Elder Clark G. Gilbert. Courtesy of Intellectual Reserve, Inc.

Abstract: This message focuses on President Russell M. Nelson’s invitation to “take charge of your testimony,” given in a worldwide devotional to young adults. It is meant to be a resource to religious educators to help their students deepen faith. Elder Gilbert shares his own personal faith journey as an example of what it means to work for, own, nurture, and take care of a testimony. Religious educators are given five suggestions to help students take charge of their testimonies: (1) exercise agency, (2) be a light to others, (3) ask questions in faith, (4) look to truth-filled sources, and (5) rely on the Spirit.

Keywords: prophets, teaching the gospel, testimony

Welcome to this historic gathering of religious educators in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For years, we have gathered all Church Educational System (CES) religious educators once a year for a focused devotional previously referred to as an “Evening with a General Authority.” Tonight, we will continue that tradition as we gather to hear from Elder Dale G. Renlund at our concluding event.

We have also historically hosted the in-person CES Conference at Brigham Young University (BYU). But this year’s event represents the first time we have assembled across the entire Church Educational System to learn from each other, share insights, and discuss efforts to teach more effectively, linking religious educators from Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, BYU, BYU–Idaho, BYU–Hawaii, Ensign College, and BYU–Pathway Worldwide. In total, these religious educators teach roughly half a million young adults across CES.

To understand why we would make such an effort is tied to the very purpose of religious education in CES. I have spoken frequently about the distinctive roles each CES school plays in the system.[1] For example, I have referred to BYU as the “ambassador” because of its responsibility to represent the system (and the Church) as a convener, host, and scholar. Next, consider BYU–Idaho, who I refer to as the “educator,” because its singular focus is on teaching. BYU–Hawaii is our “Asia-Pacific capstone,” with its decided emphasis on its target area of the Church. Ensign College is the “applied curriculum provider” with its focus on entry level job skills. BYU–Pathway is the “access provider,” reaching more students than any of our campuses through affordable, high-quality online learning. Of course, Seminaries and Institutes reaches students who don’t attend Church universities and is the “spiritual anchor” for young adults no matter where they receive their education.

Despite these different roles, there are at least two ways each of these institutions are unified. The first is the mission of the Church Educational System, which is to develop disciples of Jesus Christ who can be leaders in their homes, the Church, and their communities. Regardless of your distinctive institutional roles, each CES institution has a shared mission around disciple leadership. More specifically to this audience, we have an additional shared responsibility across CES as religious educators. In June 2019 the Church Board of Education approved a core document outlining the role of religious education in the Church Educational System, often referred to as the “Strengthening Religious Education” (SRE) document. This charge comes with the clarity and direction from the Church Board of Education. The opening paragraph of the document reads: “Religious education holds a unique and cherished place in the mission of each institution. . . . It stands at the very center of each institution’s purpose.”[2]

Figure 1. Distinctive roles across CES institutions

The SRE guidelines further clarify the central objective of religious education: “The purpose of religious education is to teach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ from the scriptures and modern prophets in a way that helps each student

• Develop faith in and testimony of [Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the restored gospel],
• Become lifelong disciples . . . ,
• Strengthen their ability to find answers, resolve doubts, [and] respond with faith.”[3]

That is the core purpose of religious education across the Church Educational System. If we don’t do this with deliberate focus, it becomes hard to justify the significant investment we make across these institutions. So part of the reason we are gathered today is that we share a common CES mission and a common charge as religious educators to develop testimony and to help students become disciples and find answers to their questions in faith.

I would also like to thank Chad Webb for his leadership. Brother Webb leads the Seminaries and Institutes program of the Church, and for the past two years, has chaired the Religious Education Committee with representation from across the Church Educational System. It is in large part to that committee that we are gathered today as CES religious educators.

I should also note the support from of each of the CES presidents: President Reese, President Meredith, President Kauwe, President Kusch, President Ashton, and Brother Webb. These leaders have been charged to be the “chief moral and spiritual officers” of their institutions, a charge that was initiated at President Kauwe’s inauguration and repeated at every CES inauguration since. Thus, it is not by accident that these presidents are joining us today. They are remarkable leaders, and I express my appreciation for their commitment to help kick off this inaugural Religious Educators Conference.

Take Charge of Your Testimony

I would next like to provide some context for my message today. In my annual address to our religious educators over the past two years,[4] I have asked you to focus on what we have identified as prophetic emphases for young adults. We have also tried to emphasize that these topics will certainly change as we continue to receive direction from our prophets and apostles. The hope is not that you memorize these specific messages per se but that all of us learn how to listen to living prophets and help our students apply their messages.[5]

Figure 2. Teaching prophetic emphases. Photo of Russell M. Nelson by Jeffrey D. Allred. Courtesy of the Church News.

In that spirit, I would like to focus on one of the recent prophetic emphases that has been on my heart. President Russell M. Nelson has invited young adults to take charge of their testimonies. Please note that if you want to follow the prophet, pay attention for two things. First, watch when he repeats a message, and second, watch when he pleads with us.

You will see both in President Nelson’s message to “take charge of your testimony,” which was first introduced in his devotional to young adults in May 2022, where he stated: “I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth. Don’t pollute it with the false philosophies of unbelieving men and women and then wonder why your testimony is waning. . . . As you make your testimony your highest priority, watch for miracles to happen in your life.”[6]

Then, later that year, President Nelson gave an almost identical charge to the entire Church in the October 2022 general conference: “To this end, I extend to members of the entire Church the same charge I gave to our young adults last May. I urged them then—and I plead with you now—to take charge of your own testimony of Jesus Christ and His gospel. Work for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth. Don’t pollute it with false philosophies of unbelieving men and women. As you make the continual strengthening of your testimony of Jesus Christ your highest priority, watch for miracles to happen in your life.”[7]

Personal Faith Journey

With President Nelson’s repeated plea that we take charge of our testimonies, I felt to share my own path toward testimony. This will be a personal expression. While I have written this out, my hope is that you will be able to feel like we are sitting together in a less formal setting. Each of us and each of our students has our own path of faith. Today, I will share some of mine.

My journey to testimony started in an unusual setting. I grew up in a largely non–Latter-day Saint community in Scottsdale, Arizona. At a high school track event, I was getting ready for my race when I looked across the track and noticed Brother Butler, my Young Men leader. It was so odd for him to be there. We didn’t have much in common, and I knew he wasn’t a frequenter of track meets. Then, in a moment, the Spirit said, “This Church is true, because there is no way he would be here otherwise. There must be something deeper in his faith that motivated him to come support you.” That was it. The experience didn’t happen while poring over the scriptures or in the middle of a testimony meeting. It simply came from the fruits of someone’s dedicated service. I can remember the feeling clear through to this day.[8]

A year or two later, I found myself with a mission call to the Japan Kobe Mission. I remember the first day in the Missionary Training Center was so exciting—meeting companions, being introduced to instructors, and feeling the strength of gathering from across the world. But the next morning when the alarm went off at 6:00 a.m., I could barely wake up, and a moment of panic came over me. I thought, “How am I going to do this? I don’t know if I can wake up this early every day for the next two years, let alone learn such a difficult language like Japanese.”

Suddenly, the fact that my Young Men leader came to my track meet didn’t feel like it would be enough to sustain me for two years of such demanding service. I needed to know more deeply, and that testimony needed to be grounded in the gospel itself. I began reading the Book of Mormon in earnest. Every morning that alarm went off at 6:00 a.m., and I climbed into my desk at the MTC, reading and studying that book. As I got to the end, I read the Book of Mormon promise in Moroni 10:3–5. I knew that scripture from my time in seminary and kneeled in prayer to ask for confirmation of my faith. But as I inquired of the Lord, nothing initially came to me. I was so disappointed and climbed back into my chair.

Realizing I was just two pages from the end of the book, I decided to at least finish. With three verses to go, I began reading Moroni 10:32: “Yea, come unto Christ and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if you shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ.” As I read that verse a light and a clarity came over me that I could not deny. It was elevating and warm, and it filled my entire being. In that moment I knew that the Book of Mormon is true and that its purpose is to testify that Jesus is the Christ.

I left for Japan with this powerful witness. I continued to have experiences that built my testimony, but nothing so profound as what I had felt that day in the MTC. Then one very rainy night as we were preparing for bed, we heard a knock on our door in our apartment in Kobe. Somewhat startled that someone would come to our home so late at night, I opened the door to see my mission president there in the threshold, standing in the rain under an umbrella. He said, “Gilbert Chōrō [Japanese for Elder], get dressed. We are going to see Elder Matsuo.”

Elder Matsuo’s father was dying of cancer. I immediately assumed what had happened, but as I got into the mission vehicle, President Matsumori turned to me and explained that the missionary’s mother had been killed in an accident.

He then said, “Pray that we will be able to empathize and understand what will comfort this missionary.”

I felt overwhelmed and inadequate. I can still remember the windshield wipers going back and forth as we drove in silence. Suddenly the Spirit brought Alma 7:12 to my heart: “. . . and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people.”

I knew that the Atonement of Jesus Christ allows us to overcome sin. I knew that through Christ we could overcome death. But that night, on the Osaka freeway, I learned that Christ could also comfort us in our struggles—in our suffering—when life isn’t fair. I didn’t know what that young missionary was facing, but through the miracle of the Atonement, there was One who did.

That night, a year into my mission, the Spirit powerfully witnessed to me once again that the Book of Mormon is true, and its purpose is to witness that Jesus is the Christ.

I returned from my mission, met and married Christine in the Salt Lake Temple. We moved to California and eventually to Boston. I continued to have quiet confirmations of my testimony, but again nothing as profound as that morning in the MTC or that night on the Osaka freeway. Then one Sunday, I had another powerful witness of the Spirit in a setting I would not have expected. It was in a section of scripture most people don’t turn to for their testimony. Alma 30 outlines what might be referred to as the doctrine of Korihor, where he denies Christ, tries to absolve men of accountability for choice, and proclaims we are saved only by our own genius. He leans into what we might today call moral relativism. Korihor also aggressively belittles others’ belief as the foolish traditions of their fathers. As the Sunday School instructor walked through the lesson, I began to think that if Joseph had created the Book of Mormon on his own, Korihor was an odd character to have included. Joseph lived in a season of religious fervor where people believed in Jesus Christ. Joseph likely had never met anyone who advocated an anti-Christ doctrine like Korihor (or Nehor or Sherem). But we know the Book of Mormon was written for our day.[9] I recognized these arguments from people I met frequently in the academic culture of Cambridge, Massachusetts. As I sat reflecting on this anomaly in the middle of a Sunday School class, already with a deep testimony of the Book of Mormon, the Spirit boldly reinforced The Book of Mormon is true, and its purpose is to witness that Jesus is the Christ.

These experiences continued throughout my life. There was the time I was praying in the temple over inner-city youth I served in Boston. As I read Mosiah 3:17, the Spirit taught me that the only way out for these young men was through Jesus Christ. There was the time I was studying Alma 36 and the chiasmus that runs the entire chapter centered on Alma’s redemption in Jesus Christ.

Remarkably, every time I have had a witness of the Book of Mormon it has come with a companion witness of Christ. This happened again in the October 2019 women’s session of general conference. President Nelson extended an invitation to read the Book of Mormon, with an added invitation to mark every reference to the Savior.[10] Wanting to support my wife and daughters, I joined in that invitation. I had just received a new copy of the Book of Mormon and marked every reference to the Savior in red. Page after page brought a witness of the Savior. At age forty-eight, already with a deep testimony of the Book of Mormon and of the Savior, the Spirit once again testified to me This book is true, and its purpose is to testify that Jesus is the Christ.

Returning to President Nelson’s message to the young adults of the Church: “I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth. Don’t pollute it with the false philosophies of unbelieving men and women and then wonder why your testimony is waning. . . . As you make your testimony your highest priority, watch for miracles to happen in your life.”[11]

Teach Students to Take Charge of Their Testimonies

Brothers and sisters, as religious educators, we must help our students take charge of their testimonies. I’d like to conclude with five ways to teach students to take charge of their testimonies. Teach them to

1. Exercise agency
2. Be a light to others
3. Ask questions in faith
4. Look to truth-filled sources
5. Rely on the Spirit

Exercise agency

First, we must teach students that testimony building is a deliberate act of agency. C. S. Lewis frequently referenced the statement: “The longest way round is the shortest way home.”[12] It takes work to deepen faith and discipleship. Alma teaches that building a testimony requires our full attention: “But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.”[13]

Be a light to others

The second principle we can teach in helping students take charge of their testimonies is to be a light to others, especially those who struggle. This generation cares deeply about their peers, especially those who face challenges. President Nelson teaches us not to judge others who struggle: “If friends and family should step away from the Church, continue to love them. It is not for you to judge another’s choice any more than you deserve to be criticized for staying faithful. Now, please hear me when I say: Do not be led astray by those whose doubts may be fueled by things you cannot see in their lives.”[14]

Skepticism and doubt may be contagious, but so is faith and hope. President Nelson continues: “Most of all, let your skeptical friends see how much you love the Lord and His gospel. Surprise their doubting hearts with your believing heart! As you take charge of your testimony and cause it to grow, you will become a more potent instrument in the hands of the Lord.”[15]

We should teach our students to be a light to those who struggle. And for those who haven’t yet found their faith, teach them to go to work serving others. Many testimonies come in the act of serving others. My witness in the Boston Massachusetts Temple that Christ was the answer for my youth came because I was doing everything I knew to help them. Teach our students to be a light, and their testimonies will grow.

Ask questions in faith

We, of course, teach that it is OK to have questions. President Nelson explained, “If you have questions—and I hope you do—seek answers with the fervent desire to believe.”[16] But as President Jeffrey R. Holland has pointed out: “Sometimes we act as if an honest declaration of doubt is a higher manifestation of moral courage than is an honest declaration of faith. It is not!”[17] When the father of the afflicted child pled with the Savior, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief,”[18] he was starting from a position of belief. I learned this as a teenager when I brought a faith dilemma to my father. He responded: “Clark, in my life I have had two piles of questions—one pile of things I know and one that seems hard to understand. Over time, I have found the pile of things I know to continue to grow, while the pile of things I don’t know continues to recede. If you move forward in faith, I promise you this will happen.” Perhaps this is what Elder Larry Corbridge was referring to when he counseled BYU students to focus on primary questions and let secondary questions resolve in time.[19]

Look to truth-filled sources

President Nelson repeatedly reminds us that in building testimony we should look to truth-filled sources: “Feed [your testimony] truth. Don’t pollute it with the false philosophies of unbelieving men and women and then wonder why your testimony is waning.”[20] Some young adults feel that the only way to have a robust faith is to turn to our critics. In such circumstances, we should help our students look at the integrity of intent. Korihor, Nehor, and Sherem were not trying to edify their followers but to validate their own wrong choices and personal agendas. Teach your students that “some sources may even be calculated to cause distrust, fear, and doubt.”[21] Help them look to living prophets, to scriptures, and to trusted Church leaders.

Rely on the Spirit

One of the most important truth-filled sources we can turn to is the Holy Ghost. Teach students to understand how they feel when the Holy Ghost is present and to recognize its dissipation when truth is mispresented. I had a formative experience on this topic in a recent BYU–Hawaii question-and-answer setting with President Henry B. Eyring and President John S. K. Kauwe. A student asked us where they would need the Holy Ghost in their lives, quoting President Nelson’s statement: “[I]n coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”[22] President Eyring asked me to respond. This was a question I had answered hundreds of times as the president of BYU–Idaho. I responded that students would need the Spirit as they made decisions about what to study, who to date, where to live, what job to take, and so many other decisions ahead of them. President Eyring then asked the student to re-read President Nelson’s statement.

This time he asked him to pause on the word survive. President Eyring clarified that the prophet had used the word survive deliberately. He explained to the students that they were living in a time where the adversary was so effective in perverting truth that if they didn’t have the Holy Ghost, they would be deceived about the most fundamental truths. In his talk “Think Celestial,” President Nelson declares: “There is no end to the adversary’s deceptions. Please be prepared. Never take counsel from those who do not believe. Seek guidance from voices you can trust—from prophets, seers, and revelators and from the whisperings of the Holy Ghost.”[23]

Conclusion

Brothers and sisters, let us teach our students to take charge of their testimonies. Teach them to “work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow.”[24] To this end, let us teach them to exercise agency, be a light to others, ask questions in faith, look to truth-filled sources, and to rely on the Spirit. The “Strengthening Religious Education” directive gives us the charge to do this with conviction. Your efforts are working: young adults are coming to institute at record levels. Young adults are attending Church schools at record levels. They are striving to take charge of their testimonies and grow closer to Jesus Christ.

I have a testimony of our Savior. I know the Book of Mormon is true and that its purpose is to testify that Jesus is the Christ. Let us invite our students to find those same truths, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Notes

[1] Rachel Sterzer Gibson, “Elder Gilbert Explains Why the Church Educational System Must Have the Courage to Be Different,” Church News, August 17, 2022.

[2] “Strengthening Religious Education in Institutions of Higher Education, Church Board of Education,” June 12, 2019.

[3] “Strengthening Religious Education.”

[4] Clark G. Gilbert, “A Prophet in the Land: Current Prophetic Emphases to Young Adults,” Seminaries and Institutes annual broadcast, January 27, 2023; and Clark G. Gilbert, “Speak, Lord; for Thy Servant Heareth,” Seminaries and Institutes annual broadcast, January 26, 2024, www.churchofjesuschrist.org.

[5] Camey L. Andersen, “A Pattern in All Thing That Ye May Not Be Deceived,” Religious Educator 25, no. 1 (2024): 19–37.

[6] Russell M. Nelson, “Choices for Eternity,” worldwide devotional for young adults with President Nelson, May 15, 2022, www.churchofjesuschrist.org.

[7] Russell M. Nelson, “Overcome the World and Find Rest,” Liahona, November 2022, 97.

[8] Morgan Pearson, “The Boston Boys: How a Call to Serve Inner-City Youth Changed a Group of Graduate Students Forever,” LDS Living, May 7, 2021.

[9] Ezra Taft Benson, “The Book of Mormon—Keystone of Our Religion,” Ensign, November 1986, 6.

[10] Russell M. Nelson, “Sisters’ Participation in the Gathering of Israel,” Liahona, November 2018, 69–70.

[11] Nelson, “Choices for Eternity.”

[12] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Collins, 2012), and William Collings, quoting Alexander Maclaren, “The Wearied Christ and Other Sermons.”

[13] Alma 32:27; emphasis added.

[14] Nelson, “Choices for Eternity.”

[15] Nelson, “Choices for Eternity.”

[16] Nelson, “Choices for Eternity.”

[17] Jeffrey R. Holland, “Lord I Believe,” Liahona, May 2013, 94.

[18] Mark 9:24.

[19] Lawrence E. Corbridge, “Stand Forever,” Brigham Young University devotional, January 22, 2019, https://speeches.byu.edu; see also Gilbert, “A Prophet in the Land.”

[20] Nelson, “Choices for Eternity.”

[21] “1 Nephi 6–10: Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge, Part 3,” Book of Mormon Seminary Student Manual (2024), www.churchofjesuschrist.org.

[22] Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” Liahona, May 2018, 96.

[23] Russell M. Nelson, “Think Celestial,” Liahona, November 2023, 119.

[24] Nelson, “Choices for Eternity.”