Conference Ponderings

I loved General Conference yesterday. I look forward to hearing more from our Prophets today. There were a few talks that struck me strongly this time, as always, and I wanted to share some of my musings.

I have always had a deep sense of spiritual matters. My testimony runs deep, and my relationship with Heavenly Father is very close. It is easy for me to get in touch with the spirit, and to feel and receive answers to my prayers. It surprised me as I grew up that others did not have the same kind of relationship with Deity that I did. Faithful friends of mine seemed to struggle to receive answers, and acted on faith more than on knowledge. I have pondered this for a long time, why I was always so sure. Faith in my life meant acting on the knowledge and revelation that I had received, knowing that I would be stopped if I had misunderstood something. I noticed, however, that Faith meant something different to others. Faith would sometimes mean that they would act as if they knew what the Lord wanted them to do, hoping that they were on the right track. They seemed to never truly know if He had spoken to them, but hoped they were right. I could see clearly that indeed, they had received and were doing right, but they were walking by Faith and I was simply there to give encouragement and, perhaps, some confidence. It bothered me a great deal, and I often wondered why such things came so easily to me, and seemed to be such a struggle with others whom I held dear.

One of the talks yesterday was discussing testimony and mentioned the gifts that are listed in Doctrine and Covenants section 46. "To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world. To others it is given to believe on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful. " (D&C 46:13-14) It struck me that perhaps, this was the reason. I seem to have been given the Gift of Knowing God, and others I have loved have the Gift to Believe. In the end, it doesn't really matter, as long as we "continue faithful" we shall all end up truly Knowing God, and having Eternal Life.