I love reviewing the parables of Christ. He was the ultimate teacher and could make all things relatable. I recently asked a group of 11-17 year old young men to each share a parable and what each meant to them.
The first boy related the parable of the sower. I thanked him for paying attention earlier this year in his families study of the Come, Follow Me program. He was able to relate the importance of providing fertile soil for the seed of faith to grow. The next boy related the parable of the talents and how two of the servants were able to increase the return on their talents and the third squandered his opportunity by hiding his talents. The boy related that this was an example of the importance of each of us growing and expanding on our talents and abilities. The next young man discussed the lost sheep and how the shepherd left the ninety and nine to seek out the one. Another shared the story of the ten virgins and how procrastinating the things we know we should be doing is not smart. We heard the story of the good Samaritan and how even though the Samaritan was probably busy, he still stopped and sacrificed his needs for the needs of the man. Lastly, one of the young men brought up the prodigal son. This is a personal favourite of mine because of the line, “When he came to himself.” (Luke 15:17) It shows that the son needed to learn and understand for himself the mistakes that he had made, it’s the epiphany that he needed in order to go home. It doesn’t matter how far gone we are, we can always return to the church and to our Heavenly Father. Like the prodigal son’s father, our Heavenly Father eagerly awaits our return.
After we finished discussing these parables, I then shared my own parable that I heard from David Foster Wallace’s infamous speech given at Kenyon College in 2005, entitled This is Water . I like the produced and simplified version on Youtube. Anyway, I changed the meaning of the fish parable that starts the video.
It starts, “There was these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way who nods at them and says, ‘morning boys, how’s the water?’ the two young fish swim on for a bit and then eventually one turns to the other and says, ‘what the heck is water?’
We then discussed what is water in our life? What are the things we tend to take for granted. Suggestions such as family, the church, and the Priesthood were mentioned. None of these were wrong. How often do we take our families for granted? What would we do without them? The Church? Some of us treat Sundays like a chore, an errand, a box to tick off each week. And Priesthood? Definitely something I had taken for granted until a time came when I needed it and wasn’t able to exercise my priesthood and had to call for help.
The answer I was looking for and we finally got there, was the Holy Ghost. Speaking of the Holy Ghost, Stephen R. Covey said, “Sometimes that as Latter-day Saints we are like fish who discover water last. We are so immersed in the element that we are unaware of its presence.”
This could not be more true. I grew up in the Gospel and I always questioned when it was that I was feeling the Holy Ghost and when I was just having a good thought on my own. It was until I didn’t have the Holy Ghost due to some poor choices on my part. Even then, I was able to do the right things, give a decent talk or help others to grow, but I was lacking that comforting and guiding spirit in my life. Last week, I listened to Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge’s BYU Devotional. I must’ve listened to that talk 10-12 times by now. Check it out if you haven’t already. Stand for Ever . He related a story of how he was tasked with reviewing any and all anti-Mormon literature. He relayed that the material he covered was a swamp of darkness and despair and it’s so very accessible to anyone with a cell phone. His keynote message, the most 
important one for each of us to learn from his message was this. “Pay whatever price you must pay, bear whatever burden you must bear, and make whatever sacrifice you must make in order to get and keep in your life the Spirit and power of the Holy Ghost. Everything depends on that!” (Lawrence E. Corbridge)
He continued to talk about what the gloom that was felt when ‘he waded chest deep through the swamp’ of this material. He talked about belief bias, which is a general disappointment when you learn something that is not in line with your beliefs, but this was something else. The gloom was the absence of the Spirit of God. It was the gloom of darkness and stupor of thought that afflicts the natural man when they are left to their own. He learned that the absence of the Spirit is a condition. “The spirit associated with the dark voices that assail the prophet Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon and the restoration are not the Spirit of light and truth, they are not the Spirit of God. I may not know much but I know the voice of the Lord. and His voice is not in that dark choir, not at all in that choir.” Powerful stuff.
So what do we do when we are starting to question the Church? Elder Corbridge had an answer to this. He said that there are Primary Questions and Secondary Questions and most people get hung up on the secondary questions without consulting their own answers to the primary questions, and then focus on those questions until they have eroded the foundation created by the Primary Questions.These questions are:
1. Is there a God who is our Father?
2. Is Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Saviour of the World?
3. Was Joseph Smith a Prophet?
4. Is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the kingdom of God on Earth?
If we can answer these questions, then the the secondary questions shouldn’t be a problem. They are taken care of by faith that we will one day understand the answer to these questions. By faith, we can understand the imperfections of the man that was Joseph Smith and still appreciate his role as a prophet of God. By faith, we can understand that it doesn’t really matter of Adam had a belly button or not, it just doesn’t matter.
I shared these questions with the Young Men during the lesson and they did not misunderstand the importance of the Primary Questions versus the secondary questions. I urged them to always be worthy of the Holy Ghost in all that they do.
Which brings me to the tough question. What happens when we don’t feel the Holy Ghost? I mean, He plays a pretty significant role in our life. “The Holy Ghost can do for us physically, emotionally, mentally, and intellectually what no man-made remedy can begin to duplicate.” (Lind K. Burton) When the Holy Ghost is not present in our life, what can we do? The answers we learn as children would suggest that we read the scriptures, say our prayers, go to church and serve others. The absolutely ludicrous thing about this is that as adults, we tend to forget these answers and
the importance of putting effort into these things each day. “When we have felt, or fell, uncertain, alone, frustrated, angry, let down, disappointed, or estranged from God or His restored Church, it may take an extra measure of effort and faith to enter again on His covenant path. But it is worth it.” (Gerrit W. Gong)
If we have exerted the extra effort in order to feel the Holy Spirit and are still struggling to decide if we can feel Him in our lives, then it is time to re-evaluate our lives. We need to rededicate ourselves to the Lord in all things. “We invite the Holy Ghost into our lives through meaningful personal and family prayer, feasting upon the words of Christ, diligent and exacting obedience, faithfulness and honoring covenants, and through virtue, humility, and service.” (David A. Bednar)
We simply need the Holy Ghost in our lives. It’s guiding influence, it’s ability to testify of Christ, and it’s ability to share God’s love with each of us. We cannot afford to live without it. We are not strong enough. Do what you need to in order to have the Holy Spirit in your life.
The Holy Spirit is as essential to our life as water is to a fish. It’s always there, always leading, guiding and comforting. Let us always be worthy of the Holy Spirit and be grateful for this member of the Godhead who is with us.
~Todd
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