One of the purposes of mortal life is to prove to God that we will keep His commandments when that takes courage (Henry B. Eyring, “Moral Courage,” Liahona, Mar 2010, 4–7).

An important aspect of Mormon beliefs is that one purpose of our life on earth is to be tested. Passing the test requires moral courage, because if it were easy, the test would be meaningless.

Before we were born, we lived as spirits with God. We didn’t have bodies, limiting our experiences and temptations, but we had our personalities. We were shaped by our experiences, our learning, and our choices, just as we are here. However, because God was there, in our presence, for many of us, the choices seemed easier.

Even with that reassurance, the ability to know exactly what God wanted from us, some people were not willing to trust Him or themselves. When He told us we were going to be sent away from home for a while to continue our eternal progression, some were not excited by the prospect. We were told we might fail and, if we rejected God and His teachings, we would not be allowed to return to His presence, although we would be saved by grace, meaning we would be resurrected and live forever. For most people, everlasting life, even if we could not be with God, would still be a happy experience.

Knowing some people were unwilling to take that risk, Lucifer tried to convince the people to reject God’s plan. He told them if they chose him to be their savior, he would guarantee they’d all make it back home. Of course, the only way to do this was to control their every action and thought, ensuring they’d never have an opportunity to sin. There was no other way, because God’s laws could not be altered. One third of all the spirits chose him as their leader. The remainder chose Jesus Christ as their Savior, who volunteered Himself as our Savior, but He committed Himself to follow God’s plan exactly. Unlike Satan, He was willing to suffer and die for us, so we would have the ability to repent of our sins and break the bonds of death. The third that followed Satan were cast out of Heaven and were denied the right to come to earth and to partake of the Atonement. They’ve since devoted their lives to trying to make us as miserable as they are.

The rest of us began taking our turns on Earth, gaining families, bodies, trials, and blessings. Every day, most of us face choices that have eternal consequences. We hear teachings about God and have to decide which ones are correct and which are false. We face ridicule for trying to live the commandments or for encouraging others to do so. If we obey the commandments we’re considered foolish.

For those who put the teachings of Jesus Christ first, however, it is worth the sacrifice, worth the mocking, the judgment, and the inability of others to understand.

There is a story in the Book of Mormon about a prophet named Lehi. He had a vision in which he viewed a tree that represented God’s love. Those who partook of the fruit experienced great joy. Some who followed the path to that tree ate the fruit, but then looked around to see how others viewed their choice. In the air, nearby, was a spacious building filled with elegant, well-dressed people who were busy making fun of those who were working so hard to reach the tree. Those who insisted on monitoring the reactions of others to their choice were humiliated to be the subject of this mockery from people who seemed important, and they rushed away, forfeiting the blessings of their choice. Some even joined the mockers, thinking it made them more important or glamorous.

This story is about moral courage. Those who fled from God because of the mockery lacked moral courage. They were unwilling to do the hard work of being a Christian.

The most effectual way to establish the religion of Heaven is to live it, rather than to die for it: I think I am safe in saying that there are many of the Latter-day Saints who are more willing to die for their religion than to live it faithfully (Brigham Young, quoted in Chapter 11: Choosing to Walk in Obedience,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young, 71).

Brigham Young understood that dying for your religion takes a moment of courage and no requirement to live on earth with the results of your sacrifices. Instead, you’re immediately in Heaven. But living on earth, day in and day out facing the large and small temptations and trials, sorting through the many voices taunting you to sin or encouraging you to make wise choices, and facing the world everyday with a different lifestyle than others takes far more courage. It’s not the courage of a moment, but the courage of a lifetime.

In his message on moral courage, Henry B. Eyring reminded us we have a great help in getting through our lives with moral courage: the atonement. Through Jesus Christ, we can find the courage to face the moral challenges of mortality. President Eyring reminded us of the following scripture, which contains revelation given to Joseph Smith from God:

And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

“The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?” (D&C 122:7–8).

While this might irritate some Christians, it must be remembered that much of the Bible can’t be proven, either. Science has repeatedly refused to acknowledge the possibility of God, whose existence cannot be scientifically proven. Nor has science proven the Creation. We can’t fit some historical stories into the known political leadership of the time. We don’t have the bones of Adam and Eve. We haven’t found the ark, or proven the entire world once flooded at once. There are creatures mentioned in the Bible we haven’t been able to prove just yet—no dragons or unicorns have emerged during archaeological expeditions.

Does this shake the faith of the average Christian? Of course not. Faith is not about proof. If it can be proven, it doesn’t require faith. The Bible is filled with admonitions to have faith, not to have proof.

Paul gave a powerful sermon on faith in Hebrews, chapter 11 (King James version of the Bible): “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. He reminds us of many Biblical heroes who lived their lives based on faith, not proof. Noah didn’t ask for proof of an impending flood before building the ark, Paul said, nor did Abraham ask for proof before moving to a new land or taking Isaac to be sacrificed. They trusted God and their own testimonies and acted without any proof at all that these things were necessary.

Faith is an essential element of religion. Mormons teach that faith is one of the primary reasons God sent us here to earth. Could we learn to believe in Him and trust Him when He isn’t right here, in our sight? We believed we could and agreed to come to earth to gain faith, to be tested, and to obtain families and bodies.

Most Christians accept a responsibility to develop faith in Jesus Christ, and to agree to accept Him as our Savior without any physical proof of His existence. We don’t know where He is buried. There are no official records recording His life. He never wrote a word that we have on hand, and no one painted His picture or sculpted His likeness. We don’t know what He looked like. We can only make assumptions based on historical knowledge of the time and place in which He lived, and we must trust the recorded words of others as to His existence and teachings. And yet, with all this lack of physical proof, billions of people have believed in Jesus Christ and modeled their lives on His teachings.

Mormons, like other Christians, know that testimony isn’t about physical proof. It is about learning to know and to trust God. Testimony is about faith, which is a higher law than proof. Faith is an eternal-life-giving law.

Christians, including Mormons, know that faith is a verb. A passive faith is not really faith. When we know that putting our hands into a fire will burn them, we don’t put our hands into the fire. We act on those things we truly know. Faith, then, must be an active faith. It isn’t enough to say we believe God has taught us not to kill, for instance. We must also act on that belief. A true Christian keeps the commandments of God as evidence of His faith. Just as Noah didn’t ask for proof, neither do Christians ask for proof before deciding to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

While it is possible to keep the commandments without faith, it is not possible to have true faith and refuse to keep the commandments. No one is perfect, but a person with faith is constantly striving to live as Jesus taught. James taught,“  14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

  15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

  16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

   17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

  18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. (James 2)

These verses do not mean we can be saved by works done without faith, but simply for show. It means that a person who believes in and loves God will keep His commandments as a natural part of that love and faith.

Christians, including Mormons, keep the commandments even though they lack physical proof that rewards will come, either in this life or the next. For them, faith is enough to inspire a Christian lifestyle.

“Faith in Jesus Christ and a testimony of Him and His universal Atonement is not just a doctrine with great theological value. Such faith is a universal gift, glorious for all cultural regions of this earth, irrespective of race, color, language, nationality, or socioeconomic circumstance. The powers of reason may be used to try to understand this gift, but those who feel its effects most deeply are those who are willing to accept its blessings, which come from a pure and clean life of following the path of true repentance and living the commandments of God” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Precious Fruits of the First Vision,” Ensign, Feb 2009, 4–8).

Physical proof that Mormonism is true is no more essential to a Mormon than is physical proof of God, Jesus, or the Bible to any other Christian. Faith and testimony isn’t brought about by proof, but by a personal knowledge of God, and the willingness to turn to Him as the source of all truth. Science is constantly changing its mind about proof, but God never changes His mind. It comes down to this question: Who is our God—God, or science? Mormons, while respecting the role of science, choose God.

It is helpful to understand a little about the role of the Mormon prophet and how Mormons view him. With this knowledge, it is easier to understand why Mormons are willing to follow a prophet.

Students of the Bible are familiar with the concept of prophets. In Old Testament times, God called men to be prophets to deliver God’s word to the people. While each person is able to pray to God privately and learn His word, it would be very complicated to pray about each possible doctrine individually. God also has messages for us we might not think to pray for. A prophet serves as a channel for all the information a person needs to live according to God’s plan. In a world in which many prominent people are willing to guess at God’s word, and to teach their personal beliefs as scripture, a prophet is a sure source of information. Christians want to be certain they are living as Jesus taught, and not as someone else has decided they should live.

Adam was the first prophet on earth, speaking directly to God to learn truth and to find out what God wanted Him to do. Other prophets soon followed. Of course, there have been times when God withdrew prophecy because the people refused to listen or to honor the prophets, but He has always restored them. Prophets were on the earth to prepare the people for the first coming of Christ, and as we approach the second coming, we naturally need prophets again. For this reason, God restored prophets to the earth in modern times. The second coming requires as much preparation as did the first coming.

But how do the Mormons know their prophet really is the prophet God has chosen for this time? Mormons are taught from early childhood, and, if they are considering becoming Mormon, to ask God who the prophet is. They are instructed not to take the word of anyone on earth—not the Church’s word, not that of their parents, not that of their teachers. All of those sources are a place to be taught the gospel, but no one can give another person a testimony. A testimony can come only from God through confirmation from the Holy Ghost.

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him,” taught James, believed by many scholars to be the half-brother of Jesus. (See James 1:5) Each person is entitled to turn to God for wisdom and to find out for Himself, from the only source that is completely trustworthy, that the head of the Mormon church is indeed God’s prophet. Prior to baptism, prospective members are interviewed and asked if they have taken this step.

Once a member has gained a testimony of the prophet, they can trust His teachings. However, should they at any time feel uneasy about something, they can again return to God to pray about it. This is why Mormons who have taken the time to pray about their choices are unshakable. They gained their testimonies directly from God.

Some outsiders will warn their members not to pray about which church to join, or about the prophets, because they claim the petitioner won’t know who is answering. Mormons, however, trust God. Because God promised in the Bible that we could ask Him anything and receive an answer, we trust Him to keep that promise. We know God can do anything, including answering us in a way we can recognize as coming from Him. The better we know God, and the more time we spend talking to Him and “listening” to Him, the more familiar His “voice” will become to us. Of course, prayer answers seldom come through a voice, so this is a symbolic way of speaking. It means we can recognize the ways he communicates with us, and understand how to know what the answer is. Mormons ask God because they believe Him when He makes promises.

Learn how to recognize answers to prayers.

Having an understanding of the process followed by Mormons to learn whether or not God speaks to us through prophets as well as individually, you are ready to understand why Mormons are willing to take direction from this prophet. You may already understand it, if you are a person who always strives to do what God wants you to do.

Mormons are taught the gospel of Jesus Christ as it is revealed in the scriptures. These scriptures include both the Old and New Testaments, as well as scriptures revealed through prophets in modern times, including the Book of Mormon and also as it is revealed to the prophets.

These scriptures teach us both the penalties for ignoring God and the blessings that come from obedience. We’ve seen throughout history that fear of punishment is not enough to make people obey God. Noah relentlessly taught the gospel to the people, and warned them of the upcoming flood. Despite this, they chose to ignore his warnings and continue in their sins. Why did they do this? Some probably didn’t believe Noah. Others thought it couldn’t happen to them. Most disobeyed simply because they did not love God more than they loved their sins.

Although Mormons are taught the consequences of disobedience, they don’t focus on them. Instead, they are taught to obey out of love for God. “If ye love me, keep my commandments,” Jesus taught. (See John 14:15) Love should always be the reason for obedience. Obedience that grows out of love for God is sincere and powerful. It is easier to keep the commandments for One we love, and the greater our love, the greater our obedience. Obedience that comes from fear or from a mere sense of obligation seldom lasts and does not produce all the blessings of obedience done from the heart. Obeying from love enlarges our spirit, increases our testimony, and helps us to become a better person. It allows us to become more like Jesus Christ.

 A previous Mormon prophet, Ezra Taft Benson, taught, “When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.” (See Elder Donald L. Staheli Of the Seventy CES Fireside for Young Adults on 2 March 2003.)

Start the Mormon Meetinghouse tour. In the previous article, we explored the foyer and chapel and learned what went on during a service. Learn about the Mormon chapel.

Today, we’ll explore two special classrooms: The Relief Society and the Primary Rooms.

Look below the tour to see the map. The Relief Society room is in the top right hand corner of the map. This room is especially for women and is therefore, usually the prettiest room. It normally has nice curtains, attractive paintings, tablecloths, flowers, and other feminine touches. They are usually the only classroom provided with padded seats.

Mormons meet for three hours each Sunday. The main worship service lasts an hour and ten minutes. Following this, the families go in various directions, with adults and teens having two classes to attend, and children attending their own program. Relief Society is normally held the last hour and is only for the women. The organization was founded in 1842, and centers around providing service to others. On Sundays, the women meet for a class that is especially tailored to the particular lives and needs of women. Some weeks they study the same topic as the men, but with a feminine focus if there is one. Other weeks, they study unique topics. Lessons are drawn from teachings of past church leaders, talks given in semi-annual conferences from current church leaders at the international level, and topics of special interest to women.

During the week, each Relief Society may choose to have special clubs, classes, or meetings to help women perform service, learn new skills, and pursue hobbies and friendships. Examples might include a mom and tots group, a blogging club, a humanitarian aid group, lessons in car and home repair, or craft programs. The choices are as diverse as the women themselves, and vary based on the interests and needs of each group.

A unique feature of the Relief Society is the visiting teaching program. Women, working with an assigned partner, are given three or four other women to visit monthly. They come to the home with a brief spiritual message to discuss, and they also work to build a friendship with these women. They are charged with watching for needs the church can fulfill and are the first person a woman calls when she needs help. A visiting teacher will then either provide the service, or help to find someone who can. For instance, a visiting teacher might bring in a meal when the sister (the Mormon form of address for adult women) is ill, watch her children when she has a doctor’s appointment, or alert leaders the family has nothing to eat. It is reassuring to women to know there is someone they can call when they need help or just a friend.

The Relief Society also operates a literacy program that is tailored to whatever needs the congregation might have. Some groups use a church program to teach reading. Others teach English to immigrants, tutor inner-city children, or help people learn to write their personal and family histories.

Now go back to the map and click on the Primary room, found in the bottom right hand corner. This room belongs to the children of the church, ages three to twelve. In most wards (congregations) the children are divided into two groups, Junior Primary and Senior Primary, with age eight being the dividing line. They will meet in the Primary room all together for opening exercises. During this time, they have a prayer, songs, a scripture and a talk given by a child. Even a three-year-old might stand at the pulpit on a step that allows him to reach the microphone, and give a two and a half minute talk on a gospel principle with the help of a parent. This allows children to learn from their peers, and also helps the children learn poise, confidence and public speaking skills, while encouraging him to share his thoughts on an aspect of his faith.

Following this, most Primaries send the older children off to age-divided classes. Their classrooms are small and usually contain a chalkboard, bulletin board, and chairs sized to the students. The teacher prepares a lesson from a manual that can be read online. Read the lesson manuals used to teach Mormon children.

These older children are called Valiants. They have been baptized and are learning to be valiant in keeping the baptismal covenants (promises) they made to God. Mormon children are baptized at age eight. The lessons are taught through the scriptures, and they follow the same four year plan as their parents and teenage siblings, allowing families to discuss together the scripture stories learned. The children spend two years learning the Bible, one learning the Book of Mormon, and one learning church history and the Doctrine and Covenants. This last book is a collection of revelations received in modern times.

After their lesson, the children return to the Primary room for Sharing Time. The younger children, who were already having sharing time, go to their own classes. The younger children are called CTRs, which stands for Choose the Right. They are preparing to be baptized and are learning enough about their religion to make a wise choice and are also learning to become like Jesus. In their lessons, they follow a two year program. When it is repeated, they are more mature and can handle the same lesson taught at a higher level. They spend one year on the Bible. The second year covers the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants.

Also included in Junior Primary are the Sunbeams, who are three at the start of the year. Their lesson manual is used for only one year and contains stories from all the scriptures taught in simple ways.

In Sharing Time, the children receive a fifteen minute lesson from a member of the Primary Presidency, a group of three women who run the program. There is a theme for the entire year, such as “I Am a Child of God” or “I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus.” Each month, they study an aspect of the theme during Sharing Time. They also have fifteen minutes of singing with a music leader. Much of this music is focused around the theme as well. Near the end of the year, the children do a program for the entire congregation, taking over the regular service to sing and to teach the adults what they’ve learned.

The Primary room has chairs in a variety of sizes placed in rows. Children sit with their own classes and teachers. It usually includes a piano and pictures of Jesus with children. There is a chalkboard and decorated bulletin boards.

The Primary oversees a nursery, as well. This is for children who are eighteen months old to age three. If they are three years old January 1, they graduate to the Sunbeam class. This is not just child-care. It is a true class. The children have a lesson manual with simple lessons that teach them about God and Jesus in easy to understand ways. They generally have about ten minutes of lesson time, a fifteen minute singing time, crafts, group play, stories, and a play time. At least two teachers are present at all times.

Senior nursery children have weekday programs. The boys participate in Cub Scouts and the girls have a similar program called Activity Days.

In the next article, we’ll learn about the Youth program for teenagers, and about the cultural hall.

 11 For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.

  12 To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby. (See Doctrine and Covenants 46: 11-12.)

Everyone, male and female, can receive spiritual gifts. The scriptures list many of these gifts, and it can be interesting, as we read, to highlight each gift mentioned. The gifts bless the holder of the gifts if he uses them wisely, but they can also be used to bless others. A person who has the gift of faith can use it to find the truth among conflicting and confusing choices. This gift can be used to help that person become a member of the Savior’s church. It comes to her through the Spirit of Christ. After receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, her faith grows even more. She might then choose to use that gift to pray for others or to share her faith with those who were not given as strong a gift as she received.

We’re taught that it is appropriate to pray for certain gifts, if we are prepared to use them wisely in the service of others, rather than to glorify ourselves. A person who is invited to teach a class, but lacks the gift to teach can begin to pray for it. While praying, of course, she must do what she can to improve her teaching skills, but God will step in and honor righteous requests if they are part of His plan for us. A prayer to become the greatest teacher in the world is not likely to be honored, because this is a prideful request, but a prayer to have the ability to teach the class one has agreed to teach will be honored.

The diversity of the human race is one of God’s best ideas. If we all had the same talents, gifts, and assignments, most things wouldn’t get done. The world needs writers, but it doesn’t need everyone to be a writer. It needs gardeners, but everyone doesn’t need a talent for gardening. Because each of us has different talents and passions, everything that needs doing gets done. If we each had all the talents possible in equal proportion, we might find ourselves spread too thin, and most things wouldn’t get accomplished. We’d all be doing whatever was easiest or created the most wealth, given human nature.

In the same way, God divided up certain tasks and assigned them to specific genders. Only women were given the ability to give birth. This doesn’t mean God loves men less; it only means that doesn’t happen to be one of the tasks assigned to them. Only men hold the priesthood, but that does not say women aren’t worthy or capable of holding it. Priesthood is an office, not a gender, but assigning it to men keeps it focused, just as assigning childbirth only to women keeps that aspect of life focused.

Within the Mormon Church, there are a great many tasks to be completed, because we have a lay religion and very complex programs. Everyone is asked to take on his or her share of the work. Tasks are assigned in various ways that make the church run more smoothly. Some are assigned by age: Only a twelve or thirteen year old girl may serve as a youth leader in the Beehive Program. (Beehives are girls of that age in the Young Women’s program for teenagers.) Others are assigned by gender: Only women can serve as Primary or Relief Society Presidents. (These are, respectively, the organizations for children and women.) Some tasks are open to anyone who is an adult: Anyone may teach the children or the literacy classes, even though only women can lead those programs. Some tasks are assigned by office: Only a person who holds the office of a high priest can serve as a bishop (the leader of a congregation.) It might appear that the rule is that only men can be bishops, but actually, the rule is that only high priests can be bishops. A good and worthy man who does not hold the office of high priest in the priesthood cannot be a bishop, no matter how qualified he is otherwise.

While it’s true that only men are to hold the Mormon priesthood (as we see from even a casual study of the Bible), this does not limit a woman from serving God, anymore than not being able to be the Primary president limits a man’s ability to serve God. There are many ways to serve, and God does not love the priesthood holders more than the Primary president—or the door greeter. We don’t get bonus points for serving in certain kinds of positions. God asks us to serve wherever He needs us, and if we do this well, we are blessed for our attitude and willingness to serve, not for the specific task accomplished.

Men holding the priesthood receive no special blessings over the women. It isn’t about power or blessings, or God’s love. It is, rather, about our trust in God and His plan. If we have a testimony that the Savior is at the head of the church, and that He sees with a vision greater than our own, we won’t waste valuable mortality hours fretting over what gifts or offices we don’t have. Instead, we’ll work hard to develop those God has asked us to take on. As with every other aspect of the gospel, it really comes down to a testimony. How much do you trust God?

When I was first investigating the church, the priesthood issue concerned me. As a teenager raised in the 1970s, I thought women’s lib was what I was supposed to be living, even though I was known for my love of taking care of children. In other words, my nature was fairly traditional, if you leave out housework. The missionaries, when asked about priesthood at the first lesson, told me they’d be happy to discuss it with me, but I needed more background and training in prayer first. They asked me to learn to pray, and to continue to study, and then we’d discuss it. By the time I was able to understand the answers, I no longer needed to ask the question. I had learned to get my own answers through prayer and I had come to see how much God valued the woman’s place in His kingdom. I understood that being told I had to turn into a man was degrading to women and insulting to God, who created gender. It was no longer a problem for me. I had become proud of the person God created in me.

Over the years, I’ve longed for certain gifts. Some I’ve been able to receive, such as an improved ability to teach. Others were not my calling, such as a desire to sing. Over the years, as I’ve grown and matured, I’ve stopped wasting time fretting over what I don’t have, and have begun to be thankful for what I do have. God gave me a most interesting gift box of traits, talents, and experiences. I would be ungrateful and unworthy of those gifts if I wasted my life whining they weren’t good enough.

When Adam was created, he spoke directly with God, and was the first prophet. God taught Adam the gospel in its fullness. When Adam died, a new prophet took his place in the role. Practices changed over the years, but not truth. God instigated preparatory practices when His children were unable to live the higher laws. He taught the gospel line upon line as people were ready for it. Some took on other beliefs however, and it was not many generations before other religions developed.

When Jesus Christ began His earthly mission, He chose apostles to assist Him and to carry on the work when He was gone, knowing His mission would be brief. His apostles worked hard to share the gospel and manage the churches. However, as they traveled, they realized false doctrine and misunderstandings were occurring throughout the church. As in the game of telephone, the messages being sent were getting scrambled along the way, and people were adding their own interpretations and ideas to those offered by the apostles.

After the apostles were gone, there was no one with the authority to act as a prophet or to receive instruction from God. Without anyone to straighten out the misconceptions, they grew rapidly. In only a short time, there were many different groups teaching differing versions of Christianity. Periodically councils were held to try to come to an agreement on the differences, and while the majority were able to vote on a doctrine, not everyone agreed and those groups often went off to form their own churches.

Today, as we look around us, we can see the confusion of messages has become very complex. There are thousands of church within the Christian label, each differing from the others. Even some denominations have splits as they try to decide what to do about issues that are more common now than they were in the Savior’s time, such as women in the clergy.

God has instructed us to seek truth, and promised He is not a God of confusion. However, it is certainly easy to get confused when we set out to find out where the truth is located. Churches have a variety of methods for figuring out what is true, but in Biblical times, doctrine was not put to a vote.

From the beginning, God set out an orderly plan for His gospel to proceed. He had a prophet who told us what was true and what to do. Those who recognized the prophet were not left to figure out what was true—they needed only to follow the prophet. Those who did not recognize him or listen to him suffered the consequences.

The purpose of those prophets was to bring God’s truth to mankind, to warn them of danger, and to prepare them for the arrival of Jesus Christ. Look around our world today. Do you see a need for those three things in our modern day? We know the Second Coming is rapidly approaching, and so, if prophets were necessary to prepare people for the first coming, wouldn’t it be equally necessary to have them to guide us through preparations for the final coming? Do you see a need for sure truth in today’s complex world? Do you see danger in changing world conditions?

It is no wonder God needs to return the prophets to the earth. There is a great deal of work to do to prepare the world for the return of the Savior, and there needs to be a leader for the work.

While it is true we have the Bible to guide us, we can easily see people do not understand the Bible and disagree over what its teaching mean. Even essential doctrine such as baptism is debated. In addition, the world has changed dramatically since Biblical times. Every day, new technologies, new issues, and new ideas about morality arise. The Bible doesn’t mention many of the issues people struggle with today. A prophet can guide us through these challenges and help us to stay on God’s path without having to guess or interpret.

It’s important, having recognized the need for a prophet, to follow the right one. Mormons are taught not to take anyone’s word for his identity. Before baptism, prospective members, including children, are asked to pray to God to know if Thomas S. Monson is a prophet. He is the current prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are sometimes referred to as Mormons. When he dies, an orderly process will occur to place the next prophet into the office without campaigning or voting.

A person who wanted to know for himself, without trusting the opinion of any earthly person, can do so if he has faith. God has promised that if we lack wisdom, we can ask God and He will give it to us. (See James 1:5 in the New Testament.) A good way to begin is to talk it over with God, explaining what you are going to do and why. Ask Him to guide you through the process and help you recognize His “voice.” You most likely won’t hear an actual voice, of course, but you will learn to recognize how He communicates with you when you pray.

Next, Mormons are taught to put some personal effort into it. Mormons believe in doing all they can for themselves, and letting God make up the difference. You can learn more about prophets by visiting the official Mormon site designed to help curious people learn more about Mormons. Visit Mormon.org.

You can also read about prophets on internet sites by members who are not official, but who want to share what they know. One unofficial place to learn about prophets is MormonProphets.com. On this site, you can learn about the prophets who have been sent to lead us toward the Second Coming of Christ. To learn specifically about Thomas S. Monson, the prophet at this writing, visit the unofficial site ThomasMonson.com

Once you feel you have some information, it’s time to think about what you’ve learned. Ask yourself:

Do we need a prophet today?

Does the world seem confused about truth?

Does Thomas Monson teach things a prophet might teach?

What is the spirit telling me as I study?

How do I feel about all this so far?

Then go to God in prayer. Share all you’ve learned and felt. Be honest with God—He knows your heart. Tell Him what you think and then wait patiently for confirmation. It may take time. It took me many months to receive my first answers to prayers because I had to learn how. I began receiving small answers, and then larger ones over time.

Once God has confirmed to you that President Monson is His prophet, you can begin to learn more about the messages He shares with the world. This coming week, you can watch Him on television or the internet and listen as he speaks to the world in General Conference. At Mormon.org, you can ask to talk to a missionary about the new things you have been learning, or you can ask a Mormon friend.

Even though the man had only one talent, and others had as many as five, he was expected to make good use of that talent and to expand its value, rather than to bury it where it couldn’t help anyone.

Today, we often look around and see that others have far more talent than we do. When our talents don’t seem as many, we might feel less valued by God. When our talents are less great, we might wonder if it’s even worth doing anything with them.

Mormon beliefs teach that our talents are gifts from God. The number we’re given, or even the extent of them, really isn’t the point of the talents. They were given to us to do something with, and if we use them well, they will have value and even increase.

I’m an author. I didn’t write something publishable the first time I sat down to write. It took many years of writing badly written stories, articles, and books—beginning when I was only six years old—before I wrote something anyone was willing to publish. I received a large stack of rejection letters over the years before I received the first acceptance letter, and still receive rejections today, even after publishing a book that got good reviews.

My books will never be best sellers. I simply don’t have that kind of talent. Does that mean I shouldn’t write? Of course not. What I write may not make history, but it has helped a few people, and so has value. I’ve improved my ability to write over the years, and since I can live forever through the atonement, I expect I will improve a great deal in the next few million years. However, I can’t wait for the next life to get started; mproving my talents is one of my earthly assignments.

Sometimes we misjudge how talent and success work. I decided many years ago to return to school and take a math class, because I wanted to better help my children with their math. I’d always been awful at math, and was extremely frightened to take this class. However, I ended up getting straight A’s in every test, the first A’s I had ever received in math. A student who was not doing well noted my grade on the posted grade sheet and complained it wasn’t fair that I got A’s. He said it was easy for me because I was naturally good at math. I explained my history of math failures. My grades weren’t the result of talent; they were the result of hard work. We were required to do every other odd numbered problem. I did every problem, often three or four times. I worked a few weeks ahead of the class in case I got stuck and I received one-on-one help from the professor almost weekly by making use of office hours. I even cornered a professor or two I wasn’t taking classes from when I was really desperate.

Talent can help us to be successful, but hard work is also critical. I may never be a math genius, because my brain isn’t configured for that type of thinking. My talent in math was miniscule, but hard work made up some of the difference. Even with great talent, work is critical.

Of course, hard work can’t turn you into a genius in every case. Anyone who has heard me singing to my toddlers in the church nursery knows I’m never going to be a great singer, but even though singing might not be my talent, I can still sing, at least to toddlers who don’t care. I used to worry a lot about what I wasn’t good at. However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve stopped worrying about this so much and I’ve begun to focus on what I can do, or might be able to do if I really worked at it.

When I felt overwhelmed about writing a book, a friend pointed out that if I wrote only one page a day, I’d have a book in a year. I only had to focus on my one little page. Many of us are very busy and don’t feel we have much time for talents. However, if we give that talent even fifteen minutes of our time each day, we will be working toward something that will be ready for our greater attention in a few years, when we have more time.

The Savior, Jesus Christ, instructed us to make wise use of every gift God has given us. If we take even our tiniest talents and work at them, turning to God for help, we can magnify them and thereby honor the giver of the gift. The parable of the talents was given to us to remind us to make use of our God-given gifts to become the person God knows we can be.

The book, like the Bible, is divided into chapters and verses. This makes it very easy to keep track of where you are. There is only one translation for each language, so the wording will be very similar. It’s not, of course, a word for word translation, because it can’t be. Languages don’t always have equivalent words or structure.

Mormons begin their language study by praying for the gift of tongues as they study. They believe God will always help them when they are learning about Him, and so, when they read about Jesus Christ or God, He is guiding their study, allowing them to learn faster than they would otherwise.

Work chapter by chapter through each book. Begin by listening to the chapter being read by a native speaker. This will help you become familiar with the sound of the language. You can use this to help you understand how to pronounce the words you’re learning. At first, you will just hear a stream of words. After a short time, you’ll be able to tell where words begin and end, and eventually, you’ll pick up a word here and there.

You can listen to the Book of Mormon free online in many languages. Just download the files into your computer-no registration is required. English, Spanish, and Portuguese are available on LDS.org. For other languages, go to the Language pages on LDS.org and search for the language you want. Audio isn’t available for every language yet, and you may have to explore to figure out how to find the link on the pages, which are written in the language chosen.

After listening, open both books. You can find copies on the Internet, or obtain an English one from a Mormon or a missionary. I usually open the English version of the Book of Mormon on the Internet and the Portuguese version in print, but either way works. You can also just open two windows on your computer and only use the online versions.

Read the summary or verse out loud as best you can in your new language.  Then study it out and see if you can figure out what the verse means. You may not know every word, but you may be able to figure out the basic meaning of the verse. At first, if you have no experience, you’ll have to look up every word, but over time, certain words will become familiar. There tends to be a great deal of repetition within chapters in this book. There are many free translation programs on the Internet, although they aren’t perfect. You can also buy bilingual dictionaries. Use these to look up a word you can’t figure out from context, or that you want to know the exact meaning of.

When you see the same word occurring over and over, look up the exact meaning if you can’t figure it out. Then post it on your computer or desk until you’ve memorized it. This allows you to memorize a few words at a time in a more formal way. However, you’ll also begin picking up words without effort.

You can read the book straight through or reread sections until you know the vocabulary. If you read straight through, you should allow about a year. I’m told that about a third of the way through the book, you’ll realize you’re actually understanding it in the new language, and translating is slowing you down. I’m already finding some words are understood without the need to think of them in English.

As often as possible, figure out the meaning from context, rather than just looking them up, or at least figure it out before you look it up. Once you’ve gotten a general idea of the meaning of the verse, turn to the English version and check your understanding. This is the time to look up specific words. Reread the verse if you need to, now that you have the meaning in mind.

Measure your progress generously. I keep track of how many verses I can read without having to check the translation. At first, I just noted how many verses I could read in the allotted time. It was only a few verses a day at first, but now I’m reading about thirty to fifty verses a day.

You will learn to read the language this way, but to learn to speak it, you’ll need to go further. Find friends who are native speakers and begin practicing with them. Buy a textbook to help you learn grammar and usage rules. But always start your study by reading the Book of Mormon. In about a year, you’ll be surprised how much of your new language you can read.