“A few weeks ago our four-year-old grandson, Michael, reported to his parents, ‘When I pray, my heart feels like a roasted marshmallow.’ … The prophet Alma described these feelings … [in Alma 32:34-35]. Learning to discern the teachings of the Spirit is an important part of helping faith become a reality. My daughter Karen shared her experience. She said, ‘When I was just a little girl, I started reading the Book of Mormon for the first time. After many days of reading, I came one night to 1 Nephi 3:7: … I felt strongly impressed… . but the deep impression was really more of a feeling. I had seen my parents mark verses in their scriptures with red pencils. So I got up and searched through the house until I found a red pencil, and with a great sense of solemnity and importance, I marked that verse in my own Book of Mormon.’ Karen continued, ‘Over the years as I read the scriptures, that experience was repeated time and time again… In time I came to recognize that feeling as the Holy Ghost.’” (Janette Hales Beckham, Ensign, Nov. 1997, p. 75)
Developing Faith
Book of Mormon 121-122 Student Manual, p. 89
Hypothesis Experiment Conclusions
v. 21, 27, 33-34 v. 23-32 v. 37-43
“Alma used a seed to stand for the word. He taught the discouraged Zoramites that if they would ‘give place, that a seed may be planted in [their] heart[s]’ (Alma 32:28), and then notice if good feelings went with it, they would begin to understand and life would be different for them. Could that be a way of saying: ‘Decide, just for yourself, that you will make a place for scripture reading. And then, as you begin to do that notice what feelings go with it’? Alma then taught that ‘as the tree beginneth to grow’ (Alma 32:37), it would need to be nourished with great care. Could that be a way of saying: ‘Nourish the desire to read. Do some things that will keep you reading and help you to understand in new ways. Let others keep you excited and help you learn more from the scriptures so that the word will continue to grow’? Alma taught that if this nourishing continued for a long time, there would be wonderful fruit. Please turn to Alma, chapter 32, verse 42: …‘ye shall pluck the fruit, … and ye shall feast upon this fruit … that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.’ Could that be a way of saying: ‘When you continue reading, and doing the things that you read about, eventually life will change in a way that is difficult to even imagine. Your daily discouragements will be replaced with a knowledge of how much God loves you. You will feast and be filled’”? (Virginia H. Pearce, Ensign, May 1995, p. 89)