Eyes to See, Ears to Hear

Austin and I were asked to speak in church on the topic "Eyes to See, Ears to Hear," based off the October 2015 Conference talk by Elder Kim B. Clark.

This was my talk:

I want you to imagine for a minute that you are both deaf and blind. Your world is dark and silent. You can even pretend if you want to close your eyes and plug your ears. I can guarantee that you wouldn’t last long like that. There are people in the world who are deafblind; those who can’t see or hear. One such person was Helen Keller. She is famous for all her accomplishments despite this disease. It’s all because her mentor, Anne Sullivan, taught her how to communicate by signing words on the palm of her hand.

Physically, being deafblind would be debilitating and challenging to say the least. But spiritually, we all have to overcome being deaf and blind, in at least some regard.

Just as Christ had the power to give sight to the blind and made the deaf to hear, He spiritually opens our eyes and ears so we can see and hear if we but have faith and follow Him.

And so, I want to compare Hellen Keller to each of us. We all have an Anne Sullivan, a mentor, who we know as our Savior, Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost, is what sign language was to Hellen. It opens the world to our spiritual senses so we can see and hear.

The question can be asked, “What does Christ open my eyes to see and my ears to hear?” I am going to refer to a talk President Russel M Nelson recently gave about True Millennials, the people of this generation. President Nelson urges us to learn who we really are. With ears to hear, we can hear the spirit whisper what he says is a life-changing truth about how Heavenly Father feels about you and your mission here on earth. President Nelson promised “that when you begin to catch even a glimpse of how your Heavenly Father sees you and what He is counting on you to do for Him, your life will never be the same!”

That sure sounds like something I would want to hear, don’t you agree?

Once you understand who you really are, your next task is to open your eyes to what Heavenly Father wants you to become. When you become someone the Lord can count on, you can change history. 

You may not believe me, but believe President Nelson. That’s what he said! He says, “You will be asked to accept challenging assignments and become an instrument in the Lord’s hands. And He will enable you to accomplish the impossible.”

So, how do you do that? How do we accomplish the impossible? Well, it seems we have gone in a circle because it comes back to having faith in Jesus Christ and learning how to hear the Holy Ghost so we can see what His plan is for us.

We learn to hear the Holy Ghost by spending more time in Holy places: the temple, the chapel, our homes, or anywhere you can escape from dark distractions. A holy place is wherever there is ground holy enough for a member of the Godhead, the Holy Ghost, to dwell. We invite the spirit into our homes by prayer, in temples by participating in sacred ordinances, and in our chapels by taking the sacrament. If you don’t find that your home is a holy place, make it one. Adorn your house with pleasing pictures, play appropriate music and tv shows, speak with love and kindness, and remember the phrase ‘cleanliness is next to godliness.’

Elder Kim B. Clark says that we can only have Eyes to see and ears to hear if we open our hearts and receive the Lord Jesus Christ, His doctrine, and His church into our lives. We do this by “taking His name upon us, acting with faith in His name, repenting of our sins, and keeping His commandments.” In other words, we take the Sacrament and our baptismal covenants seriously.

Prayer is key to having the spirit with you. Prayer invites the spirit and opens the door to which you go knocking. The mysteries of heaven can be unfolded to you if you but ask. And we better ask, because Elder Clark says, “Whatever level of spirituality or faith or obedience we now have, it will not be sufficient for the work that lies ahead. We need greater spiritual light and power.”

Service is yet another action that commits the spirit to being with us. If we serve with love, our hearts can be open to personal revelation because it is through service that we become more like Jesus Christ. What we should see and hear are all things that Christ would have us do, so it is that we will see and hear if we are “As He is.” What would Jesus do? Whatever Jesus did was seldom easy, seldom convenient, and was never for personal gain. Christ-like service requires sacrifice and selflessness. We need to be as Christ and clothe the naked, feed the hungry, liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and afflicted. We need to share the gospel and seek opportunities to bring others the joy that comes through knowing Christ.

We best hear the promptings of the spirit when we know what to listen for. Reading the scriptures and seeking out the words of the prophets can help us recognize the whisperings of the Holy Ghost and hear His voice.

Think back to the account of Third Nephi when Christ comes to visit the earth. Across the world, in Jerusalem, Christ had atoned, died, and his body lay in a sepulcher. For those three days, the Nephites experienced tempests, earthquakes, fires, whirlwinds, and utter darkness that covered the land. In the middle of the darkness, the people heard a voice. The voice was that of Christ telling them of the destruction of many people and cities and then inviting the people to come unto Him to be saved. 

Again, in the darkness, the people moaned and mourned for their great loss and Christ spoke to them a second time, saying that He would take the people under His wings as a hen gathereth her chicks. At the end of the three days, when the darkness ceased, another voice- that of the Father- was heard. It was not understood the first time, nor the second, but finally the third time did they understand the voice.

From this account, I noticed two things. Sometimes, it is easiest to hear the voice of Jesus Christ in the worst of times. When we are in despair and our world is coming to an end, Christ will be there. He will speak to us in our darkest hour and gather us under His wing. Our trials can bring us to hear and know Jesus Christ.

Second, if we don’t listen carefully we might not be able to hear the whisperings. It wasn’t until the third time that the people understood the voice of Heavenly Father. We need to make sure that we are allowing quiet time in our day so the spirit can speak to us. Likewise, we need to allow for spiritual growth. There are things that we might not understand at first, but after study, prayer, and learning, we can come to hear what God would have us hear.

What you will hear is something like the Nephites heard when their ears where opened the third time. “and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.”

Watch what happens next. When the people opened their ears, they heard the Father saying, “Behold, my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name- hear ye him.”

First they heard and then they saw. ” as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him.”

Once they saw, “the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.” Once they saw, they knew.

 16 And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying:

 17 Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.

With eyes to see and ears to hear, we can see Jesus Christ and know that He is our Savior and sing Hosanna to His name. It is through Him that we know our eternal potential. It is through Him that we have the potential to accomplish our design on earth. It is through Him that we have power to do all things.

It is of Him that the spirit testifies. It is Christ which we seek to bring into our homes, chapels, and temples. It is Him who we are trying to emulate and He who guides our lives. 

I hope that we all make Heavenly Father our first priority so that the spirit can abide with us. I learned a long time ago that there is always time for God. When I was in elementary school, I had a carpool to get to school. One morning, I distinctly remember running late and hurrying to the front window to wait for my ride. I was in such a rush, that I didn’t have time to say my prayers and didn’t that morning. Well, I should have. My ride was late and there was would have been time to pray. I learned from that little experience that there is always time for Heavenly Father.

I love the quote by President Benson that says, “When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities.”

That love is what opens our eyes and gives us ears to hear. It is because Heavenly Father loves us that he gave us the gift of the Holy Ghost, whereby we might know Him. I love my Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ and am eternally grateful for this gospel.