FAIR

Faithful Study Resources for Come, Follow Me

Consider Conference: Pillars and Rays

by

2024 April General Conference, Sunday Morning Session

Pillars and Rays

Elder Alexander Dushku
Of the Seventy

Main Points

  • We too can have our own pillar of light—one ray at a time.
  • No two people experience God’s light and truth in exactly the same way.
  • Most of us receive truth line upon line, not in one big revelation

Gospel Principles taught

 Jesus Christ, The Holy Ghost, Faith in Christ,

Gospel Doctrine taught

Restoration, Prophets

Scriptures

Joseph Smith—History 1:10–13, Joseph Smith—History 1:14–16, Joseph Smith—History 1:17, Joseph Smith—History 1:20, Mosiah 16:9, Doctrine and Covenants 84:46; John 1:9, Doctrine and Covenants 88:12–13, Doctrine and Covenants 6:23, Doctrine and Covenants 8:2; Helaman 5:30, Mosiah 5:2; Doctrine and Covenants 11:12, 2 Nephi 4:21; Helaman 5:44, Doctrine and Covenants 46:13–14, Doctrine and Covenants 18:35–36, Mosiah 2:17; Moroni 7:45–48, 1 Nephi 1:20, Helaman 5:9–12, Doctrine and Covenants 20:77, 79, Moroni 10:3–4, Doctrine and Covenants 88:40, Alma 32:35, Doctrine and Covenants 50:24, Alma 32:41

Other Sources

 Joseph Smith, Journal, Nov. 9–11, 1835, 24

Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith Chapter 23: Receiving a Testimony of Jesus Christ

Related talks: 

Look for Jesus Christ:

  • Testimony of Christ.
    • Jesus Christ “is the light and … life of the world” 
    • Christ’s “Spirit giveth light to every man [and woman] that cometh into the world”
    • His light “fill[s] the immensity of space” 
    • His light gives “life to all things.”
    • I bear witness of Jesus Christ, that He is the light and life of the whole world—and of your personal world and mine.
    • I testify that He is the true and living Son of the true and living God and that He stands at the head of this true and living Church, guided and directed by His true and living prophets and apostles.
  • Description of His Teachings.
    • The Lord teaches truth line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little.”
    • The Lord’s typical pattern, brothers and sisters. Rather than sending us a pillar of light, the Lord sends us a ray of light, and then another, and another.

Inspiring Words & Phrases

  • My message is for those who worry about their testimony because they haven’t had overwhelming spiritual experiences.
  • The Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ began with an explosion of light and truth!
  • All that, and much more, began with a boy’s desperate prayer and a pillar of light.
  • One of the great truths of the Restoration is that the heavens are open—that we too can receive light and knowledge from on high. I testify that is true.
  • One of the great truths of the Restoration is that the heavens are open—that we too can receive light and knowledge from on high. I testify that is true.
  • But we must be wary of a spiritual trap. Sometimes faithful Church members become discouraged and even drift away because they haven’t had overwhelming spiritual experiences—because they haven’t experienced their own pillar of light.
  • President Spencer W. Kimball warned, “Always expecting the spectacular, many will miss entirely the constant flow of revealed communication.”
  • Rather than sending us a pillar of light, the Lord sends us a ray of light, and then another, and another.
  • The Light of Christ is literally all around us.
  • Perhaps you were reading in the Book of Mormon and a verse spoke to your soul, as if God had put it there just for you—and then you realized that He did.
  • Brothers and sisters, I have not seen a pillar of light, but, like you, I have experienced many divine rays. Over the years, I’ve tried to treasure such experiences. I find that as I do, I recognize and remember even more of them.
  • I remember studying and praying desperately to receive a more certain witness of Jesus Christ. Then one day, as I pled with Heavenly Father, I felt a powerful sense of light and warmth. And I knew. I just knew.
  • You have had your own experiences—your own light-filled bursts of testimony. As we recognize, remember, and gather these rays “together in one,” something wonderful and powerful begins to happen. “Light cleaveth unto light”—“truth embraceth truth.” The reality and power of one ray of testimony reinforces and combines with another, and then another, and another. Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a ray and there a ray—one small, treasured spiritual moment at a time—there grows up within us a core of light-filled, spiritual experiences. Perhaps no one ray is strong enough or bright enough to constitute a full testimony, but together they can become a light that the darkness of doubt cannot overcome.
  • In time and through “great diligence,” we too can have our own pillar of light—one ray at a time. And in the midst of that pillar, we too will find a loving Heavenly Father calling us by name, pointing us to our Savior, Jesus Christ, and inviting us to “Hear Him!”
  • May we recognize and receive His glorious light and then choose Him over the darkness of the world—always and forever.

Lists

We have needs just like Joseph did:

  • Freedom from spiritual confusion. 
  • Freedom from worldly darkness.
  • The need to know for ourselves.

The restoration brought a flood of:

  • Divine revelation
  • New scripture
  • Restored priesthood keys
  • Apostles
  • Prophets
  • Ordinances
  • Covenants
  • Reestablishment of the true and living church

We are ‘living in revelation’ (worthy to receive these divine rays constantly) if:

  • We have received the gift of the Holy Ghost 
  • We are striving to exercise faith
  • We are striving to repent
  • We honor our covenants

Different ways we experience the light and Spirit of the Lord:

  • Peace spoken to your mind about something that has worried you
  • An impression to do something good
  • A desire to follow Jesus Christ
  • A desire to be faithful
  • Felt that the testimony you shared was true
  • Felt an assurance that God loves you
  • Someone else’s testimony of Christ touches you and gives you hope
  • A verse in the Book of Mormon seems to be just for you
  • Felt love of God as you serve others
  • Remember past tender mercies

Invitations/Challenges

  • “Immerse yourself in the glorious light of the Restoration.” (Russell M. Nelson)
  • May we recognize and receive His glorious light and then choose Him over the darkness of the world—always and forever.

Warnings

  • But we must be wary of a spiritual trap. Sometimes faithful Church members become discouraged and even drift away because they haven’t had overwhelming spiritual experiences—because they haven’t experienced their own pillar of light.
  • President Spencer W. Kimball warned, “Always expecting the spectacular, many will miss entirely the constant flow of revealed communication.” 

Blessings/Promises

  • in time and through “great diligence,” we too can have our own pillar of light—one ray at a time. And in the midst of that pillar, we too will find a loving Heavenly Father calling us by name, pointing us to our Savior, Jesus Christ, and inviting us to “Hear Him!”

Stories:

  •  Elder Dushku tells the story of Joseph Smith. “And then, “at the very moment when [he’s] ready to sink into despair and abandon [him]self to destruction,” when he doesn’t know if he can hang on any longer, a glorious brilliance fills the grove, scattering the darkness and the enemy of his soul.” The answer to his question was given when a pillar of light appeared in the grove, with the Father and the Son.
  • Elder Dushku remembers being a rowdy teenager at a baptism and having the Spirit urge him to sit down and be reverent.
  • He recounts how he received a more sure witness of Christ before his mission.
  • “Being awakened one night years later by a feeling of “pure intelligence” telling me I would be called to serve in the elders quorum.”
  • “I remember a general conference where a beloved member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke the exact words of testimony I had told a friend I hoped to hear.”
  • I remember kneeling with hundreds of brethren to pray for a dear friend who lay unconscious on a ventilator in a small, faraway hospital after his heart had stopped. As we united our own hearts to plead for his life, he woke up and pulled the ventilator out of his own throat. He serves today as a stake president.
  • And I remember waking up with strong spiritual feelings after a vivid dream of a dear friend and mentor who passed away far too early, leaving an enormous hole in my life. He was smiling and joyful. I knew he was OK.

Application Ideas

  1. Take some time to think about how you experience the light and Spirit of the Lord. Write your observations in a journal or your study journal. Revisit and revise your comments over time.
  2. Over the next month, spend a week focusing on each of the items under “living in revelation.” Write about your experiences or share them with a trusted friend.
  3. Honestly evaluate whether or not you are being aware of the spiritual trap Elder Dushku mentions. Ask Heavenly Father for a desire to overcome and weakness you may find.