“Celestial Training in a Telestial World” by Sheri L. Dew | BYU Women's Conference, 2023

[Music] this presentation was given at the BYU Women's Conference on May 5th 2023 [Music] good morning [Applause] are you glad you're here are you glad you're here [Applause] I'm glad I'm here I always love coming to the Marriott Center uh I was thinking as I drove down this morning I don't know if I should admit this or not but I've been coming to the Marriott Center for yep count them 50 years to watch BYU play basketball let me just say that when BYU plays basketball here this place rocks it's amazing go cougars just had to

say that [Applause] but it also rocks a Women's Conference thank you because the spirit cannot be restrained when covenant-keeping women gather so thank you for coming thank you for making this place Rock today I pray that the spirit will be here with us and will teach each of us we're here for a little same boat therapy because we're all in the same boat right we're here in mortality or what C.S Lewis called enemy occupied territory together Moroni warned us to be wise in the days of our probation and we have been wise we have identified

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the Lord's restored church but that is only the beginning because the purpose of the church is not to just help us cope with living in this Celestial world or even to prepare us for the terrestrial Kingdom it is to prepare us for the Celestial Kingdom when we were baptized and then made additional covenants in the temple we essentially signed up for Celestial training now any kind of training is tough training stretches us that's what training does but Celestial training in a Celestial world is the most rigorous

training on Earth because the object of celestial training is to help us become better and better Disciples of Jesus Christ and what could be more demanding than that Celestial training in a tea lestrol world is not for the faint of heart but take heart we're probably doing better than we think a few years ago my stake president began a state Council by asking us how close we felt we were to the Celestial Kingdom we him and had and explained that we had a long way to go some even said they weren't sure if they would

ever be Celestial material our stake present let us ring our hands for quite a while and finally he said would you like to know how close you are to the Celestial Kingdom you are shockingly close I was kind of shocked by a statement but I also felt a confirming wave of the spirit when he said it and he then explained look you're on the Covenant path you're exercising faith and repenting you've made covenants and you're keeping them and you're trying to progress you don't realize how close you are you are shockingly close sisters here here

you are at Women's Conference you've come to be taught by the spirit okay maybe you came for some mint brownies and cougar tails how many cougar Tails did you eat yesterday but you're also here for spiritual food you're here either because you're on or want to get on the Covenant path we are probably all closer to the Celestial Kingdom than we realize perhaps shockingly close but that doesn't mean we've got it made this year I celebrate one of those big birthdays you know one with a zero on the end I don't know how I got

this old I don't know if it's my age or just something kind of in the cosmos but I keep being asked a question that goes something like this Sherry has your testimony ever seriously been threatened I guess the short answer to that is no I've never struggled to believe that God is my father or that Jesus is the Christ or that his gospel was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith or that the Book of Mormon is the word of God or that we have a living prophet I know all those things are true I have

a testimony but at times more than you would think I have struggled to feel that there's a place for me in the church and I have been hurt at times by feeling judged by some church members so when I admit those things the follow-up question is always well then how have you stayed faithful and that is what I'd like to talk with you about today I've spent much of my life dealing with words I've had the privilege of being the publisher for many of the most articulate most faithful Minds in our culture and I've learned

two things from this first that words are powerful and second that the Lord cares about words and he always has perhaps in part because of these words quote in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God close quote one of the names of Jesus Christ is the word further throughout scripture prophets have admonished us to believe their words for as Nephi declared they are the words of Christ Enoch is a powerful case study of the power of prophetic words remember how he protested when the Lord called him

to prophesy to the people all the people hate me and for I am slow of speech wherefore am I thy servant but the Lord's response to Enoch is telling he promised Enoch that if he would just open his mouth it would be filled I will give the utterance the Lord said and did he ever for so great was the faith of Enoch that he spake the word of the Lord and the Earth trembled and the mountains fled and all the nations feared greatly so powerful was the word of enig and so great was the power

of the language which God had given him from the earliest days of this dispensation the Lord's prophets have gone to heroic lengths to publish words that communicate the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ The Book of Mormon was published before the church was even organized and the publication of that book required so many miracles that it almost makes parting the Red Sea look a little ho-hum and that was just the beginning while the fledgling church was being chased out of New York then Ohio then Missouri and then Illinois the Prophet Joseph and other leaders

managed to publish truth there was the elders journal and the messenger and advocate in Kirtland the evening in the morning star in Independence the times and seasons in Nauvoo the Millennials star in England when the saints were in Dire Straits in Winter quarters Brigham Young dispatched w w Phelps to the east coast to do what buy a printing press I mean seriously it took Brother Phelps more than two years to buy and transport the heavy press across the plains so that publishing could continue in the Salt Lake Valley which it did in 1850 with the

first edition of the Deseret News many other Publications followed the woman's exponent and the Relief Society magazine the young women's journal the conference report the new era the instructor the Improvement era the juvenile instructor The Seer the Anson the liahona the friend desra book The Church news come follow me I could go on and on the church has been and is a prolific publisher as members of the Lord's restored church we care about words that is how we teach and testify it is how we lift each other and communicate what we believe it is even

how we work miracles the lectures on faith states that Faith Works by words and with words its mightiest Works have been and will be performed words have power so here's the rub because the Lord cares about words so does the adversary Satan understands the power of the word meaning the Savior and he also knows the power of our words when we testify of Truth every time we use words to teach truth we dilute the evidence the efforts of the adversary surely the war in heaven was at least in part a war of words for there

was war in heaven Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon fought and his angels and prevailed not and the Great Dragon was cast out that old serpent called the devil which deceiveth the whole world somehow Lucifer was persuasive enough in his Rebellion that even in the presence of the father and the son he managed to deceive most likely through words a host of heavenly father's children but scripture also makes it very clear that we you and I who did not felt did not fall for the adversary's deceptions overcame him by the

blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony the Lord cares about words so is it any surprise that in these last days the war of words the war between truth and deception has reached a fever pitch ironically the glut of information available at our fingertips makes finding and Discerning truth more challenging than ever never in the history of the world have people been so saturated with the philosophies of man it is possible to consume an endless diet of content Today podcast blogs movies YouTube Tick Tock Instagram Snapchat Hulu Netflix and cable channels

Galore this is more than sampling hors d'oeuvres it is gorging on a 10 course meal every day what happens to our hearts and Minds when we consume ours days years of words with most of them coming from those who know nothing about the Gospel of Jesus Christ do the words we consume invite the spirit or drive them away then add in the emergence of artificial intelligence such as chat gbt the other day a colleague asked the chat gbt website who is Sherry do within seconds it generated a bio on me that got my birthday my

birthplace and my church membership right then it said I was Time magazine's 2003 woman of the year I wasn't it said I had an MBA from Harvard I don't wish I did but I don't but because it started with truth it all looked true I know their colleague was in the room watching all this said Sherry I didn't know you were Time magazine's woman of the year for the second time I said I wasn't trust me I'm gonna get introduced somewhere as times woman of the year artificial intelligence has remarkable capabilities but it can also

produce deep fakes instantly you may have seen a recent photo online of Pope Francis in a stylish white puffy jacket did you see that except it was not him the photo was fake artificial intelligence will only make it more challenging more difficult to discern what is true and what is not in short we're inundated by words from family friends journalists leaders authors Scholars podcasters talk about a war of words and a tumult of opinions Joseph Smith's description of his day describes ours perfectly further complicating this issue is a tactic The Book of Mormon warns us

about repeatedly the tactic of flattery on the surface flattery Probably sounds harmless I mean how serious can it be when someone tells you that you did something well when you pretty well know you didn't but flattery is far more Insidious than false praise flattery is defined as the act of quote gratifying by falsification and cajoling beguiling and playing upon one's vanities in other words flattery means telling people what they want to hear and it is one of the most seductive ways to gain followers look at any Christ any Antichrist in the Book of Mormon or

for that matter anyone seeking followers for themselves in every case he or she is a master of flattery the Antichrist sharim is a classic example quote he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people wherefore he could use much flattery and much power of speech according to the power of the devil close quote some flattery is probably harmless but the instant that flattery is used to persuade you to believe something you would have never believed otherwise it becomes a diabolical tool in fact the prophet Jacob taught that flattery is designed to quote overthrow

the doctrine of Christ because it draws its power from the power of the devil politicians use flattery to get your vote companies use it to sell you stuff influencers use it to get you to support them and their agenda no doubt flattery helped create the myths of Darkness Lehi saw in his vision of the Tree of Life beware of those who tell you what you want to hear so our challenge as Disciples of Christ is to do again here in mortality what we did pre-mortally remember we overcame Lucifer by the blood of the lamb and

by the word of their testimony so in today's war of words will we again discern what is true and while we again choose to follow Jesus Christ those questions are why Celestial training is so important because it immerses Us in words that are true so where do we go for Celestial training well there are quite a few places but today let's examine two places we can go where the words have unusual power the temple and Prophets of God first the temple I did not receive my endowment until I was 29. and candidly I didn't love

the experience so I didn't go back very often for a couple of years then one day my State president asked me how my temple attendance was not what it should be I admitted paused and he looked at me and then he just said Sherry just go there was no lecture no guilt induction it was just a gentle nudge I promised him that I would and I said a modest goal to attend more often which wasn't hard to do because I wasn't attending so I set a goal and I started to go and at first I

went out of sheer obedience but after a while I realized that I felt different after being in the temple I felt stronger yes spiritually stronger but I felt emotionally stronger that's when I started wanting to understand what was happening to me there what had I been endowed with in the house of the Lord I poured over section 109 of the Doctrine and Covenants where it says that in the temple we receive a fullness of the Holy Ghost what did that mean it says that we emerged from the temple armed with the power of God well

the power of God is priesthood power but what did that mean for me as a woman it says that angels will have charge over me how does that work could I ask for angels to help me section 109 sort of exploded my mind it certainly opened my mind and led me to many many other scriptures little by little and over a long period of time I begin to learn about the profound spiritual privileges we receive by making covenants in the house of the Lord in the temple we Covenant to live five laws the laws of

obedience sacrifice the Gospel of Jesus Christ Chastity and consecration in return the Lord promises to endow Us gift us with knowledge power and spiritual capacity the temple teaches us how to progress even while we're still living here it is Celestial training at its best regular time in the temple has saved me it has buffered disappointment and loneliness helped me endure pressures that would have otherwise crushed me and help me solve problems I could have never solved alone it has reduced my anxieties because I am endowed with godly power and it has helped me learn to

receive Revelation I've learned and you've probably learned that the Lord likes to do his own teaching in his own house as I Was preparing this very message I went to the temple one day thinking I was pretty well close to done I sat down in an endowment session and immediately heard three specific sentences I needed to add that kind of thing doesn't happen very often but sometimes it does president Russell Nelson explained why there is such power in the temple the temple lies at the center of strengthening our faith because the Savior and his Doctrine

are at the very heart of the Temple as we keep our covenants he endows us with his healing strengthening power and oh how we will need his power in the days ahead so I offer you the counsel from my stake president many years ago just go and keep going it will literally change your life because the words in the temple comprise the most Celestial training on Earth now a few words about Prophets I declare without reservation that the most important words being spoken on Earth today are those from Prophets seers and revelators some of their

words are to worldwide congregations and others to an audience of one or two but their words always have power during a recent meeting with President Nelson I had a chance to scan an extensive document that lists the dignitaries with whom he has met since becoming president of the church it was an impressive list of ambassadors religious leaders and much more I asked the president how many on the list he had actually invited to come and meet with him and he said none of them each of these individuals requested an audience with the first presidency at

Church headquarters surely Isaiah's prophecy that the Lord's Church would be established in the top of the mountains and that all nations would flow into it is coming to pass before our very eyes as one recent example the ambassador to the U.S from a country in Eastern Europe met with the first presidency early this year afterwards the Ambassador told those hosting him at Church Headquarters that he had met with rulers all over the world but had never had an experience quite like the one with the first presidency he subsequently encouraged a Muslim leader in his region

to visit Utah to have his own experience with the first presidency which that leader did in a subsequent interview with the Deseret News the Muslim leader described his experience with the first presidency as quote unquote Unforgettable and added that he only wished he had come sooner I've witnessed similar reactions to Prophets when President Nelson arrived at the Government Palace in Lima in 2018 to meet with Peru's president a tour guide was standing nearby as president Nelson stepped out of the car who is that man the guide asked those of us standing there before we could

respond she called out to president Nelson will you please bless Peru president Nelson could have been any government official dressed in a suit how did she know that he actually could bless Peru at a press conference to announce joint initiatives between the church and the NAACP in June of 2021 the Reverend Amos C Brown pastor of San Francisco's storied Third Baptist Church stepped to the podium turned to president Nelson and then said for all to hear you are the quintessential embodiment of the best leadership in the faith community of the United States of America anywhere

to be found South of Heaven north of hell hahaha he said it was more energy than I said it then just three weeks ago Dr Lawrence Edward Carter the dean of the Martin Luther King Jr International Chapel at Morehouse College presented president Nelson with the inaugural Gandhi King Mandela Peace Prize in doing so Dr Carter cited president Nelson for now listen to these words quote his Noble efforts to heal and reunite the broken body of Christ quote imagine of all the individuals this very prestigious black college could have honored they chose the president of the

church why do dignitaries from around the world feel drawn to Prophets seers and revelators why do we feel something unique when President Russell M Nelson president down H Oaks president Henry B eyring and any member of the Quorum of The Twelve Apostles speaks or walks into the room it is because they are not like any other leaders on Earth they have been ordained as special Witnesses of the name of Christ and all the world and according to the Prophet Joseph Smith they possess all the keys that ever were or that can be conferred upon mortal

man it is the presence of these restored priesthood keys they hold that we feel when prophets enter the room it's not the presence of the man it's the presence of their keys I submit to you today that because of their unique ordination and the spiritual privilege that accompanied these priesthood keys profit seers and revelators are the most Dependable source source of Truth on Earth Ammon explained why a Seer is a Revelator and a prophet also and a gift which is greater can no man have a Seer can know of things which are to come and

by them shall all things be revealed and hidden things shall come to light and things which are not known shall be made known by them prophet seers and revelators can see things you and I cannot see celebrities politicians journalists Scholars billionaires presidents of the finest universities and even your favorite podcaster cannot see what Sears can see none of these influencers hold all priesthood Keys prophets are just not the same as other people they are in a category of Their Own I still find an article written by an Associated Press reporter when President Nelson became president

of the church comical he predicted that quote Nelson's record during his three decades in church leadership suggests he will make few changes close quote funny huh five years later that statement is obviously absurd that's because no journalist or author or broadcaster or YouTube influencer however talented they may be can see the future none of them are ordained as special Witnesses of Jesus Christ that is why prophets don't say the same things your favorite social media influencer says that is why prophets don't mince words and sometimes rub people the wrong way when prophets teach the doctrine

of Christ and the great plan of God the Father himself there are those who don't like how it sounds because it is foreign to the 21st century saturated ear lier Jeffrey R Holland referred to this when he said that too often today quote if people want any Gods at all they want them to be Gods who do not demand much comfortable Gods smooth Gods who not only Don't Rock the Boat but don't even row it Gods who Pat us on the head make us a giggle then tell us to run along and pick marigolds Celestial

training as taught by prophets often feels incongruent with this Celestial world because it is complicating matters are self-appointed watchdogs some of them are own members who feel compelled to censure the church and its leaders when they don't like what our leaders say or do but isn't criticizing the Lord's prophets actually criticizing the Lord prophets are his Messengers be wary of those who think they are smarter than Prophets be wary of those who pressure prophets to conform to the philosophies and practices of men beware of those who try to silence prophets when they don't conform now

some Skeptics claim that following the prophet is blind obedience but there's nothing blind about it for a covenant-making woman or man following the prophet is not blind obedience it's active discipleship not to mention just being plain old smart because Sears see things we can't yet see there are of course those who will challenge this statement and cite mistakes prophets have made in the past I am not suggesting the prophets are perfect because they aren't the scriptures are full of imperfect Prophets Jesus Christ is the only perfect being to live on this Earth but just days

before his martyrdom Joseph Smith made a an important distinction between his personal weaknesses and his prophetic role quote I never told you I was perfect he said but there is no error in the revelations which I have taught Prophet series and revelers continue to learn just as we do so for that reason some may wonder about church policies that change were the earlier policies wrong honestly I don't know but it seems just as likely that changes in policy reflect the maturing of the church itself not to mention armaturing as its members president Nelson has repeatedly

stressed that the restoration is ongoing if you think the church has been fully restored you're just seeing the beginning there is much more to come wait till next year eat your vitamin pills get your rest it's going to be exciting policies change Doctrine does not so if profits Sears and revelators are not perfect then why should we trust them any more than anyone else because they are the most infallible leaders on Earth in addition to the priesthood keys they hold the unique organizational structure of the church protects us no one leader even the senior Apostle

acts alone as decreed by Revelation every decision made by the first presidency and Quorum of The Twelve Apostles must be unanimous President James E Faust said that the requirement of unanimity provides a check on bias and personal idiosyncrasies it ensures that God rules through the spirit not man through majority or compromise and president Nelson has explained that in their meetings of the first presidency in the Quorum of The Twelve the majority never rules we listen prayerfully to one another until we are united then when we have reached a complete Accord the unifying influence of the

Holy Ghost is spine tingling no member of the first presidency or Quorum of The Twelve would ever leave decisions for the Lord's Church to his own best judgment there's another reason to trust prophets and it is their motives they are not in this for themselves they aren't seeking votes or money or fame or popularity their only objective is the Everlasting welfare of our souls Elder Jeffrey R Holland said it this way this is not a fairy tale this is not something that I get up every morning and ask myself how can I go fool another

group of people today my plea every morning of my life is how can I convey what I know to be more true than anything on the face of this Earth I have a commission to stand by the savior of the world to defend him and defend the rock that he is when a missionary asked Elder Holland if he would give his life for the church he responded with some energy Elder I am giving my life for the church the motives of profit seers and revelators today are the same as Nephi's for the fullness of my

intent Nephi wrote is that I may persuade men to come into the god of Abraham and the god of Isaac and the god of Jacob and be saved in today's war of words the words of prophets cut through the den and lead us to Christ that is their motive prophets always lead us to Christ most importantly even the senior Apostle the prophet is not the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Jesus Christ is and he is perfect when we follow the prophet we are actually placing our trust in God the father

and in his son Jesus Christ they are our ultimate protectors of the more than eight billion people on the Earth today the Lord has entrusted just 15 men with his restored priesthood keys wouldn't we want to listen to them first and wouldn't we want to listen to them most now dear sisters let's end where we began we're preparing for the Celestial Kingdom and none of us will be happy with anything less than that our Celestial training here is rigorous but we are closer to our goal than we think maybe even shockingly close we are however

exposed daily to a war of words but this challenge presents a tremendous opportunity because the words of covenant-keeping women have unusual power remember the 2000 Stripling Warriors whose mothers taught them that if they did not doubt God would deliver them remember how they explained the source of their faith they rehearse the words of their mothers saying we do not doubt our mothers knew it president Russell M Nelson has said that quote women are our hope for the future they cannot Wonder or wander when it comes to being teachers of irrefutable truth the words Covenant mothers

grandmothers sisters daughters aunts leaders teachers and Friends have such unusual power to mold lives to touch hearts and to build faith sisters you and I we have the ability to lift strengthen fortify encourage and testify of Truth in a way that literally changes lives we are so blessed to be here now we have a ringside seat for the Gathering of Israel what could be more exciting than that we have been trusted to carry the banner of Truth in the latter part of the latter days let us link arms as a worldwide Sisterhood committed to using

our words to Bear witness of Truth because our words have power I testify that Jesus Christ is our savior as president Nelson said to close General Conference just last month whatever our dilemmas Jesus Christ is the answer that is why the temple and Prophets are so crucial the words of Prophets lead us to Christ the words of the temple bind us to him and in his strength we can do all things I know this is true I testify it is true in the sacred name of the word even Jesus Christ amen [Music] this presentation was

given at the BYU Women's Conference on May 5th 2023