Hi, everybody, I'm Abby.
And I'm Spencer, and we'd like to welcome you
to the Face to Face event with our guests,
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
and his wonderful wife, Susan.
Thanks so much for joining us today.
It's really a privilege to have you.
Thank you.
Thanks.
We have youth all over the world participating in this event.
Whether you're with your family, your friends, or your youth
group, we welcome you.
It's a wonderful opportunity.
In fact, we have an early-morning seminary class
from the Philippines, where it's currently 8:00 in the morning.
Hi, guys.
Hi.
We've seen your tweets, and we're
so excited to have you guys here with us.
We also have a youth group joining us from Guatemala.
Hola.
Remember, everyone, that this is a two-way conversation,
so you guys can submit your own questions to #ldsface2face
(that's the number 2), or you guys can go onto the website
lds.org/youth.
Once the event is over, you can rewatch it
on the youth activity site.
We're going to start with an opening
prayer from a young woman in the Philippines.
Her name is Kiesa.
Our dear Heavenly Father, we are blessed
to have gathered here today with our beloved Apostle Elder David
A. Bednar and his wife, Sister Bednar.
We feel Thy love through him and other leaders of our Church.
We are grateful for Thy loving guidance and protection
as we go out and meet the challenges of our time.
We thank Thee for our dear parents, who are always there
for us.
We also thank Thee for our Savior
and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and His atoning sacrifice.
This time we ask Thee to bless us through the Spirit
that we may understand and put into our hearts
the counsels and inspirations we are going to hear today.
We love Thee, Father and this we humbly
pray in the name of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, amen.
Thank you very much.
So unfortunately, there's no way for us to answer
all of your questions tonight.
But what me and Spencer have learned through this
is that it's not just about Brother and Sister Bednar
answering our questions, but it's also
about us finding our own answers through the Spirit.
Brother Bednar, do you have anything else
to share about this?
Just what a thrill it is to participate
in this truly historic event.
I'm quite sure this is the largest
Mutual activity in the history of the restored Church.
The other thing is, it's a combination
of what was just expressed in the prayer
and what you just said.
Susan and I hope tonight that all
of the young people participating
will hear much more than is said.
Sister Bednar and I are not able to answer the questions.
We don't have the capacity to answer
some of the really challenging questions that people have.
We're not smart enough, don't have enough experience.
But as together we interact, seeking
for the companionship of the Holy Ghost,
then people will receive thoughts and feelings.
They will receive impressions and inspiration
by the power of the Holy Ghost, and they
will hear things that are not said,
by the power of the Holy Ghost.
That's what we hope really happens here tonight.
Anything you want to add?
No.
I know that if you've checked online,
there were a lot of questions before the event even started,
and many, many, many have been pouring in this morning
and through the day.
So just know that you can get an answer to your question
if you're prayerful and you have a prayer in your heart.
And even though your question might not be asked,
I bet you'll still get an answer to your question.
Thank you.
At the end of the event, we are going
to have a closing prayer by Nathan of Utah.
Are you ready?
Let's start with our first question.
So this one has been asked a lot so far.
This one comes from David, from the United States.
He says, "Sometimes at school, all I
seem to hear is profanity, vulgarity, and faithlessness.
Many of other students and teachers
go out of their way to point out that there is no God,
and I am only in eighth grade.
How do I stand up for my beliefs,
and how do I avoid becoming discouraged
based on the direction this world seems to be going?"
Well, I'm personally excited to answer a question
from a young man named David.
[LAUGHTER]
And though he's in the eighth grade, what he's experiencing
is not new.
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area quite some time ago.
It would be ancient history for all of you.
But it was at a time when there was
great upheaval in that part of California,
and it spread to many other places
throughout North America and the world.
And in the school that I attended,
there were only just a few Latter-day Saints,
so I think I've lived that experience of having
the opposition from teachers and all kinds of other people.
I would invite David, this young man,
to study carefully the story about Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament.
They were not willing to worship the god of Nebuchadnezzar.
They weren't going to pray to this image.
Nebuchadnezzar was very angry, and so he
had them cast into the fires.
If you'll read that, it's intriguing to me that
their flesh was not burned--and this is the part I find most
remarkable--and the smell of the smoke did not come upon them.
In other words, the stink of the smoke didn't linger on them.
Now, if you've ever been to a campfire
or you've been around a fire, it's
hard not to have the stink of the smoke stick on you.
And if David will prayerfully read that story--what was it
about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that enabled them
to be saved and preserved?
But more importantly, perhaps, how did the stink of the smoke,
how did the influence of all that opposition not
come upon them?
Now, obviously, it was his faith in God.
But there are some other things in that episode
that that David can go read about
and learn from it for himself by the power of the Holy Ghost.
What was it that brought about that protecting power?
And then if David will look for some other similar kinds
of episodes in the scriptures, who else seemed to be alone
and had to face that type of opposition?
If I just sit here and say, "Well, David you
should do these four things," that
won't help the David who asked this question.
But if he'll take that little bit of direction
that I just tried to provide, and he'll
go into the scriptures looking for similar kinds of episodes,
as he does so, the Holy Ghost will teach and tutor him
in a very individual way about his circumstances,
where he lives, what he needs to do to make sure
that the stink of the smoke of the opposition
doesn't stick on him.
Thank you.
What would you add?
Well, I was just thinking that these problems have
been around ever since the Old Testament,
since the beginning of time.
So we don't live in a time that's really unique.
Maybe there are different challenges,
but we just need to know that we can liken
the scriptures to ourselves.
We can bring them alive as we do that.
And it's just a wonderful way to learn about other people
and how they, in God's way, did what they needed
to do at the time they lived.
And then I was thinking, too, we had an opportunity
many years ago to be with a group of students
here in Salt Lake City and meet with President Hinckley.
And one of the students asked, "What would you
teach us that we could take back to the students at BYU-Idaho?"
And President Hinckley made a remarkable comment
that I've never forgotten, that I
think is so helpful for us that live in this day,
in this time, where we do have challenges and temptations.
And he said, "Have faith: faith in the Lord, faith in yourself,
and faith in the future."
That just makes me hopeful that even though times are tough
and the world is full of moral pollution--just like our earth
has pollution--that we can do well,
that we can survive with faith.
That's wonderful.
Thank you.
OK.
This next question is a great one.
I really like this one.
Is it yours?
No.
[LAUGHTER]
So a lot of people are wondering how you guys met
and what made you guys fall in love with each other.
I'll defer to Sister Bednar.
[LAUGHTER]
That's because I'll tell it the right way.
[LAUGHTER]
We were students at BYU and met as students.
In fact, it was interesting that we met in a family home evening
activity.
We were divided up into groups in our ward
at Brigham Young University, and we had a home evening activity,
and that's where I met him.
So it was a wonderful beginning, but we didn't just
fall in love at first sight.
And many people think that's how it's
done, that you just look at someone
and you know that they're the right one,
that you're going to fall in love and get married.
But it took some time.
So I encourage youth to not just go
on a date with someone one time and say, "Well,
that person's not for me."
And I think Elder Bednar and I would both agree
that people don't fall in love, but you pick someone
with whom you can create the love that you desire.
So we've spent 40 years of being married and creating that love.
And I can honestly say that we're more in love today
than we were 40 years ago.
Now, 40 years to you sounds like a long, long time, and it is.
But it is just wonderful.
We celebrated, just about six weeks ago,
our 40th wedding anniversary.
And it's been a wonderful 40 years
of learning and growing and becoming
complementary to each other and letting our differences
work together, because men and women are
different in many, many ways.
But it's been wonderful as we've tried
to let those unique characteristics
that each one of us has build a wonderful and lasting
relationship that will endure not only time but eternity.
The word love is both a verb and a noun.
And I think sometimes we think, "Well, I
have to have the feeling, the noun, before I
start doing love, the verb."
It works both ways.
I don't want this to sound unromantic,
but the feeling follows love, the verb.
And so we find young people all over the world
who think, "Well, I have to find the one and true and only."
And more correctly, you have to become
the one and true and only through what you do
and what you become.
So when she said, "You don't just fall in love,"
that doesn't just happen.
You don't just sit around and wait for that to occur.
You engage in love, the verb.
And then love, the noun, the emotion and the feeling,
is just remarkable.
So I think you create it; you don't find it.
That's great.
Thank you.
Our next question is coming from Guatemala,
so we'll tune in to them.
Hi, everyone!
[SPANISH]
Hola, como esta?
Are you ready to ask your question?
Si, estamos listos.
We're going to have Vanessa--
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Oh, sorry.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Very good.
We're going to have Vanessa from the audience come
and translate for us.
Could you repeat the question?
Will you guys repeat the question?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
They want to know how they can make missionary work a better
part of their lives, a bigger part of their lives,
and more active in their lives.
Excelente pregunta.
[LAUGHTER]
Do you want to begin?
Or did you want me to?
[INAUDIBLE]
OK.
My answer will be influenced by my experience growing up
as a boy in California, where there were not many Latter-day
Saints in my school.
If we live the gospel, then we are
strange in a very positive way.
The scriptures call us "a peculiar people."
Well, if you live the gospel, then there
are many things that you will do and not do,
that your associates and friends do,
and they'll think you're strange.
And frankly, they will often ask you, "Why are you strange?
Why do you do the weird things that you do?"
And that provides a remarkable opportunity
to explain very basic reasons why
we do the things that we do.
I participated in lots of athletics
when I was in high school, and the friends
that I had did things on the weekends
that a Latter-day Saint boy will not do.
And they used to mock me and make fun of me,
and they would call me names.
Now, Sister Bednar gets upset if I ever use this word,
but one of the things that they would say to me
is that I was stupid, estupido, for not
doing the things that they did.
But they would go and they would drink and get drunk.
They would do drugs.
They would be immoral and do things
to violate the law of chastity.
And they would accuse me of being estupido
because I wouldn't do those things.
And I frankly said to them, "I think
you're estupido because you get sick doing those things.
You do things with people you don't know,
that you can't remember, and you think I'm stupid?"
So if you just live the gospel, you
don't have to call people estupido,
but they're going to ask you why you are like that
and why you do the things that you do.
You don't have to try to push the gospel onto people.
Just live it.
And as you live it, many people will be curious.
They will ask, and that provides an opportunity for you
to assist them in learning about why you are the way that you
are: that you know that there's a God in heaven,
He has a plan, you're a son or a daughter of our Heavenly
Father, and that living according to His plan
is what brings real joy and lasting happiness,
not temporary things in the world.
So live the gospel.
You will be strange.
People will ask you.
That's an opportunity to respond to their questions.
I just wanted to mention something.
We lived in an area of the world where
there were very few members of the Church, and so as a family
and as a ward, as a stake, we prayed every day
for missionary opportunities.
We prayed that we would have a missionary opportunity,
that we would have eyes to see it when it came,
and that we would have the faith to open our mouth
and declare the good news.
So to me, that's something that you can do every day,
is pray in faith for a missionary opportunity
and then have the courage to act on it.
Another thing that our sons found really enjoyable to do
was to give away a For the Strength of Youth booklet.
And it was amazing that when they were with their friends,
their friends were always looking through their wallets
and looking at pictures that they might have
in their wallets, but they'd always
find this little wallet-sized pamphlet.
I don't know if they even have it anymore, For the Strength
of Youth.
Do you have wallet-sized--
[INAUDIBLE]
And their friends were intrigued,
as they read those standards in an abbreviated form, at what
our sons were asked to live as members of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints.
And that became a wonderful, wonderful missionary tool
and a great missionary opportunity.
So don't ever be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
and have the courage to open your mouth.
That was a great question.
Great question.
Thank you, everyone.
I love your smile, by the way.
Elder Bednar, you mentioned that as we live the gospel,
that it becomes easier to share our gospel, right?
Well, a lot of youth, as we try to live the gospel,
we're worried about if it's OK to do something.
For example, is it OK to watch a movie with violence in it?
Can I steady date?
Can I kiss while a teenager?
Can I do certain things on Sunday?
What advice do you have for these types of questions?
May I ask you one question before I respond to that one?
Yes.
How do you think we're doing in responding to the questions?
Are we missing the mark?
Do you think we're hitting it?
Are we just old people talking about old people stuff?
[LAUGHTER]
Or do you think this is somewhat connecting with the people who
are asking the questions?
What do you think?
I think it is.
I think you're just being nice to us.
Oh, no, it's honest.
For the folks who are asking these questions,
I hope they'll choose not to be offended by my answer.
And that is, they need to elevate the questions.
They don't want somebody to tell them,
"You can or can't do this on Sunday.
You should or should not go to this movie."
They should be able to figure that out for themselves.
Number one--and I don't want that to be harsh--but
the greatest compliment that Sister Bednar and I can give
you is to talk straight about things that really matter.
Why would you expect somebody else
to tell you whether you should or should not do those things?
Number one, if these are baptized members
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
then they have, by priesthood authority,
been blessed to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
That's like a Liahona to help point the way.
Well, just stop and think about it; be prayerful about it.
You'll come to know for yourself whether you
ought to go see a movie that has extreme violence in it.
Elder Nelson gave a great example
in the last general conference of how
a principle can answer all kinds of application questions
like that.
Every question about the Sabbath,
what you should or should not do,
is answered by one simple thing: the Sabbath day
is a sign of a covenant between God and His children.
So what signal, what sign, do you and I want
to send to God about that covenant on the Sabbath day?
If you just consider that question, "Well, should
I or should I not do this on the Sabbath?" the question is,
"What signal do I want to send to God?"
I think it's pretty easy.
If you get lined up on a correct principle,
figuring out all of the different applications
is not that hard.
And you don't need somebody else to tell you whether you
should or should not.
Help me know, is that too harsh?
Did that respond?
You OK?
I think the youth need that.
I really do.
Yeah, definitely.
So, going along those lines, there's
youth of the Church wondering how
they can control their thoughts better of doing certain things.
Do you have any advice for them?
Well, I think of that scripture, that "as [a man] thinketh ... ,
so is he."
So our thoughts are extremely, extremely important.
And it takes some help from the Holy Ghost.
It takes prayer.
It takes many, many things to make sure
that your thoughts are congruent with what you believe.
And it's easy for a bad thought to come once in a while.
But I just think that--there's another scripture that says,
"Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not."
And if we're trying to remember the Savior--we're remembering
our baptismal covenants and trying to remember Him--then
our thoughts will be clean and pure.
And if they're not, then just--we need to pray for help
that they can become more clean and more pure.
Elder Bednar has an analogy that I've
heard him give before that I think might
be really helpful for this.
Well, number one, before I get to the analogy--in the world
in which we live, you don't have to seek out things that cause
bad thoughts.
Sometimes they're almost thrust upon us.
And a young person, any person, could think, "Oh, my goodness,
I've done a terrible thing.
I've had a bad thought."
It's only a sin--if you didn't seek it out,
if you didn't invite it--it's only a sin if once you've seen
if, you let it stay.
You have to work to cast it out.
So I would make a differentiation
between anxiously seeking for things that are bad,
that cause bad thoughts, and just seeing something
on a billboard, on a TV commercial,
that you didn't want to see, but all of a sudden you
saw that image.
Well, cast it out.
So imagine that you have a container.
The container has an opening on each end
the size of one grain of sand.
And in that container--it's filled with dirty, dark sand.
What do you do to clean it up?
You pop in one white grain of sand
in this end of this container, and a dark one
pops out this end.
Has the container changed with just one grain of sand?
Yes, but not very much.
That's how you work to push it out and cast out
those evil thoughts that may come even if you weren't trying
to seek them.
Well, what is it that pushes the good grain of sand
in and pops a bad one out?
Well, it may be a scripture that you've
learned that morning or a hymn that you love.
Sometimes people will say, "Brother Bednar, you never
look at the hymnbook."
That's because I've tried to learn the lyrics to most
of the hymns in the hymnbook, because I learned
as a really young person, if you always
use the same scripture or the same hymn
every time you have a bad thought, ultimately
that scripture or that hymn can cause
you to lead to a bad thought.
So I had to have a bunch of them.
There's a good reason to learn lots of different scriptures
and commit them to memory, and hymns and lots
of other edifying, uplifting material
that we can put into our head and into our heart.
And when one of those things pops up
that you're not inviting, you can very quickly
push it out and replace it with something
that is bright and light and white and righteous.
So if you've accumulated a lot of those bad thoughts
in your head, they come back and they haunt you,
and they come back at the worst possible time.
If you will be patient over time and keep
putting in white grains of sand, every time you do,
you're popping out one of those dark ones.
It won't happen fast, but ultimately you
change the entire content of the container,
and it can be filled with pure white sand.
That's a great analogy.
Is that what you were hoping for?
Anything you want to correct?
No, but I think that's a good analogy.
We've talked about this before, and you think of sand,
"Well, it's just a tiny little grain."
But we have many thoughts.
Every single day, our whole day is filled with thoughts.
And I think, too, if you're having thoughts
that aren't what you want, then get up and move and change
your activity and do something else.
So that helps me.
And then Elder Bednar always asks
me, "What are you humming?" because I just kind of hum.
And I'll tell him what it is.
It's usually a Church song or a Primary song.
And if you have those lyrics to different songs that you've
learned at church and in Primary going through your mind
all the time, then you're thinking
about good things, things that are good and worthy
and will help you with what you need to do when
trying to master your thoughts.
And then ask the Lord to help you.
He's the best person in all of this.
He'll help you.
Awesome.
Thank you very much.
That's great.
Our next question is directed towards Sister Bednar.
This is from Paula from Mexico.
She asks, "Low self-esteem is a constant problem for me.
People say I'm intelligent, spiritual, obedient, and funny,
but being beautiful and cute isn't one of those things.
How can I deal with this?
How can I stop caring about what others see or think about me?
Why is it so hard for us to accept the way we look
or the way we talk?"
Well, first of all, I would say that maybe this young woman's
being too hard on herself.
I like to think of not the word self-esteem,
but the word from the Young Women values, individual worth.
And before that comes divine nature.
If you understand who you are as a daughter of God,
then you know that you are of worth to Him,
that you do have individual worth.
And I would capitalize on the things
that you know that you're good at.
And I was also thinking, when you
read that question, my mother used to tell me,
"Beauty is as beauty does."
Our actions reflect our beauty more than physical appearance.
I just look at young people, and if I
can see the light of the gospel in their eyes,
they're beautiful to me.
And I think this young woman is beautiful.
She just doesn't recognize it.
And I hope that she will pray to know even more
inside of her mind and her heart that she truly
is a daughter of God and that she does have a divine nature
and that she will use that divine nature
to bless other people and not be bothered if people don't say,
"Well, you're beautiful," or those kind of compliments,
because that's not what really matters.
The thing that really matters is the compliment
"You are a daughter of God, and you have worth to others
and to your Heavenly Father."
That's what really matters.
This was directed to Sister Bednar.
Can I add just a line?
Definitely.
He'll make the answer even better.
No, I won't.
I'm not trying to add on what you said.
I think, in our contemporary world,
beauty is equated with physical attractiveness.
And that is a very limited and shallow definition,
because young people grow up and turn
into wrinkly people like us.
So there are people who would say that Sister Bednar is
a nice-looking elderly woman.
Now, given our life together--
Are you an elderly man?
[LAUGHTER]
Yeah, of course I am.
OK.
There is a beauty in Sister Bednar's countenance
that's not physical: in her eyes,
in the light in her countenance.
Sister Bednar was gorgeous as a young woman.
Now, that beauty is not in her physical attractiveness.
She is very physically attractive.
She's beautiful, but it's not restricted to just
physical attractiveness.
I've often said about Sister Bednar,
"We have things in the Church that we talk about that
are rather abstract."
So we talk about faith as a principle,
but what does faith look like?
What is it?
Well, one of the Young Women's virtues is virtue.
If you want to know what virtue looks like,
it's sitting right here, and that's beauty.
So at her age, there's not another woman on this planet
that I think is as beautiful as Sister
Bednar, because of what's in her, not what's on the outside.
That was beautifully said.
One thing that I think we can all do
is, every day we can pray, in our morning prayers, "Heavenly
Father, help others to see the light of the gospel
in my countenance, in my eyes, in my face, in the way I treat
other people, in my smile."
And I have not met a person, in all the traveling
that we've done, that does not have a great smile.
Everyone has a beautiful smile and beautiful eyes,
and you can shine the light of the gospel through your face.
Thank you.
We just have a follow-up question from Josh on Facebook,
and he asks, "Oftentimes youth have questions and struggle
with lack of self-esteem, but I have a hard time with quite
the opposite--pride.
How can I drive my feelings of pride
away, especially when I often receive high praises
from my peers?"
Great question.
Well, if you enjoy that too much,
then it's probably a little bit over the top.
But this must be a person that does a lot of things
well, just like this young woman that we answered her question.
She does a lot of things well.
But when you let it control you, and you miss opportunities
to grow in other ways and to serve and to expand yourself
and to get outside of your comfort zone of things
you do well, then you're not allowing yourself
the kind of growth that you need to grow and mature and become
what you want to and need to become.
I don't know if that made sense, what I'm trying to say, or not.
This was a young man?
Is that right?
Yes.
I have an invitation for him.
If he'll read in the Pearl of Great Price,
Moses has an experience, and following that experience,
he says, ""[And now] I know that man is nothing,
which thing I never [before] had supposed."
I think that's a pretty good example of humility.
Question: What happened to Moses?
Now, this young man, if he'll go dig that out and find it--if
he's asking, seeking, knocking, acting,
in the very pattern of searching for that answer--the Holy Ghost
will tutor him about what it means to be humble.
Second example: Nephi says, "O wretched man that I am!"
And he laments--now, Nephi's about as good as anybody can
be, but he's lamenting his own limitation and weakness.
What was going on with Nephi when that happened?
Now, those are two examples for this young man.
You have to read the entire episode
to understand how Nephi came to the point
where he said, "O wretched man that I am!"
I would invite this young man to study those two episodes
and then find others where people go
from being prideful to humble.
And if he's willing to do that, if he's
willing to dig to find those stories and the lessons
that we can glean from them, then, as a servant of the Lord,
I can promise that specific young man
that the Holy Ghost will help him individually,
in ways he can't imagine, to learn how to overcome pride.
Our next question comes from Parth from India.
He's a foreign exchange student.
Hi, good evening.
So, like she said, I'm an exchange student from India,
and I'm Hindu.
So I would like to know about your experiences
being an Apostle.
Great question.
Thank you very much.
I may take more than just a minute or two on this one.
Go for it.
I think people who view members of the Quorum of the Twelve
and the First Presidency think that our primary responsibility
is to give talks in general conference,
participate in temple dedications,
a wide variety of very large public events--and
that's accurate; we do all those things.
But the very first weekend after I
was called to the Quorum of the Twelve,
I had an experience that I think most appropriately
answers your question.
I had a stake conference.
I went to a particular part of the United States,
and the stake president picked me up at the airport.
We were driving to the building where
we were going to have our meetings, and along the way,
he asked me if I would be willing to visit
with his brother.
His brother had been baptized into the Church
but struggled living the Word of Wisdom.
So he asked if I would meet with his brother,
and I said, "I'd be glad to."
That evening, this man was waiting for me
in one of the rooms in the building, and I walked in.
I had no idea what I was going to say, but I went over to him
and I said, "I'm a servant of the Lord,
and He sent me to this stake this weekend to deliver
to you a very simple message.
You can do this.
He knows you can do this, and as His servant,
I promise you will have His help as you face this challenge."
And then I gave him a hug, and I simply
asked him to stay in touch with me, to let
me know how he was doing.
Now, what I learned that first weekend
is that I had an assignment to go participate in lots
of meetings and preside at a general session of a stake
conference, but that isn't why I went.
The Lord had me go on that assignment
to be with that one man, to deliver that message,
in the authority of the holy apostleship.
Now, I didn't know then how typical
that would be of the work of a member
of the Quorum of the Twelve.
I won't take the time here, but every time Sister Bednar
and I travel internationally, or any
place we go, I bear that sacred mantle of the holy apostleship,
and that authority doesn't go any place by coincidence.
So would the Lord send one of twelve Apostles
halfway around the world to help just one person?
The answer is yes.
He does it all the time.
That's my experience as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve.
Yes, we do all those big things that everybody sees,
but perhaps, most importantly, it's about ones.
And my experience as an Apostle is
to travel the world, wherever the Lord sends me
on assignment, to find a one.
We just recently came back from an experience where--I
don't always know who the one is.
But it was a little boy, dealing with some
of the very things we're talking about tonight,
living in another part of the world with his family,
where he encounters a lot of opposition from people
at school and everything else.
And for that little boy, he was the one, along with other ones
that we encountered during the course of that trip.
So that's what my experience is, as a member
of the Quorum of the Twelve, on the Lord's errand,
doing His work to bless individuals and families.
Has that responded to your question?
It's a great question.
Thank you very much.
Our next question is going to come from the Philippines.
Hi, I'm Enos, and I'm 16 years old, and this is my question.
How do I develop the attitude of wanting
to learn both in secular and spiritual things?
How does one develop the desire to learn?
Do I understand the question?
Yes.
Great question.
Would you like to begin?
Do you want me to?
What would you like?
Well, let me just say something about learning.
Learning can be fun and enjoyable.
And I hope that all of you young people
will realize that an education is important.
So for those of you who have the opportunity to do so
and will work for that opportunity,
I hope that you would get all the education that you can.
It will bless your life in remarkable ways,
and it will bless your future families.
But you have to have a desire, and you
have to keep working at it.
When I was 16 years old, I don't know
that I knew how to study the scriptures the way
you young people do today.
You're wonderful, and you're so good at it.
I hope that you will continue that spiritual study,
that you'll know that you need everyday nourishment from
a spiritual source, from the scriptures,
from conference talks, from seminary,
whatever it is--that you'll nourish yourself spiritually,
and then that you'll also have a desire to learn secular things.
We learn that it's important to have knowledge of things above
the earth and under the earth--it tells us that
in the scriptures--and of many other things.
So branch out.
Don't be afraid to branch out into your studies--in
your secular studies and also in your spiritual studies--and
then just pray for the desire to have an inquisitive mind.
If you have a question, then go after it.
Seek for knowledge.
Seek for the answer, and you'll get it.
I could talk for hours about this particular question.
I promise I won't do that.
You have received the gift of the Holy Ghost,
and the Holy Ghost is the perfect teacher.
He's the ultimate teacher.
I would even go so far as to say He's
the only teacher, ultimately, that matters.
The gospel is about learning and growing and changing.
Education is about learning and changing.
So the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ is pressing
forward to learn more, to become better--not just
in and of ourselves, but with help from God.
For example, as you pursue whatever
you might study in school, if it's mathematics or history
or whatever topic, the Holy Ghost
can bring all things to your remembrance.
That's the scriptural description of His work.
Well, that works for mathematics.
If you have worked diligently to put principles of mathematics
into your mind, then when you need to take a test or apply
those principles, your membership in the Church--the
gift of the Holy Ghost--can be an assist to you in using those
things for righteousness and in a way that will help you
to continue to grow.
It's intriguing to me that so many people--the natural man
in all of us wants to stay the same. "Don't make me change.
I'm used to this pattern.
I want to keep doing things the way they are."
But what is repenting?
It's changing and improving.
What is education?
It's learning and changing and improving.
So the natural man wants to stay the same.
The man of Christ, the woman of Christ,
is constantly pressing forward, changing, trying to improve.
Learning is the essence of the restored gospel of Jesus
Christ, and we have heavenly help
in that process of learning.
Now, since I can talk with you and you can respond,
is this making any sense?
Is this helping you, or are there parts
of your question that you feel that we've missed?
Yes.
[LAUGHTER]
You answered my question.
May I ask you a question?
Yes.
You don't seem very thrilled that I'm
going to ask you a question.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm just nervous.
Well, that's OK.
So am I.
[LAUGHTER]
Based on what you heard--not what I said,
but what you heard--what does that suggest for you?
What do you learn from that?
I should make more effort in learning.
And as you do so, if you will work diligently,
then you'll have help from heaven,
by the power of the Holy Ghost, to improve your learning.
Yes, yes.
"Seek learning ... by study and also by faith,"
the scriptures teach.
Great question.
Thank you.
Can I just say something, too?
I think one of the greatest places
that you can learn is in the mission field,
as you prepare for a mission and as you go on a mission.
The learning curve is steep, and it's hard.
But the things that you learn as a missionary
bless you for the rest of your life,
and they give you the tools that you
need to be able to learn secular things.
So you learn how to study and do spiritual things,
and then you're blessed to be able to do the secular learning
as well.
And they can go hand in hand.
I've always admired Elder Bednar because he
has a wonderful education.
He went to school for a very, very long time,
but he always looked at what he learned
through the lens of the gospel.
He didn't ever look at the gospel
through the lens of what he learned.
And it's helped keep him on a path of learning,
both secular and spiritual learning, that has blessed him,
has blessed our family, and it's brought opportunities to him
and to us in a remarkable way.
That will come to you if you can learn
how to do secular and spiritual learning.
So hopefully you're going to serve a mission someday.
Good.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
All right.
Our next questions come from Serenity
from Canada and William from French Polynesia.
They have similar questions.
Serenity asked, "How do I tell the difference
between promptings from the Holy Ghost and my own thoughts?"
And William asked, "Can you teach me
how to recognize the Holy Ghost when He speaks to me?"
You start.
I'm going to look--I'm going to turn to the scriptures.
I love a scripture that answers this question for me,
so let me find it quick.
So you want me to go?
Please.
I think we over-complicate this.
I think we over-analyze it.
Moroni teaches that all good emanates from Christ.
So if you have a thought to do something good,
it's prompted by the Holy Ghost.
So for example, if a student goes
to early-morning seminary class, and your mother every day says,
"Be sure to say your prayers,"
and one day you forget to say your prayers, and in your mind
you hear your mother's voice saying,
"Be sure to say your prayers," is that the Holy
Ghost or is that you?
What difference does it make?
Is Moroni going to come to deliver that message?
Or would the Holy Ghost use the memory of your angel mother
to deliver the same message?
So if it invites and entices to do good, it comes from Christ,
and we ought to do it.
Now, I'm sure these folks who ask the question--"Well, OK,
but what if I'm making a decision about,
should I go to this school or should I go to that school?
How do I begin to know the difference?"
You study it out in your own mind.
You don't just sit and wait for heaven to deliver the answer.
You have to learn about the two options.
You do your best to understand and compare them.
And then, ultimately, you make a choice.
And you take that option that you've
selected in prayer to our Heavenly
Father, and you ask in the name of Christ,
"Is this the right one?"
You and I have the responsibility
to study that out.
If it's right, then over time, we'll
come to know, by the simple reassurance of the Holy Ghost,
that yeah, this is the thing to do.
Sometimes you have two good options
and you never feel really strong about one or the other.
There are even some times where Heavenly Father will say,
"You make a judgment here."
If it's wrong, you'll be warned as you
begin to try to apply the decision that you've made.
No member of this Church who's trying
to be a good boy or a good girl will
fail to be warned by the Holy Ghost
if they're heading in a direction that is not right.
But you won't always know that, necessarily,
before you begin pressing forward.
So we have to study it out; we have to act.
And most answers from the Holy Ghost
come a little bit at a time, not all at once.
They come in small packages, not great big bundles.
So we can pray one time and think, "Well, I
didn't get an answer."
Well, you probably got a part of the answer,
but you have to keep pressing forward
to get the other parts of the answer that help you know which
path you need to pursue.
This is a way that I like to think about this.
When we're baptized and we come under covenant,
we make promises that we're willing to take upon ourselves
the name of Christ, that we'll always remember Him,
and that we'll keep His commandments.
And then a glorious promise is given back to us:
that we will always have His Spirit to be with us.
Now, that Spirit can stay with us if we're obedient
and if we're doing the things that we should.
And when we are doing those things,
then I think that we don't always
feel a really big dramatic thing going on when we're
trying to make a decision.
I think that we can just trust that if we're living the way
we should, that the Lord's there,
guiding us and blessing us along the way,
like Elder Bednar said.
And I love the scripture--it's in Moroni chapter 7,
and it says, "Behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth
to do good continually; wherefore,
every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good,
and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God."
I think that answers my question most of the time
about, "Is this the Holy Ghost telling me what to do, or is it
my own feelings telling me what to do?"
If we're being enticed to do good and to love God,
then that's definitely from the Holy Ghost.
I need to add one more scriptural episode.
Sometimes I think in the Church, we
believe that "I have to receive a revelation,
I have to know it's a revelation,
and I'm not going to do anything until that happens."
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is a principle of action
and of power.
We act in accordance with the teachings of Christ;
then His power follows.
So sometimes what we do is pray for the power so we can act,
when the Lord's pattern is to act and do what
He said, and then the power comes.
Nephi has to go to Jerusalem three times
to obtain the plates of brass.
Did he make a mistake the first time?
They drew lots, he goes, they didn't get them.
Was he just--that's him?
Was that the Holy Ghost?
That was an invaluable lesson that they had to learn.
They go the second time. "Let's use our worldly goods, our gold
and silver."
That didn't work out too well.
Third time they go--this is how Nephi describes it--"And I
[went], not knowing beforehand the things which I should do."
He knew what to do: go to Jerusalem, get the plates.
Had he received specific revelation about how to do it?
No.
When did he get the revelation?
When he was going to Jerusalem to get the plates even
though he didn't know how.
Now, again, I don't mean to sound funny here,
but I think there's a reason why that's
at the very beginning of the Book of Mormon.
You read the first part of the Book of Mormon,
and you get to the Isaiah chapters,
and sometimes people will stop.
And then they go back and they start again and again
and again, and we read that episode a bazillion times
in our lives, because I think the Lord wants
us to understand: Many times the revelation doesn't
come until we're pressing forward and going.
It's not when you're just sitting and waiting
for it to come.
"And I [went], not knowing beforehand the things [that] I
should do."
So sometimes the Lord expects us to trust Him and press forward,
to do exactly what Sister Bednar just said.
He'll guide our steps, inspire what we say and do,
and in the moment we won't even know it.
And I think we're blessed a whole lot more than we know
with guidance from the Spirit.
Many times I don't even think we recognize it or know.
It's not something that we recognize as being guided.
I think when we have the opportunity
someday to look back on our life,
we'll say, "Wow, heaven was in charge
and really was blessing me and helping
me to do so much that I didn't even know at the time."
That's very true.
Thank you.
All right.
Ready for our next question?
Sure.
OK.
Are you getting tired?
Nah.
You OK?
I'm good.
All right.
OK.
This question comes from a young man in New Zealand,
just came in.
And he says the following: "I find
it hard to talk to my parents about situations
that I have been in.
I don't want them to be disappointed with me
or angry that I couldn't cope with peer pressure.
What advice do you have?"
This is a question where we have to be
wise in how we answer this.
It would be easy to say, "Well, just talk to your parents,"
but this may be a case where parents possibly
could be abusive, and that's why he's afraid to talk.
So there's a lot that we don't know,
and we don't want to give some generic answer that may not
be appropriate to the specific circumstances
of this young man.
So here's a principle that can help this young man come
to the answer to his question.
The spiritual gift of discernment
is the ability to see not just with natural eyes,
but with spiritual eyes; to hear not just with natural ears,
but with spiritual ears.
This young man needs to learn about the spiritual gift
of discernment so it can operate in his life.
And what discernment ultimately means
is not just recognizing between good and bad,
but discernment is the capacity, the spiritual gift,
to see the good in someone else that that individual perhaps
has not recognized.
And it's also the ability to help them develop it.
Now, if this young man will earnestly seek for the gift
of discernment, then he will come to know when he should
or when he shouldn't talk, what he should and what he
shouldn't say, because he'll be able to see what he cannot
ordinarily see, and he can hear what he cannot ordinarily hear.
There are times when people are silent and they're screaming,
but you can only hear that if you
have the gift of discernment.
So he may have a very sensitive set
of issues he has to work through with his parents,
and he doesn't know how.
He may need to counsel with a priesthood leader or an adviser
who could assist him.
I don't know what's needed in all of those circumstances.
But the Holy Ghost will help him,
with that gift of discernment, know what he otherwise
would not know, see what he otherwise would not see,
hear what he in any other circumstance could not hear.
So that may sound like a vague answer, but the answer he needs
can only come through that spiritual capacity
of discernment.
And those are some steps he can take to begin
to try to seek for that.
And I think underlying a little bit in that question is that
this young man has--feels like he's disappointed his parents,
but he's also disappointed himself.
And I just want this young man and all the youth that
are listening tonight to know that repentance
and turning back to God is so important
and that you can feel that redeeming
love from a loving Savior who wants you to return to Him.
And the worst mistake you could ever
make is to not turn to the Lord and allow
Him to help you work through your problems
and be forgiven of what you've done wrong,
because we all make poor choices and we all make mistakes.
We're not perfect, and we need the Lord to help us change,
as we talked about earlier.
So change is possible.
And getting back on a path where you can be strong
is possible with the help of the Lord.
I love the scripture in the New Testament
where it says, "I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me."
And that strength is real.
We've all felt it when things have been tough
and we didn't think we could do something that
was very difficult. We can do things
in the strength of the Lord.
The strength of the Lord is not just simply determination.
It's not just willpower.
It's not being disciplined and trying really hard,
although those things are important.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ makes possible forgiveness
from sin, but it also strengthens
us to do good and become good.
I'm not sure that we fully recognize, understand,
or appreciate all of that power of the Atonement.
So for this young man who may be fearful of many things
or feeling terribly guilty, he doesn't
have to walk this path alone.
He has the blessing of capacity, strength, and healing
that can come through the Savior's Atonement.
The Savior suffered not only for what we did wrong,
but for the agony that we feel, for the anguish,
for the physical pain, for the disappointments
and the discouragements.
That was all a part of the burden that He bore.
Therefore, He and only He can lift us, reassure us,
and succor us. "Succor us" means to lift--to lift us to do those
things that are really hard.
So coming to understand those blessings
that come through the Savior's Atonement can help a person
do things that we don't think we otherwise could do.
Our next question is coming in from Guatemala,
so we'll turn to them.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
Can you repeat the question?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
She's wondering how they can use technology
to be able to strengthen and help them in their lives.
Well, I think that use of technology
is probably a whole lot easier for you
young people, because you've grown up with it,
than it is for someone like me.
But guess what?
I can text.
[LAUGHTER]
And I can do a few things, but I'm still learning.
I just think that you have a wonderful opportunity
to flood the earth with goodness.
Elder Bednar gave a talk about that.
If you haven't read it, I hope that you will.
It was in August of 2014, and he talked about flooding the earth
with goodness.
There is so much that you can share through technology
with other people.
You can be a missionary.
You can help other people to come unto Christ.
You can bless other people's lives,
and you can use it in a wonderful way.
Just don't let it control you; you control it.
And I think that's the secret with technology.
And let it work for you.
Be prayerful.
You'll find ways that can really help you spread the word
and spread the goodness of the gospel through technology.
These are wonderful tools that the Lord has brought forth
at this time in the history of the earth
so that the gospel can roll forward.
It's a part of hastening the work of salvation.
I think it's very important that all of us
learn that these things can also have very negative impacts.
They can open a door to material that is vile and unworthy.
It's also a way to waste time.
There are purposes that can be fulfilled.
We can gather information; we can learn things
much more rapidly.
We can do family history on a digital device.
You don't have to go to a building.
So there are countless ways that this can bless our life.
And also, we idle away our time when we're bored
or we don't have anything to do, and we just mindlessly do
silly things with technology.
It's disturbing that there are so
many young people who in a sacrament meeting,
and even during the ordinance of the sacrament,
are messing around with their digital devices.
So that is clearly a case where it is out of control
and they are being controlled by the digital device.
How in the world can someone be participating
in the ordinance of the sacrament
and fussing around with a digital device,
doing whatever they're doing, unless it's an emergency?
So we determine whether the device
is put to a good or a bad use.
The technology itself is neither good nor bad;
it's what we choose to make it.
And if we show some discipline, then we
can use that technology in remarkable ways
where our life is blessed and others can be blessed as well.
Great pregunta.
Gracias.
Why don't we do one more?
All right, our very last question.
It's sad.
This question comes from Ashley from the United States.
She asks, "Did you ever have any doubts
about what you know to be true?
And if you did, could you tell me how you got through it
and what you did to erase the doubts?"
Great question.
I would begin by being clear about what doubt is.
If you look up the definition of doubt in the dictionary,
it means to mistrust, to be suspicious, to be cynical,
and to disbelieve.
Now, there are people who say, "Well, the Church doesn't
encourage people to ask questions."
I don't agree with that statement.
There are things that we seek to learn.
We have honest inquiry, and we ask, seek, and knock.
That's not the same as moving to disbelief, cynicism, suspicion,
and mistrust.
So are there are lots of things that I haven't understood,
needed to learn about?
The answer is yes.
I didn't become mistrusting or cynical,
but there were things I had to ask, seek, knock, dig,
and learn about.
Is there perfect information about every question
I'd like to have answered?
No.
But one of my associates in the Twelve
gave a talk in conference about "You know enough."
The few things that I don't have answers
for do not overrule or overwhelm the fundamental basic things
for which I do have answers.
And they're not just intellectual in nature--we have
to use our heads--but by the power of the Holy Ghost,
ultimately, is how we come to know.
So the answer is, yeah, I've had lots of questions.
I still have questions.
The gospel is about asking, seeking, knocking, learning,
growing, repenting, and improving.
So I think the answer to the question "How do you deal with
the doubts?" is, you keep pressing forward,
because that inquiry--the honest, spiritual,
intellectual inquiry--never ends.
But there's something wrong if that
turns to mistrust, suspicion, disbelieving, and cynicism.
What would you add?
Make that answer better.
Well, I don't know if I can do that or not, but I--
I'm sure you will.
We were visiting about this before we all got together
online, and I think that when you have questions,
you just have to make sure that you include
the Lord as your partner in seeking answers
for these questions, that the Holy Ghost is a part
of this spiritual inquiry.
And if He is, then you're on the right track.
And you might not ever know the answers
to some of the questions you have.
I remember being your age and having
these questions about different things,
and I've never come across a good answer to some of them
because it's not been revealed.
And so you just have to be settled
to know that we don't know the answer to this,
or we don't have enough information in order to get
a total and complete answer.
And you have to feel settled and satisfied with what we do know.
For some people that's hard because they think, "Well,
if I just study enough, or I just pray hard enough,
or I just keep working on this, then I'll find the answer."
And there's nothing more frustrating than moving
in a direction like that and not being able to find your answer.
But there are many things that we do not know the answer for.
So just be satisfied with what you know.
And I loved what Elder Bednar said:
The gospel in its totality is wonderfully grand,
and it blesses us in so many ways.
And to have a question about a little thing that may be
significant to you, but in the totality of the gospel is
insignificant--don't spend your time in those areas.
Learn about what you do know and that you can find answers
to, and the other stuff--you're just going to have to be
patient.
And maybe the day and the time will
come when the answers will be revealed, but if they're not,
just move forward.
Well, Susan, I think we're about to the end of our time.
And they've already set the stage
for you and I to make any concluding comments
and bear our testimony.
How about if you go first?
OK.
Well, I just want to express to you youth all over the world
that we love you.
We're doing this tonight because we truly care about who you are
and what you're trying to become.
And we see wonderful things ahead for each of you.
And we know that the Lord will bless
you to do whatever you need to; that when you need courage,
you'll have courage; that when you need to have questions
answered, when you need to feel the love of the Lord
in your life each day, that you'll have that come.
And I hope that you will look for God's hand in your life
every day and look for ways that He blesses you, because if you
have eyes to see and ears to hear,
then you can always know that He's with you.
Now, this has been a wonderful evening for me.
I can't even express--I've seen youth in the places that
we've traveled all over the world, in my mind's eye,
and I just hope that you know that you're a part
of a wonderful, wonderful gathering of people.
One Lord, one faith, one baptism.
And our hearts tonight have been knit together
in unity and love.
I hope everyone's felt that, because we have.
Now, as we conclude this meeting,
I want to share a gift that's most precious to me,
and that's my testimony.
And I pray that the Spirit will be with me while I bear it,
that you young people will know that I
have a testimony, a strong testimony,
of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
I know that it's true.
I know that God lives.
I know that He hears and answers prayers, that He's concerned
about you and your concerns.
And I know that Jesus is our Savior and our Redeemer.
I've felt His love, His redeeming love,
when I've made poor choices and mistakes in my life.
And I've been strengthened, too, by the power
of His atoning sacrifice that's helped me to do things
that I did not think I could do and helped
me be good when I wasn't sure that I could be good.
For that I love Him, and I'm grateful to our Savior.
I know that the Holy Ghost is real.
I know that the scriptures are the word of God.
I know that the heavens aren't closed,
that revelation hasn't ceased, and that God
continues to speak His mind and will
today to men whom we sustain as prophets and seers
and revelators.
I know President Monson is a prophet of God.
And before all of you leave to go to your homes tonight,
I want you to know that I know that Elder Bednar has
been called of God.
And I don't say this just because I'm his wife,
but the Spirit's borne witness to me
that he is a special witness of the name of Jesus Christ in all
the world.
He's been called of God by prophecy and by those
who have the authority.
And I bear that witness and express my love.
My heart's full for this evening that we spent together.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Amen.
I just want to share one observation
before I bear my testimony.
Sister Bednar and I love to meet with young people
and invite them to ask questions all over the world.
And there are a number of themes that come through,
and you've heard one of them tonight:
dealing with the opposition, the challenges,
how do you stand up for what you know is right?
And I would just point out that every generation has its tests.
I don't think it was easy for young people
your age to pull handcarts.
I don't think it was easy for young people
your age to live through World War II.
I don't think it was easy in our youth to face certain things.
So everybody in a generation faces
changes, challenges of various kinds.
I had an experience with President Hinckley
a number of years ago where he and I were seated together,
and he said, "David, this is the greatest season
in the history of the restored Church.
Never has the Church been as well known
and as well regarded.
Never have we had the resources to help move
the work forward in all the earth as we do today.
Oh, David, this is the greatest season
in the history of the restored Church.
It was not better in the days of Joseph Smith.
It was not better in the days of Brigham Young.
This is the greatest season in the history of the restored
Church.
And we get to live now.
We get to be here."
People throughout all previous dispensations
have looked forward to this day and the things that
would occur.
So there are great challenges and opportunities
equal to or greater than those challenges
for those who are true and faithful to the covenants
that we enter into as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As one of His Apostles, acting in the authority
of the holy apostleship, I witness
that God, the Eternal Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ,
live.
They are real.
We are sons and daughters of the Eternal Father.
Jesus the Christ is the Only Begotten Son
of the Eternal Father.
He is our Savior and our Redeemer.
And I witness He lives.
He is resurrected.
The tomb is empty.
He stands at the head of His Church.
He speaks.
He directs its affairs.
My beloved young brothers and sisters
from all over the world, I pray the Holy Ghost
can confirm in your heart the truthfulness of what I declare.
My words are inadequate.
My capacity to express it is far too limited,
but may you know by the power of the Holy Ghost
that all of these things are true:
that the Father and the Son appeared
to Joseph in the Sacred Grove, initiating
the restoration of the gospel in these latter days,
even the dispensation of the fulness of times.
Heavenly messengers conferred authority and keys
upon Joseph and his associates.
And today all of those keys are held by President Thomas S.
Monson, and he is authorized to exercise
those keys to bless and benefit the people of the earth.
My beloved brothers and sisters, all of these things are true.
I witness that they are true, and invoke this blessing
upon you: that as you ask, seek, knock,
you may have the assurance to know that indeed there
will come an answer, according to the Lord's will and timing.
It may not be the answer you want,
but you will receive the answer that you need,
and you will be able to press forward
with confidence in this greatest season in the history
of the restored Church.
In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Our dear, kind, and gracious Heavenly Father,
we thank Thee for this wonderful opportunity
we've had to gather together with Elder Bednar.
Please bless that tonight as we all
go home, that we can pray for ourselves
and receive our own assurance that the things which were
testified to us today are true.
Please bless that as we all travel home,
that we can travel in safety and ponder the things
we've been taught today.
And we pray these things in the name
of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, amen.
Amen.