“Have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?… If ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” Alma 5:14,26

Sister DeGolyer and I had some insane experiences this week. But that’s everyday on the mission! They are very close to my heart and very sacred to me 🙂 One really wonderful experience was our lesson with Amanda and Nelson. We testified of Jesus Christ as the head of this Church and that he had, in reality, restored it through the prophet Joseph Smith. We watched Jeffery R. Holland’s testimony of The Book of Mormon and the spirit was strong! I couldn’t hold back tears as I bore my testimony of this great prophet and the blessing that his choices brought in my life. Because Joseph Smith asked Heavenly Father a question, my family and I have been eternally blessed. Questions, questions, questions. Christ asked questions. He has asked us to do the same through his prophet Moroni: “Ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if these things are not true.” Moroni 10:4-5

The reason I love questions is because it makes you think, ponder, contemplate, reassess, change, grow and act! It cracks me up how sassy some of the questions in the scriptures are! SO SASSY PANTS! Such excellent comebacks! We frequently see questions used in the teachings of Christ and others. Why is that? (See how I used a question right there? 😉

Questions are powerful, powerful devices. I am a huge questioner. Ask my dad. I constantly am asking questions. As a missionary I ask a LOT of questions! Everyday I ask people in the street: “Do you believe there is a God? Have you heard of The Book of Mormon? Do you think we could have a living prophet today? Will you pray and ask God if this book is true? Can we teach you more about how to come closer to Christ?” I try to ask “inspired questions” to better understand those I teach and guide them in their spiritual journey. I also ask God a lot of questions as I progress in my knowledge of the gospel and doctrines of Christ. Desire of understanding, humility and real intent usually precede questions. Questions can result in spiritual awakening, change of perspective, progression, wisdom and light, recognition, development and action. So here we have the little seed analogy as discussed in the classic Alma 32!

It begins with a seed. This seed represents a desire to know. One must exercise faith by planting the seed, (asking questions) watering it, giving it sunshine etc. (acting on the insight we receive) and it will soon grow into a great tree of knowledge! How cool is that! Simple right? We are all ignorant but the wonderful truth is that God has provided a way for us to gain knowledge. He has given us scriptures, church, temples, prayer, blessings, leaders etc. to discover truth! But how in the world could He answer our unasked questions? He cannot do it.

My weekly challenge to each of you is to ASK! Ask God specific questions and I promise you that you will receive specific answers! They may come in many forms! Through friends, articles, feelings, songs, nature, memories, the scriptures, the temple, more questions! But they will come! I love you all, no matter what! ❤