A Latter-day Saint, Philo T. Farnsworth, was the first to conceptualize the TV. I admire his invention, but in truth I have no idea how televisions work. I know signals comes through the air, but what if a bird flies through the signal? I mean, if bad weather can mess up the signals, why not a flock of geese?
I have a vague idea how a car engine runs and how a microwave oven works. I know electrical cords run through our walls, water pipes connect to water reclamation sites, and cell phones pick up Wi-Fi signals. But I would never in a zillion years try to repair any of these.
I sew, but I still don’t get how zippers work. Or sewing machines! How on earth does that needle pick up the bobbin thread? And I’m pretty sure I’ve opened a refrigerator more times than there are numbers to count it, but I couldn’t build one. Nor could I build a vacuum cleaner, a computer monitor, a robot, or a steam engine.
I have no idea how a toilet works, not really. Ditto quantum computers, AI, the metaverse, and power tools. Ditto Ditto machines. It’s amazing how much I don’t know. Einstein once said, “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.” And we can all enjoy a comparison to Einstein, right?
There is so much in our world that we take for granted. Imagine if someone sent me back through time to the frontier days (and no volunteering to do this!). I would, of course, regale the local folks with incredible tales of every one of these inventions. Plus washing machines! Airplanes! TV dinners! Air conditioning!
Eventually they would conclude that I’m crazy, and send me off to the loony bin in a cart (two-horse power).
I imagine people from the future will look back at our era and pity us that we were still taking chemo, using sutures, swallowing pills, driving cars, having crashes, using cell phones, and flying in airplanes. A hundred years from now, all these things could be replaced.
The other night I dreamed there were no more trains, ships, cars, or airplanes. Someone had figured out how to harness the earth’s magnetic field, and people were flying around in clean “bubbles” of currents. Each was made to repel the others so there would be no crashes. It would cost nothing to run them, and they could be large enough for shipping, as well.
Alas. No one knows when such technology will actually be invented. So… we live in a world where there is much yet to learn. And, like Einstein, the more we learn, the more we realize how much we still don’t know.
However, there is one readily accessible area where we can absolutely know, and it happens to be far more important than every one of the inventions I’ve mentioned. It is gaining a testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Nothing — literally nothing — is of greater importance.
Even if you never learn anything but that, you are ready to meet your maker in good standing. So often we put secular learning ahead of spiritual learning. But first and foremost, we should put in the effort to truly know this Church is true.
How do we do that? The method is simple, but Satan disguises it as being difficult. For some, heartfelt prayer yields a confirmation from the Holy Ghost. It could be an assurance that fills your heart and mind. It could be a quiet knowing you’ve always had. It could be a voice that tells you Joseph Smith was telling the truth. It could come from lengthy study of the Book of Mormon and other church sources.
Many may already have a testimony, but they don’t know they’ve felt the Spirit because they’re expecting trumpets and fireworks. Elder Neal A. Maxwell reminded us that “in the economy of Heaven, God does not send thunder if a still, small voice is enough.”
Your witness could come while you’re watching General Conference, and suddenly, you simply “know.” It could come from reading the testimony of an ancestor. It could come while singing a hymn. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf has reminded us that “Revelation and testimony do not always come with overwhelming force. For many, a testimony comes slowly — a piece at a time.”
Clayton M. Christensen spent an hour each night, reading the Book of Mormon while a student at Oxford. One night, he said that “All of a sudden there came into that room a beautiful, warm, loving Spirit that surrounded me and permeated my soul, enveloping me in a feeling of love that I had not imagined I could feel. I began to cry. As I looked through my tears at the words in the Book of Mormon, I could see truth in those words that I never imagined I could comprehend before.
“I could see the glories of eternity, and I could see what God had in store for me as one of His sons. That Spirit stayed with me the whole hour and every other evening as I prayed and read the Book of Mormon in my room. That same Spirit would always return, and it changed my heart and my life forever.”
President Dallin H. Oaks has said, “A testimony of the gospel is a personal witness borne to our souls by the Holy Ghost,” and President Russel M. Nelson told us to make our testimony our highest priority, then watch for miracles to happen in our lives.
Elder David A. Bednar told us it requires seeking and knocking. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin told us that we need a sincere, personal relationship with our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. President Henry B. Eyring tells us, “He requires your faith and then your action to share fearlessly what has become so precious to you and those you love.” And President Dallin H. Oaks reminds us that we can strengthen our testimonies by bearing them.
Knowledge of the world will always exceed the time we have to acquire it. Have you read every book in the Library of Congress? Do you need to? Learning is fun, even exhilarating. But nothing compares to acquiring that certain core inside your heart — that immovable belief that this is indeed the restored Church of Jesus Christ, in the Latter days. And that knowledge trumps everything else.
Perfect for Mother’s Day, Hilton’s LDS novel, Golden, is now an Amazon audiobook and is available in paperback and on Kindle. Hundreds of her YouTube Mom videos can be found at http://www.jonihilton.com/
