Elder Ian Forsyth: Spelunking for personal revelation

"Preach the first principles of the Gospel - preach them over again; you will find that day after day new ideas and additional light concerning them will be revealed to you. You can enlarge upon them so as to comprehend them clearly. You will then be able to make them more plainly understood by those you teach."

é verdade. I asked my mom to pray so that I can increase my concentration skills while I teach people and study the gospel. A couple of days ago I was walking from one appointment to the other and so many simple principles filled my mind that I hadn't recognized before, as I pondered about the spirit I felt while I taught. The spirit and the way it touches us is such a basic mórmon principle. We believe that we can receive personal revelation as we seek diligently and ponder the mysteries of God.

1 Nephi 10. As a missionary, sometimes you think you know a lot about how to teach or how to explain a gospel principle perfectly, but the spirit nourishes with a more divine knowledge if you search more and more. Here´s what I think about this phrase, mom. I´m spelunking in a pitch black cave full of treasures and all I have to do is turn my head lamp. Some treasures cannot be shown or spoken of to others because the Lord reveals certain principles because of certain searching steps. Many people want to gain more knowledge without study and many people want to earn great rewards without working and preparing. This is the enemy´s plan and we cannot listen to his cunning and persuasive comments. As we find spiritual treasures of the Lord, He will reveal them to us through the gift of the Holy Ghost and we will recognize the promptings if we are patient and persistent.

But to find the treasures we have to descend into the cave. Revelation doesn't come it you don't dedicate yourself. We receive more revelation if we are pure of heart and spiritually worthy of the Lord´s guidance.

The right knots and carabiners help you discover new things without danger. But without the knots and the climbing gear we can get lost in revelation (the cave) that does not make sense to our un-prepared mind and spirit.

A phrase that I read in Dad´s notebook - "the battle is one in the tent of the general" helps me understand planning and execution according to the plan a lot better.

Knowledge has two paths. Arrogance and the misuse of sacred information, or humility and the protection of sacred information. The beforehand preparation that is done through scripture study, prayer and self assessments helps you stay on the road less traveled by.

Remember this guy?