Eyring - Ears to Hear - April 1985

In this talk, President Eyring has just been called to be the first counselor in the presiding bishopric.  He speaks of attending a regional conference when he was a boy and an old man speaking from the pulpit.  He doesn't remember much but he knew when that man spoke, that he believed what he was saying.  He spoke of his testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith and that was the first time he knew for himslef that he was hearing something true.

He speaks of callings that come to us and how we can feel overwhelmed with those assignments.

• This is the Church of Jesus Christ, and he leads it. No assignment in it need ever overwhelm you if you know that and listen for the Master’s voice.

He shares a story of being a deacon's quorum advisor and how he taught the lessons to these boys.  He had one boy that was very memorable.

• Between being a high councilor and a member of the General Board of the Sunday School, I was a deacons quorum adviser. A boy, the president, presided in the meetings, and I taught the lessons out of the scriptures and out of the manual. I stayed very close to the lessons as they were outlined.
• I remember one boy in the quorum had to miss a few meetings, and so he sent his brother to the class with a tape recorder. His brother recorded our meeting and took it home. It happened more than once. When the deacon came back, I asked him why. I don’t remember his words, but I remember that it was clear he knew what I knew. God was trying to speak to that deacons quorum. The boy wasn’t anxious to have a tape recording to hear me; he was trying to hear God. He knew where to listen and how to hear.
• He’d read the scriptures for us in class, and I knew he knew them and loved them. And so, even when I wasn’t teaching very well, by the power of the Holy Ghost and from knowing the Master’s voice in the scriptures, he could hear what he needed to hear. The memory of that black recorder with its tape turning will always remind me of the scripture which says, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

In order to hear the word of God, we need to be reading the scriptures.  The scriptures speak to us and give us messages.  The Holy Ghost helps teach us how to apply those messages in our lives.

• If you and I will study the scriptures and pray and tune our hearts and ears, we will hear the voice of God in the voice of the people that he has sent to teach and guide us and direct us.

We are all important to God.  He loves each of us individually.  We don't need to be overwhelmed in our duties or callings.  He is there to help us and teach us what we need to do to help His other children along the way.

• However large the kingdom will grow (and it will fill the earth), you will not ever feel lost or forgotten, and you need never feel overwhelmed. God will call people to care about you and to teach you.

Finally, he shares the simple truth that no matter what the future holds in enhancements to our lifestyle, nothing will ever take the place of a good teacher sharing the gospel and touching the souls of the students that they teach.

• None of us can see now all the wonders of technology and organization and buildings that God may give us; but you, just you, hearing the voice of God through your teacher and leader, will always be at its heart.

President Eyring is such a humble man.  It is interesting to see him today and how he had grown from an overwhelmed counselor in the presiding bishopric to a valiant counselor in the first presidency.  The simple truths of the gospel have not changed though.  When I listen to President Eyring speak, I have that feeling he describes as a young boy.  I know he knows what he is saying is true.  The spirit confirms the truthfulness of the messages he shares.  We would be wise to listen to his counsel as what he shares is his simple testimony of what he personally knows to be true.