Kelly R. Johnson | Enduring Power | Oct 2020 General Conference | Faith To Act

Enduring Power
By Elder Kelly R. Johnson

Of the Seventy

Only faith and the word of God that fill our inner soul are sufficient to sustain us—and to allow us to access His power.

In reviewing the teachings of our dear prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, I found a word that he has frequently used in many talks. This word is power.

In the first general conference after he was sustained as an Apostle, President Nelson talked about power.1 He has continued teaching about power over the years. Since we have sustained President Nelson as our prophet, he has taught about the principle of power—specifically, God’s power—and how we can access it. He has taught how we can draw upon God’s power as we minister to others,2 how repentance invites the power of Jesus Christ and His Atonement into our lives,3 and how priesthood—the power and authority of God—blesses all who make and keep covenants with Him.4 President Nelson has testified that God’s power flows to all who are endowed in the temple as they keep their covenants.5

I was particularly moved by a challenge President Nelson gave in the April 2020 general conference. He instructed us to “study and pray to learn more about the power and knowledge with which you have been endowed—or with which you will yet be endowed.”6

In response to this challenge, I have studied and prayed and have learned some beneficial things about the power and knowledge with which I have been endowed—or with which I will yet be endowed.

Understanding what we must do to access God’s power in our lives is not easy, but I have found it is doable by studying it out in our minds and praying for the Holy Ghost to enlighten us.7 Elder Richard G. Scott offered a clear definition of what the power of God is: it is the “power to do more than we can do by ourselves.”8

Filling our heart and even our soul with the word of God and the foundation of faith in Jesus Christ is crucial to drawing upon the power of God to help us in these challenging times. Without getting the word of God and faith in Jesus Christ deep into our hearts, our testimonies and faith may fail, and we may lose access to the power God wants to give us. Superficial faith is insufficient. Only faith and the word of God that fill our inner soul are sufficient to sustain us—and to allow us to access His power.

As Sister Johnson and I were raising our children, we encouraged each of them to learn to play a musical instrument. But we would allow our children to take music lessons only if they did their part and practiced their instrument each day. One Saturday, our daughter Jalynn was excited to go play with friends, but she had not yet practiced the piano. Knowing she had committed to practice for 30 minutes, she intended to set a timer because she did not want to practice even one minute longer than was required.

As she walked by the microwave oven on her way to the piano, she paused and pushed some buttons. But instead of setting the timer, she set the microwave to cook for 30 minutes and pushed start. After about 20 minutes of practice, she walked back to the kitchen to check how much time was remaining and found the microwave oven on fire.

She then ran into the backyard where I was doing yard work, yelling that the house was on fire. I quickly ran into the house, and indeed, I found the microwave oven in flames.

In an effort to save our home from burning, I reached behind the microwave, unplugged it, and used the power cord to lift the burning microwave off of the counter. Hoping to be the hero and to save the day as well as our home, I swung the flaming microwave in circles with the power cord to keep it away from my body, got to the backyard, and with another swinging motion flung the microwave out onto the lawn. There we were able to extinguish the fiery flames with a hose.

What had gone wrong? A microwave oven needs something to absorb its energy, and when nothing is on the inside to absorb the energy, the oven itself absorbs the energy, becomes hot, and may catch on fire, destroying itself in a pile of flames and ashes.9 Our entire microwave went up in flames and burned because there was nothing on the inside.

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