I hope you enjoy some insights from my Come, Follow Me for Doctrine and Covenants 6-9. If you missed last week’s insight, Doctrine and Covenants 3-5 click here for it. Please share this with your friends or use this picture to save this pin to read later.
Oliver Cowdery’s Conversion.
“Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?” Doctrine and Covenants 6:23
Verses 22-24 of this section is when Oliver gained a testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet, but the back story is amazing: Oliver had heard of Joseph and the Book of Mormon when he was living with Joseph Smith Sr in Palmyra NY, he decided to head to Harmony PA to see if there was any truth to the Smith’s stories. On the journey, he actually ended up staying the night at the house of a man named Peter Whitmer Sr, after telling him about why he was going to Harmony Peter Whitmer Sr told Oliver that when he found out if this Joseph Smith was a fraud or not to let him know.
Oliver on the journey to Harmony prayed to ask God if it was true, he received an answer it was but did not recognize it. When he arrived he asked Joseph what the Lord would have him do, this revelation was God telling him it was true, and also about his prayers the night before. Oliver had not told a soul about that prayer, so he took this as proof that Joseph was not a fraud. Upon receiving this revelation not only did he became Joseph’s scribe as Joseph translated the Book of Mormon, but he also wrote to the Whitmers telling them that Joseph was indeed a Prophet.
Later on, Oliver and Joseph would actually move to the Whitmer home to finish the translation of the Book of Mormon, almost like God had a plan from the beginning when he had Oliver stay at the Whitmer farm on the way to Harmony.
The moral of this story is that Joseph is a prophet, Oliver received a witness from God and he followed it. And that this is available to each of us! Our witness, like Oliver, most likely won’t be an earth-shattering vision or experience, but rather the peace that the Holy Spirit brings. Marion G. Romney taught that “revelation from the Lord is available to everyone who will qualify and seek for it.”
What Desirest Thou?
“And the Lord said unto me: John, my beloved, what desirest thou? For if you shall ask what you will, it shall be granted unto you.” Doctrine and Covenants 7:1
How would you answer this question? Jesus Christ asked both John, Peter, and the 12 disciples in the Americas, 14 people were offered ANYTHING. And what did they choose? Money? Power? Authority? No, they choose 2 things, 10 of them desired more than anything eternal life. Which was a good choice, but 4 of them, John and the 3 Nephites desired to bring souls unto God. Of Peter’s choice, Jesus Christ told him “this was a good desire; but my beloved has desired that he might do more, or a greater work yet among men than what he has before done.” D&C 7:5
It is good to desire eternal life, it is BETTER to desire to bring souls unto Christ. So the question for each of us is simple if Jesus Christ was to offer us the same deal he did John, Peter, or the twelve what would your reply be? What do we desire? Can you honestly say that you desire what you want to desire? If you can’t, Elder Michael T. Ringwood has words of comfort for you: “The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that the desires of our hearts can be transformed and our motives can be educated and refined.”
The Power of the Holy Ghost
” Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.” Doctrine and Covenants 8:2
For members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Holy Ghost plays an active role in their daily lives. The Holy Ghost not only testifies of truth but also He will warn us of danger and bring the comfort of Christ’s love into our lives. Truly He is the comforter that Jesus Christ promised the apostles in the new testament.
But it does not end there, besides revelations and testimonies the Holy Ghost also actually changes our very nature, as we live worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost we becoming more inclined to the holy and less to the evil. Sin loses its appeal as we know we will lose the companionship Holy Ghost if we sin.
President Henry B. Eyring
Be Patient.
“Be patient, my son, for it is wisdom in me, and it is not expedient that you should translate at this present time.” Doctrine and Covenants 9:3
Oliver was eager to be engaged in the work and God instructed him to be patient. In today’s world being told to be patient, we think means wait. The Lord was not telling Oliver to just wait because patience is so much more than just waiting.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf learned this lesson on patience and taught the following: “I learned that patience was far more than simply waiting for something to happen—patience required actively working toward worthwhile goals and not getting discouraged when results didn’t appear instantly or without effort” Let us learn from Elder Uchtdorf the power of patience, let us seek to develop the attribute of patience.
