|By Kristen Walker Smith, Idaho|
*To listen to this article, check out the podcast episode here.
Do you have difficult gospel questions that you just can’t find an answer to?
Have you asked friends, looked online, or searched by yourself and you STILL can’t get the answers you want?
Well I’m here to help you find the answers to your MOST difficult gospel questions!
#1: Questions are Awesome!
First things first- gospel questions are AWESOME!
This gospel was restored because of a teenage boy who had questions that he would not stop asking!
“Of course, having questions and experiencing doubts are not incongruent with dedicated discipleship… “
M. RUSSELL BALLARD
#2: Use Good Sources!
When you have gospel questions it is SO important to use good sources to find your answers.
Don’t go Googling your questions- the internet doesn’t have a truth filter and you could end up with lots of crazy information!!
“James did not say, ‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him Google!’”
M. RUSSELL BALLARD
So where can you go for answers?
Well, what James DID say was to “ask of God.”
You can do this by using any of the amazing resources He has made available to you. Resources like:
- The Church website
- the Church youth website
- the scriptures
- Gospel topic essays
- For the Strength of Youth
- General Conference Talks
- Leaders
- Prayer
I have to say that prayer is my personal favorite tool to use.
A few years ago I woke up one morning to the news that there had been a change in Church policy.
While such changes usually make sense to me instantly, this one didn’t.
It left me feeling a bit unsettled and I didn’t like that feeling.
I immediately got on my knees and said, “Heavenly Father, if this is right, please help me feel peace until I can understand it.”
I instantly felt a feeling of peace.
That policy change STILL doesn’t make sense. But I can move forward with faith because God has blessed me to have peace until understanding comes.
#3: Go Back to Basics!
I have a friend who was investigating the Church a few years back.
She was an avid reader and would find all sorts of information on the internet that she would bring up during missionary discussions.
Those poor missionaries!
They would try so hard to answer her questions but they were just too detailed.
I would try to come to these discussions prepared with answers but it left me frantic and usually underprepared.
One day though, I realized I was going about things the wrong way.
When my friend asked questions about church policies or where her tithing would be going, her questions weren’t REALLY about those things.
Her questions were about if there was really a prophet who guided the Church and could create policies that met with God’s approval.
Her question was about if she could trust the leaders of the Church to do what God wanted with her money- basically she needed to know that the Church was true and its’ leaders called by God.
And the same just might be true for you.
Could you go back to basics with your own questions?
What is the root issue that your question is about?
Do you need to figure out for yourself that Joseph Smith really was a prophet, so that whatever historical information is bothering you won’t really matter anyore.
Or do you need a testimony that the current prophet is really God’s mouthpiece so that when a policy doesn’t match with your personal views, you can still feel peace?
Consider if you could go back to basics to get your answers!
Warning: Hold Onto the Trunk
Some teenagers were walking through a state park in South Carolina when a tornado suddenly started sweeping through it.
This was not tornado season and they were unprepared for this situation.
They tried to run to their car but couldn’t get there as trees started falling around them.
And so, three of these friends linked arms with each other and wrapped themselves around the trunk of a large tree.
They held on for dear life as the tornado passed and, ultimately, they were completely safe.
As you look for answers to questions you might want to ask your friends for help.
The best thing that you AND your friends can do is to link arms and wrap yourselves around the trunk of your testimonies.
The trunk of your testimony would be the basics of any testimony that will keep you safe in spiritual whirlwinds. This trunk testimony would include things such as:
- God is my Heavenly Father
- Jesus Christ is real
- The Holy Ghost can let me know truth
- The Book of Mormon is true
- Joseph Smith was a prophet
If you hold onto the trunk, then those little questions about something that happened in the 1800’s… or something that was said over the pulpit in the 1920’s… in other words, those things that are just a small “twig” or “branch” on the tree… won’t be as distracting and won’t be able to distance you from the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Hold onto the tree, friends so you’ll be ready for the storms that come!
