The Most Joyous to the Soul

In his recent general conference talk, Elder Gong observed, “Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has made great strides in language translation. Long gone are the days when a computer might translate the idiomatic phrase ‘The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak’ as ‘The wine is good, but the meat is spoiled.’ Interestingly, repeating extensive examples of a language teaches a computer a language more effectively than does teaching a computer the rules of grammar.” He continued, “Similarly, our own direct, repeated experiences may be our best spiritual way to learn the gospel languages of warmth and reverence, service and sacrifice, and covenant belonging.” In other words, it is not enough to learn the “rules” of the gospel or even the doctrine; we need to feel and experience it more than simply developing an intellectual understanding. Just as an AI algorithm does better observing how language is typically used rather than applying memorized rules, we will do best when we can see the joy of the gospel in others and also experience it for ourselves. This reminds me of the talk given by Elder Wilford W. Anderson several years ago who said, “Sometimes in our homes, we successfully teach the dance steps but are not as successful in helping our family members to hear the music. And as the old medicine man well knew, it is hard to dance without music. Dancing without music is awkward and unfulfilling—even embarrassing. Have you ever tried it?... We learn the dance steps with our minds, but we hear the music with our hearts. The dance steps of the gospel are the things we do; the music of the gospel is the joyful spiritual feeling that comes from the Holy Ghost. It brings a change of heart and is the source of all righteous desires. The dance steps require discipline, but the joy of the dance will be experienced only when we come to hear the music.” We need to both understand the gospel with our minds but also feel it with our hearts and experience it. As the Lord declared, “Behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart” (Doctrine and Covenants 8:2). We need both our mind and our heart to learn the gospel, and in the end it is in the heart where the most profound gospel experiences must dwell.

                And so how do we have that kind of experience with the gospel of Jesus Christ? I believe the key is, as Elder Gong taught us, to fill all that we do with love and a focus on the Savior. He said, “As we worship, serve, enjoy, and learn His love together, we anchor each other in His gospel. We may disagree politically or on social issues but find harmony as we sing together in the ward choir. We nurture connection and fight isolation as we regularly minister with our hearts in each other’s homes and neighborhoods…. when we serve and sacrifice in the gospel together, we find fewer faults and greater peace. When we let Him, Jesus Christ helps us speak His love here.” This is a reminder that what matters most as we strive to teach the gospel in our home is the love that our children feel and the way they see the gospel bless us and help us. They do not have to agree with us on everything, but if we can feel the love of the Savior together and seek to share that with them, they will hopefully want to hold on to the gospel for that reason. To use Lehi’s parable, we have to keep tasting of the fruit. We can’t stay forever trying to just hold on to the iron rod, always focusing on keeping the commandments and studying the word, if it doesn’t also bring us to eat of the fruit which is “desirable above all” (1 Nephi 8:12). When the angel gave Nephi his marvelous vision, he learned after seeing the Savior what the tree really meant: “Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things.” I love the angel’s spontaneous response from his heart: “Yea, and the most joyous to the soul” (1 Nephi 11:22-23). Ultimately that is how must come to feel about the gospel deep down in our hearts: to feel the love of God and taste of His goodness is the most desirable of all experiences we can have.