool. I didn't know that. Yeah. It was a great experience. I had a special experience there at the Sacred Grove as well. It was quite amazing. So Cassidy and I were sitting there on a bench, or maybe it was like a tree stump, I can't remember. And we were just sitting there in silence, you know, kind of soaking in the place that we were. And as we sat there, the sun must have moved to where there was like a glimmer that came straight through the trees right on our faces. And as we looked up into heaven, we both looked at each other and felt so seen by Heavenly Father. And some might say, oh, it's just a coincidence, right? The sun just, you know, came through the trees. And maybe it was, right? Maybe it was. But for us in the moment, we felt the Spirit strongly. And we felt the magnitude of what had happened in that space. And that was a really cool experience and testimony builder for me about the Prophet Joseph. Did you have anything else you wanted to add about the experiences you had? I ever went to Carthage Jail, which is where Joseph, you know, was martyred there. And I never remembered how my son was with me as well, because I remember, I have a picture of my son pushing in on the door, and my husband pushing out on the door, kind of like it was for them, you know, and just kind of like being in there and feeling what that might have been like, you know, and looking out the window and just being like, wow, you know, Liberty Jail, you know, it was dark and yuck and, and just imagining being there, you know, and having good days and bad days and what his family's thinking, like, am I coming back again? We went to a lot of cool sites, some sites, I can't remember the names, I didn't write them down, places that people kind of off the beaten path, people might not always have gone to. Sure. My husband researches really well and figured out stuff, but going to, you know, the Kirtland Temple and seeing the difference from the Palmyra Temple to that. It was run down, didn't look that great. The gardeners weren't that, you know, and I was like, wow, you feel the difference, you know, of it. And I'm excited the church just bought that. Me too. Went to the Grandin building where the Book of Mormon was printed, lots of Book of Mormons, the kids buy little trinkets and things, I remember, go down by the Susquehanna River, freezing cold, freezing cold down there and walking around the farms that were there and just being so cold and thinking like, this is how it was for them, you know, if you didn't go out and cut the tree down and cut it up and bring in, you didn't have heat, you know, And just a lot of the, I mean, the red brick store and the things in Kansas City and just kind of seeing how all those things went, just kind of was really amazing. Testimony builder for me, for sure, Joseph Smith, like, yeah, he didn't have a lot. He didn't, wasn't have a lot of schooling and he translated Book of Mormon for us, like changed my life. Totally. I had similar experiences when we lived in Columbus, Ohio for a couple of different summers. We went to Kirtland every summer, so three different times. I don't know if you had this experience, but I had a, there was a distinct difference for me in the way that I felt in the Kirtland Temple. At the time it was owned by the church, a different church. Yeah. It was some reformist church and then going into the visitor center and like the school of the prophets rooms, those types of things that were dedicated under the Lord. There was a palpable feeling in those dedicated spaces compared to the Kirtland Temple. For me, it was really cool to see and to like think of the history. It was cool intellectually, but I didn't necessarily feel the burning power of God in there. And I'm interested to go back now that the church owns it and that it's dedicated and I wonder if they'll, I don't know, they probably won't perform ordinances there. I don't think so, but I don't know. I'm more of a visitor center as my guest, but I don't know what they're going to do yet. So I'm just excited about that. But all across from there, I think, or at least close by there, they had kind of like what their conference center was. It had like a big, maybe you saw it, like a gold, some kind of sphere type of a steeple on top of it. Sure. And it was just different. You know, just like you said, a different feel, different look. It was. So what our temples look like. So that was really cool. Yeah, most definitely. You kind of mentioned briefly on how having these experiences at these church history sites helped you have a deeper appreciation for what the early saints went through and for what Joseph Smith's life has meant to you and his work. I kind of wanted to ask, and maybe this is just, this question's too big and broad, but how has your knowledge and testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith impacted your life and changed the way that you think about the world? Great question. I think that it helps me want to, I like, I like living in the mission field. I grew up in Utah and I realized once I graduated that my testimony was pretty much on my parents' back until I went to college and kind of had to know for myself to be true. And I realized that I wanted to live in the mission field and that while I love Utah, I could go and visit it, but I actually really want to live in California. And I specifically look for someone from California to marry, which is kind of funny. Interesting. And I found a husband who was amazing and, and realized that living here, I love having a missionary son in my house. I love the spirit they bring. When my kids were younger growing up and we'd have conversations, you know, missionaries, how can, what are things my kids should do? What things helped you? You know, great conversations for my kids, good friendships made with missionaries that I have to this day. Right. Shout out to some of you, if you know who you are, that, you know, ran into the parents of one of them just recently after the Fresno temple visiting from Vegas and they ran back in the temple to grab their purse real quick, just for a minute as we were coming out and saw them and went to dinner and being like the friendships we made with missionaries that I still follow on Facebook and they're having kids and things they're doing stuff I can see some that visit. Like I think missionary work has been a big part of, of that for sure. Yeah. So you have noticed that your knowledge and testimony of the prophet Joseph and his life has, has impacted the way that you share, you're right, sharing the gospel. It seems like it's even impacted where you've chosen to live and who you chose to marry. So let me ask with your husband, at what point in your dating process did you figure out he was from California? Or is that just like a prerequisite? Hey, before I, before I go any further with this, where are you from? It's funny. Someone else had set us up and I remember seeing him from a distance. I was dating someone else and I was like, Oh, he's kind of cute, you know? And then we were sitting people, I was like on the activities committee and I set up people, I guess on dates basically. And I was, I set myself up with my husband, Ben, not realizing that my kind of boyfriend, kind of not within the other room. And so that ended abruptly, which was for a good thing for me. I think, I think I must've known, I remember that his grandfather had passed away earlier, like a month or two earlier. So I'd kind of heard about him, but yeah, he's always just been fantastic. And we kind of started dating and at the end of it in 26 years next month, congrats. So that's amazing. Yeah. How many children do you have again? Five kids. Five. And you have a daughter coming home from a mission in two days. Two days home from a mission. I have two sons that went on missions and two daughters who want to go on a mission, twins. So that's kind of cool. Yeah. Yeah. So kind of going back to the question I asked, the, it seems that of course it not only impacted kind of where you thought about wanting to live and those types of things, but it's impacted everything in the sense that your children, right? Their life experiences, the fact that they've served missions and two more that want to, I just, I'm thinking of right about your life and the life of your children and then their future children and so on and so forth. It's just amazing to see the miracles, right? That have happened. Another thing I think too, is when I got called to be a seminary teacher, I'm not a scriptorian. I didn't go on a mission. I can't pull out a quote and just like say it to you. I can't memorize scriptures very well unless I work really hard at it. So I got this calling in seven years ago and I'm like, I don't know, like I need a couple of days. Like that's a lot. I had a son that was going to be a senior. I had a son going on a mission soon and I had a lot in my life and I knew it was like a big commitment, right? Sure. So I prayed about it and I, I talked to my son and I'm like, Oh, you're a senior, but I can't do this unless I have your like blessing that this is going to work. And he said, yes, my daughter was going to be a freshman. And so I think we did these church sites right before, I could be wrong, but I think right before I got to be a seminary teacher. So I kind of had this like, maybe it was the second year, actually, anyway, I kind of had this like, I think I can do this, you know, and to help my testimony grow and understand Joseph Smith more as I taught and learn more about him as I taught about the doctrine and covenant. And sometimes I'm literally reading these scriptures and these, and these lessons and I'm going to say like, look what I learned like last night. Like I'm sure I've heard this before, but I kind of felt I was on a level playing field with these youth who are amazing, right? As I tell them, I just learned this thing last night, maybe I was remembering and learning, but like, it wasn't like I'm up here and you're down here and I'm preaching to you. We would share all kinds of stuff. They knew stuff. A lot of them knew more stuff than I did over years and kind of watch them go on missions and come home from missions. And they're kind of a lot of them that I've taught are coming home now. My daughter I taught as a freshman, and she's now coming home, which is cool and her friends. So that definitely helped my testimony about Joseph Smith. And you also have like the Regan mom, I'll call it, before I taught seminary, but for my son growing up and the difference to now, he can notice that difference because he was there from, you know, left on his mission, I think just a couple months after I was called actually. Interesting. And so I see that difference. So what are some of the differences? So you're saying that you've been teaching seminary for seven years and your son has noticed a difference, right? Pre-seminary Regan versus post-seminary Regan, what are some of the differences he's noticed? I think he would say maybe more deeper conversations about gospel stuff, you know, before you're kind of in the mom zone or just like going, doing. I had five kids just short of eight years, and so a busy life. And as he left the home, sometimes you have a little bit more time with all the kids are in school to maybe study more of the scriptures rather than to just read once a day. And so I think having to be a daily thing of reading the scriptures and the conference talk and thinking about them and even preparing a lesson about them, right, it made general conference more meaningful, right? Most definitely. Give a couple days of a break maybe from seminary with spring break around that time, but also you're caring about what they're saying. It makes it more impactful because you're going to be teaching and talking about this, right? And I like to play a lot of games with my seminary classes about the prophets to know more about them, right? To the general authorities to know a little of their history. There's a fun song we all sing about their names that some of my seminary kids know that song and it was the same for a long time. Sometimes they don't change, but just know the names and make it more meaningful to them. You know, if you talk about these Dr. Master's scriptures that we talk about and you hear them in conference, you're like, oh, that's cool. Like I recognize a little bit, like I know where that came from instead of just being the scripture you might not know about. So just seeing that change has really helped impact my life. And I've said this too many times to people, but when things come around and if at night time, seven, eight o'clock at night, you have dishes and kids need stuff done and running somewhere as time goes on, dishes can wait, people can eat, but for summer, the next morning between 12 to 18 kids, are there waiting for you? Sure. It comes up like a top priority. Totally. Yeah. Yeah. Things change when you know that somebody's responsible, you're responsible for somebody, especially for their spiritual wellbeing. You know, as I listened to you speak, I thought about the term real intent as we study with intent to teach what we're learning. It changes our studies and it changes how we learn. For like, for instance, with this podcast that I do, when I study a conference talk, knowing that I need to be preparing a message about it, it changes the way I think about it. And anyone who's prepared a sacrament meeting talk knows that, right? They say over the pulpit, I've learned way more studying this topic than any of you listening. And it's so true because of the intent you need to give to it. And kind of with that in mind, I think the same when it comes to the Prophet Joseph and our testimonies in him, there's a lot of hate about the Prophet Joseph in the world today. And I also listened to another talk by Elder Anderson that he gave in 2014 about the Prophet Joseph. I can't remember what it's called here. Let me look it up. Oh, it's just called Joseph Smith. The name of the talk is just Joseph Smith. He quotes from the angel Moroni when he tells Joseph that your name will be had for good and evil across the whole world. And as a young boy, that's probably a scary thought, right? My name throughout the whole world will be had for good and evil. So this is a prophecy, right? We know this. We know that there will be a lot of good things said about Joseph, like we're doing today. We know there's a lot of bad things that are said about him. What I'll say is that Joseph Smith himself never said, just take my word for it. He always invited us to seek and find and ask Heavenly Father for ourselves. So as we seek and find with intent to act, I guess I'll say coming full circle with what I was, my thought there, if we have real intent to honestly use the information that we're going to receive from God, he will answer our prayers. If we're just kind of curious, Hey, Heavenly Father, is this right? I don't know. I don't really, I don't probably not going to change my life much if I get the answer. We may not receive an answer to our prayer, but as we seek with real intent, I know that we will receive a testimony of the prophet Joseph along with any other gospel principle. That's kind of how we seek truth. One thought I have with that too is as I was teaching Doctrine and Covenants and teaching the Book of Mormon for sure, I think about I'm teaching 14 year old kids and I tell them like Joseph Smith was your age and look what he did. Kind of blow my mind, like the power that these youth have and the strength they have is amazing. The things, the hard things they do. We talked about the hard things. I think of those sometimes that the armies of Helaman, right? We sit here in seminary. There's maybe about a hundred kids in the building, maybe, maybe 80 with the early morning gone. But as they leave, they're kind of armies of Helaman leaving seminary, going up Conure, walking or by cart into school, right? Whether Mount Whitney or Redwood. And they are hopefully a light, hopefully they learn something. And not always from me. I'm always, I learn from the Spirit. I'm just an instrument as a seminary teacher. I have to prepare enough so they can fill what they need to from my lesson to help them. I'm not saying that it's anything that's me, but as you put that effort forth and you see them walk into there and the situations they have, people get made fun of and bullied for being a member of our church often. It's not something people just, I mean, I remember in my high school growing up, I didn't know who was members of the church and who wasn't really. It was probably 90, if not higher, 95% members of our church. And I couldn't always tell by their actions if they were or not, you know, it's a good point. So I look at these kids now and people know, right. They stand out. They look different. They, I won't say have a glow, but they definitely make choices in their life with what they address or the words they say or the things they do or don't drink or smoke or, you know, all the actions that they do, they stand out and people ask them questions often. And so we talk about how those things work for them and it's really cool to see the strength of power these kids have. It's amazing to think they are the same age, right? I wanted to ask you this too. So you talk about how sometimes these teenagers will receive some persecution, right, for being members of the church. Of course, Joseph did. And to this day, like we said, still receive persecution. Why do you think that is that God's prophets or just God's work in general is always met with resistance and persecution? Why do you think that is? Yeah, that's a great question. Well, I definitely think that Satan, he doesn't want this rolling forth like it's prophesied to be. Sure. He knows he was there and he actually remembers, which we don't, right. And I think he tries. I mean, 4,000 years or however long he's mastered how to slowly and subtly sneak in either by small words or actions or something people say and decide, are you on your A game? Are you prepared? Are you saying your scriptures and those basic answers, you know, reading your scriptures and saying your prayers and doing those things, right, to help us be with you so you're prepared when Satan is tempting you in a way that you're kind of tempted, you know, you kind of are maybe second guessing and saying, what really is important? What really do I want? So some choices that you make will affect the rest of your life for good or bad. So most definitely, yeah. Anything that's really worth something is going to be hard. If we have a goal to start a business, right, it's going to be difficult. You're going to meet challenges. If you have a goal to get stronger or more athletic, of course, it's going to require a lot of work and effort. The same with spiritual things, of course. And I've noticed that I appreciate the spiritual experiences and maybe gifts that I've developed that have required a lot of resistance or hard work to get there. And so I totally agree. I think that God in his infinite wisdom allows Satan to provide adversity to the work, knowing that it's kind of needed, right, to build the spiritual muscles that we're going to need to move to the next thing and the next thing and the next thing, because ultimately he wants us to become like him. So yeah, I like that. I think too, I think that, you know, we're not meant to come to this earth and be perfect, you know. I'm not saying I want people to mess up, but as a mom with kids, like, when your kids mess up, it's easier if you're in the house, you can have conversations and talk about stuff and then help them figure out and get back, right, whatever that is and do it in the home. I think that's part of the plan. Like, we need to use the atonement, otherwise it's not going to benefit you, right? And so, as I think you go through those struggles as parents, as kids, figuring out and getting and overcoming hard obstacles, it only makes you, you know, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? It helps you be like, okay, I can do this hard thing, you know, and I think that's really beneficial for kids to know that it's okay, they got to be able to come to you and be able to have those conversations, hard conversations, right? And how are we going to make this better? How are we going to do this? Yeah, most definitely. So, you were just talking about your children, right, and helping them and I'm thinking about their lives. I don't know your children super well, but I know that three of them have served missions and two of the others want to and in some way, their lives are kind of a fruit of yours and I don't want to be insensitive because there's plenty of amazing parents that have children that go wayward, right? Of course, I don't look at Lehi, right? And his sons, you know, they went vastly different directions. But on the flip side, when you look at Joseph Smith's life and the fruits of his life, what we have because of him, I kind of wanted to maybe ask you about that. What are some of, if you had to summarize some of the fruits of Joseph Smith's life, what would you say? Oh, wow. That's a great question. Man, I just think that we're able to have this gospel in our lives, right? I mean, really, like, we understand why we're here, where we came from, where we're going. That's huge. You know, I don't want to be tossed about on the ocean of life and just kind of like, end up wherever I, you know, I hope it's a beach, but it could be a desert. I'm grateful for that information that he was able to give to us and to, I don't know, the great stories of his life. It wasn't easy. His life was really hard, the things that he did, and he could have given up and walked away and he didn't. And those examples and things that he did are a great testament to me that I could do hard things. I've had to do hard things. And I sometimes have thought about Liberty Jail with him. And I think about, you know, his ancestors, and some of those are my husband's side's ancestors. Go back on the Kimball side, and I just think, like, the gospel, the atonement, and that we have the restoration, that I'm able to teach this stuff to my kids, and my kids get it aside. I think if you can have your kids have a testimony for themselves, it's not mom and dad telling them what to do and obey this and do this. They obey these things because they want to, because they have that testimony, and try to instill in them in their youth is helpful. And those things all come from a lot of those things from Joseph Smith, right? From reading the Book of Mormon that he talked about. My dad worked for the church growing up. And just recently, I took to seminary a copy of the first, I hope I get this right, Dad, the first hundred years replicas of the Book of Mormon in different languages. I took them to seminary. I think I had 14 of them. And different languages. We're trying to figure out what languages they were, and some we don't even know, right? But just look, in a hundred years, what the church did, and how we're still talking about that here now in seminary later. They had a school of the prophets, which was their seminary, and we're still doing that. Like, the things they set up, the example they showed, we do a lot of those same things today. And I also think the humility, to be humble, the great example of, and Joseph was humble. He didn't have a lot, right? And I'm grateful for his wife, Emma. I mean, man, I don't know a lot of people that want to really, you know, step into her shoes, but she had to do a lot of stuff by herself, and had, you know, kids sick and die, and numerous times, and she's still held faithful for a long time. And the beautiful hymns we have, she was a part of, and so I think it's an amazing fruit of his labor, and I'm so grateful for Joseph Smith. What do you think are some fruits of his labor? So I thought of a lot of the ones that you mentioned, you know, just the fact that we have the restored gospel, but kind of delving deeper into that, the Book of Mormon, of course, is the, probably the greatest fruit when you think about how to decide or figure out if he was a true prophet. You ultimately need to look at the Book of Mormon, right? Here's a book that Joseph Smith claims he received gold plates from a messenger of God, and that he translated them into English by the gift and power of God, right? That's a big claim. It's either true or it's not. And ultimately, I think the only options are he was either a creative genius, like a mastermind, and also, I mean, he's 14, his own family says that he couldn't read and write, okay, so maybe that's probably not the option there, or he's a lunatic, completely crazy to come up with all of this, or it's true. I think those are the options. And then when you study the Book of Mormon, one cannot deny that you will get nearer to God by studying that book than by any other book. The whole book is replete with teachings about Jesus Christ that are so deep and so special and intimate, you cannot deny the spiritual power that comes from the book. So for me, when I study the Book of Mormon, I think this is a direct fruit of Joseph Smith. I cannot deny its purity and its goodness. The tree must have been good, right? You know, an evil fruit can't come from a good tree, and a good fruit can't come from an evil tree. Joseph Smith, being the tree in this analogy, must have been a good tree. He must have been a true prophet, because this book is so true and so good. And then, like you said, the knowledge that families can be together forever. He received the revelation that his brother Hiram was not lost, even though he hadn't been baptized. He received that witness that we could receive the gospel in the next life if we hadn't accept those ordinances here on this earth. The fact that we know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are distinct beings, right? With actual bodies of flesh and bones, and that the Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit. The fact that we know of the kingdoms of glory, that we know, like you said, why we're here, where we came from, and where we're going. There are so many deep truths about the gospel that, quite frankly, no other Christian church on the earth has. And it's all because of Joseph Smith, and they're all fruits, you know, of his life and his calling to be the prophet of the restoration. It's just amazing. You have to look at the fruit to know if the tree's good. 100% agree. With all that being said, there's still a lot of doubt, you know, surrounding him and his mission. And like we've talked about before, the adversary is hard at work pushing out some things just flat-out lies about Joseph Smith's life. Other things that might be true but are out of context, right? And it has infiltrated a lot of people's minds. You know, there's lots of anti-stuff out there on the internet, and there's a lot of members of the church that leave. Sometimes it's because of something they've heard about the prophet Joseph. So with that being said, I wanted to ask you, what would be some of your—well, actually, first of all, what are some things that help keep your testimony strong in the prophet Joseph and his calling to be the prophet of the restoration? Yeah. I don't delve deep into the dark side, I guess you'd say. I'm perfectly happy reading General Conference talks and doing my best, and I'm pretty busy in my life, and so I don't delve into all the anti-stuff. I'm okay not knowing it, so I don't know a lot of the stuff, and I'm okay to be naive on that. I don't think that's a problem. I definitely hear and see some stuff about it, and I just know it to be true, and sometimes my testimony boils down to the point of, my life is better with Joseph Smith and the gospel—in my life than out. Bar none. That's the end of it sometimes. I know who wins this game. I kind of want to be on the winning—I do want to be on the winning team. I just said this this morning to my kids. I know who wins. I know what it takes to get there. It's hard. It's not easy. I have the atonement. I'm so grateful for that, that I can mess up every single day like I do and get up tomorrow and try to be better, so not to do those things, whatever that may be, and my life is better with it in there. It's just my basic testimony, and it's acted with my kids, especially my sons, about that. My life is happier with the gospel and Joseph Smith, and I don't need to delve into other stuff. Just see, just to compare and see. I'm okay not to. How about you? What do you think on that? I thought that was beautifully worded, and you can see it right in your life. Of course, people listening can't see Regan, but when you're around her, you have a brightness about your countenance. You look in your face, and you know that whatever you're doing is working in your life, and I'm sure you have challenges just like everyone else. Of course. We all do. However, the fruit of you following the gospel is clear and evident in your life, and I like what you said. Man, you're busy. I don't really have a lot of time to be doing all this dark stuff, going on the dark side of it all, and I think there's been plenty of conference talks over the years that have essentially said an essence of doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. Don't let something you don't understand overcome something you do know to be true. If we've received a spiritual born witness of something to be true, if there's something we don't understand yet, we shouldn't let that take precedence over something we do understand. Just put it in its place for a while, and I'm sure it will make sense eventually as time goes on. I've also noticed that with that thought, I kind of think it's a little bit of a prideful approach if you were to say, I don't understand this, I don't get this, and so it just can't be true. It must not be true. If my brain is so big, I'm so smart, if it doesn't make sense to me, man, it can't be true, I guess. I don't think anyone would explicitly say it like that, of course, but all too often, we let things we don't understand totally overtake us, and I think ultimately if we take the humble approach, just realize, hey, this will make sense eventually, but there's X, Y, Z I do get, I do know, and so I think that you've demonstrated a beautiful way to kind of follow that prescribed method. I think I can't really go against, you know, I've had the spiritual experiences that I had. I can't deny them. I can't say, like, that didn't really happen. I was there, those things really happened, and so here I am basically, like, I'm not going to go against that and be like, no, that didn't really, I just can't for me. Totally. You'd be lying to yourself and to God. Yeah. And I think, too, like, you know, I put a lot of effort into my kids. I joke about, you know, I did my best with you kind of thing, I'll say it to my daughter who's coming home soon. I did my best work, and I think a lot of it is to be an example to them, right? I can't say, go do this thing, and I'm going to do something else. Like, I have to do this, so they know, like, you know, you're the fruits of my labor. In a way, as we say this, watch what I do, but they're really watching. Sometimes I'm like, why are you taking all my weaknesses and making those just so, you know, prevalent? You're so good at those, you know? But I just think having an open conversation with your kids and talking to them about these type of things as well, right? Sure. But I put a lot of effort and time into my kids. I spent a lot of time talking to them and cheering them on and doing things and helping them and small things, big things, whatever it might be, because I love you half of them. And then you think, like, Heavenly Father loves my kids more than I do? Like, really? Like, I know that he does, but I really can't even comprehend how that works, which is pretty fascinating. And I'm excited. I also want to see how this works out in the end. Like, how does this work out? You know? Yeah. What are the, what things are we going to find out later in the end? And I'm ready to have the patience. I don't always have patience, but I want to have the patience to find out in the end how this, how's it all play out. I want to be there. Yeah. Me too. Yeah. I want to be there too. I want to do my best to do what I need to do to be there. And it's not easy. I'm not trying to say, like, oh, easy. I'll be there. It's hard. It's going to be a fight. We'll fight the fight to get there. Yeah. But like you said earlier, we know who wins, you know, so I'd like to be on that side. One thing you mentioned is that it's hard for you to imagine how Heavenly Father loves your kids more than you do, but you know it's true. I think that's ultimately too, for me, one of the biggest fruits I've noticed of Joseph Smith's ministry is my understanding of who God the Father and Jesus Christ are, their nature, that they're not some cosmic being that's so vast it fills the whole universe but so small it can fit into your heart, right? Not this abstract, arbitrary thing, but that He's our literal Father and our Savior is our literal spirit brother and the creator and God of this world. It helps me to understand them more and therefore it helps me understand me more. So I kind of wanted to ask, like, how have you noticed your testimony of Joseph Smith impacting your love for and understanding of God the Father and Jesus Christ? I think it goes back to what Fr. Ballard said, just that gratitude, you know, grateful for all that they've done. We don't even have, like, can't comprehend, can't comprehend all they've done for us and I just want to show them my gratitude by the things that I do. And I also think in using the atonement to help me erase things that I didn't do right, showing your gratitude by getting back up again and keep on going, saying you're sorry even when it's hard and get back up and keep on going and holding on tight to that iron rod and not with one finger but sometimes you're holding on, like, with two hands, right? Like white-knuckling it. Right, white-knuckling it. And I think that a lot of people are really doing that, really are, I think, white-knuckled to the end sometimes. I think that's okay. Totally. Yeah, I like that. Gratitude is an action word, right? It's not just our words, but you said, like, show with your actions. Yeah. Well, it's been really nice having you on, Regan. Thank you. I've enjoyed it. Yeah, me too. In closing, there's a lot of people, like we said, that do struggle with their testimony. Maybe they feel like they're wavering. So I just, I wanted to turn the time over to you just before we close. Do you have any words of encouragement for anybody that might feel like they're faltering or wavering in their testimony of Joseph Smith? Yeah, I think it kind of goes back to those primary answers, you know? Sure. Pray every day. If you put a lot of time into looking to the dark stuff, put that same amount of time into looking for the good stuff, you know? Read the Book of Mormon. Read, repeat the General Conference talks. Right here with Taylor. There you go. Read the Liahona that comes out and the New Youth magazine. Yeah. Fantastic. I actually get it in paper now. We get it in California for free or something to my house, so I've got that, and just look through there and see how those articles are written for these youth, right? Or these Liahona written for us. But put the time and effort into the information that we have that's so good. I like to listen to audiobooks, right? And I put before that, sometimes I really want to listen to it, read your Book of Mormon every day. Yeah. And not just listen to it, but sometimes spend a little bit more time. When I'm not a seminar teacher anymore, I decided I'm probably still going to listen to the lessons every day. I've done it for so long, how could I not, you know? They're so great and they have so much information there, and I think just take advantage of that and keep praying and talk to people. And sometimes it's patience. Sometimes people have gotten into situations just with hard struggles and things in their life, and I think that you still look for your friends, and you have friends who are there for you regardless of what your church status is, I guess we'll call it. And if it wasn't hard, it wouldn't be worth it. I don't know if that's a full answer, what else do you have to add to that? That's an amazing answer. Yeah. So if it's not hard, it's not worth it. Have patience, talk to people you know and love and trust, pray, pray, pray. And then I really like what you said, that essentially we are what we eat. What we spend our most time doing, it becomes us. So if we spend most of our time in the darkness, like you said, that will become us, right? But if we spend most of our time studying the words of God through His living prophets and the scriptures, that will become us. I think that was perfectly worded, and I'd like to add just my second witness to that, just saying I agree with what Regan said, and I don't have really anything else I can add. I extend the same invitation to anyone who might feel like they're struggling as well. It's been really nice having you on, and I just wanted to remind everyone to tune in also to the Sunday episodes, and then future Wednesday episodes of Discuss With Friends. I'll close with my testimony. I know that Joseph Smith went into the grove of trees, asked Heavenly Father which of all the churches was true and which one he should join, and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to the boy prophet, spoke to him by name, told him that none of the churches on the earth had the fullness of the gospel, and that he would be an instrument in their hands in restoring the gospel and the church on the earth today. I know this to be true. We do not worship Joseph Smith. We worship Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ, but we are deeply grateful, as Regan said multiple times, for his life and the instrument he was in allowing us to have the gospel on the earth today. If he wasn't up to the task, Heavenly Father would have called somebody else, but I'm grateful that he was up to the task. I know that this is the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints restored on the earth. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that as we follow the commandments, we will be on the winning team. We'll be happy. We'll have a fulfilled life, and I say that in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Thank you, everyone, for tuning in. I hope you have a beautiful week. I look forward to our future episodes, and we will talk with you soon. Bye-bye.
