The heart, then as now, was spoken of as the abiding place of love and the seat of our affections. If our love was for God, it came from the heart. If compassion for the sick and the needy filled our breasts, it came first from the heart. The heart is the symbol of fidelity and loving-kindness. It is in our hearts we remember the tender care of a mother, and her prayers for our welfare, also the untiring obligation a father felt to plant comfort, happiness and peace in our home.
It is also in the heart that we remember the things of God. We once heard a great speaker say, "I can prove Mormonism is true just like I can prove two times two is four." We were young then, but we knew our knowledge of the truthfulness of the Gospel was not a mental conclusion, but it stemmed from our hearts. We have seen the lamp of truth burn but dimly in the minds of the learned, however in the hearts of the humble and true it has proved to be a light which guided the wayfarer and found the sheep that had been lost.
I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. (Ps. 40:8)
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
And Philip said, If thou believeth with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Acts 8:36-37)
And this shall be my covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord: I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jer. 31:33)
I perceive that they [the commandments of God] are not written in your hearts. (Mosiah 13:11)
That ye hear and remember the voice by which ye shall be called. The younger Alma, who became the Presiding High Priest of the Church, and of him we will later learn many things, offered this comment on a similar thought:
Behold, I say unto you, that the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in his own name doth he call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are called, behold, ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd. (Alma 5:38)