It's confession time. I completely forgot that this guy was an apostle. He's such a standard issue and basic white dude that I completely forgot that the latest Peter is a Gary. Who'll be the next apostle? Some guy name Steven Garrison?
Part 13 of ∞
Conference Talk Review: Saturday Afternoon - Gary Stevenson, "Look to the Book, Look to the Lord"
Stevenson begins by telling the story of one of his ancestors, Mary Elizabeth Rollins. If that name sounds familiar, then it should, because she was one of the women who married Joseph Smith while she was married to another man. When she was 12 years old Smith visited her home and told her she "was the first woman commanded him to take as a plural wife". In spite of this, she married a non-member four years later. Smith comes back to see her again, after she's married, and tells her that God will kill him if she doesn't consent to become his wife. So she prays on it, has a vision, and becomes Smith's 5th wife while her husband was out of town.
The fact that Smith propositioned a 12 year old adds some context to Stevenson's story about how she received a Book of Mormon from her uncle, was converted by it, and was then visited by its author:
"He looked at me so earnestly", gross, gross, gross. She was 12.Gary Stevenson wrote: A short time later, Mary finished reading the book and was the first person in her town to read the entire book. She knew it was true and that it came from Heavenly Father. As she looked to the book, she looked to the Lord.
One month later a special visitor came to her house. Here is what Mary wrote about her memorable encounter that day: “When [Joseph Smith] saw me he looked at me so earnestly. … After a moment or two he … gave me a great blessing … and made me a present of the book, and said he would give Brother Morley another [copy]. … We all felt that he was a man of God, for he spoke with power, and as one having authority.”
But in getting caught up in all the child grooming and polyandry, I admit that I initially missed Stevenson's main points: 1) He's descended from a pioneer woman who married Smith and Young 2) The Book of Mormon has the power to instantly convert people. So...good for him, and okay.
It's interesting to me that this talk, and others, really double down on the importance of the Book of Mormon. Far from distancing themselves from its numerous problems...it's super tanker size load of problems, they are emphasizing it's inseparable connection to the church's truth claims. All people can gain a testimony of the truthfulness of the church, which then demands your loyalty and complete obedience, and it is "the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion". The reason these claims remain so surprising, is that if forces any sincere seeker to ultimately reject the church once the book's problems are uncovered. IF they were to allow for a non-literal acceptance of the book and suggest that the stories were inspired but not historical, THEN this wouldn't be such a big deal. Joseph could have read the book from a vision of gold plates, and God could have inspired the book as a set of latter-day parables. But no. It's got to be "the most correct of any book on earth", and it's got to be 100% literal and historical. We could move forward with a more reasonable interpretation of the facts, but we would be doing it on our own, without the support of the institutional church.
But at the same time, this talk doesn't ever ask the question about whether the book is historical. He focuses on people gaining a testimony, through feeling, that it's "true". My guess is that the ideal scenario would involve a person reading the Book of Mormon without examining its claims historically or empirically, reading it without that sort of questioning, and focusing 100% on what one feels while reading. Then, focused on the feeling, a person should pray until overcome with a noumenal feeling, thus "proving" it's truthfulness. This is the example he gave for Mary Rollins and for himself. Neither of them questioned, they felt. I think that's a good description of how one would delve into a religion, because those sorts of activities are of the heart not the mind, but we can't ignore the fact that in at least Mary's case, her spiritual feelings guided her into committing adultery by illegally marrying another man who already had five other wives. So maybe, just maybe, in certain cases, we should allow some rationality to peak in the window while we're praying in our secret places.
So how does one gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon, especially if you're young and the church would like you to marry in the faith in order to raise the next generation of Mormons? It's simple. Just replace some of your "screen time" with 10 minutes of Book of Mormon reading. But don't treat it like a chore, read it as if you are enjoying yourself. Then keep reading it every day until you feel personally attached to it. Eventually, given enough time, attention, and spiritual context, you'll believe it.
He ends with his testimony that the Book of Mormon is filled with God's love, and that we should embrace the church just like his 12 year old great-great grandmother...ew...no.
