Saints Share Insights From Elder Bednar’s Visit to Kirtland, Ohio

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By Trent Toone, Church News

Payson Chapman is grateful he attended a stake devotional with Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and other Latter-day Saint leaders on Saturday, August 26.

The 17-year-old member of the Kirtland 1st Ward gained new spiritual perspectives on various topics, which he summarized:

• “We need to treat temples with the respect and care that they deserve and not take what we have for granted.
• “A testimony should be short and sweet. A testimony should be based on what you know to be true individually, your own truth and not about stories. That takes away from the Spirit. You want the Spirit to testify of those truths you know and spread that truth to others. It gave me a new perspective on what testimony is, and it got me thinking about what my testimony is and how I can maybe shorten some things and kind of sum it up, of what I believe and why I believe it.
• “Focus our intentions and our time on what matters most in life, and that is the gospel.”

Chapman was one of several members taught by the Holy Ghost while learning from an Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over the weekend.

Elder Bednar participated in two devotionals while in Kirtland to dedicate the newly restored Joseph and Emma Smith Home — a devotional with historic sites missionaries on Friday, August 25, and a devotional with the Kirtland Ohio Stake on Saturday, August 26.

Newsroom Elder Bednar Dedicates Joseph and Emma Smith’s Restored Home in Kirtland

Following each devotional, missionaries and members shared what the Spirit taught them while listening to Elder Bednar’s teachings.

Historic Sites Missionary Devotional

Elder Bednar and his wife, Sister Susan Bednar, met in the Historic Kirtland Visitors’ Center with a small group of senior couples and sister missionaries serving in the Church’s Ohio Historic Sites Mission.

The missionaries prepared for the devotional by reading several of Elder Bednar’s talks on topics such as repentance, obedience, and becoming converted unto the Lord. Elder Bednar then invited them to share what they had learned. He also answered questions. Among the topics discussed were faith as a principle of action, prayer, apostolic blessings and priesthood blessings.

Elder John Sowards and his wife, Sister Cindy Sowards, senior missionaries from Colorado, said the tender experience was like a spiritual buffet. The interactive methods allowed the Holy Ghost to teach each person at their own spiritual level.

One lesson Elder Sowards learned is to “always accept the Lord’s will and timing.”

Sister Taylor Tustian, Ohio Sites Mission and Texas Dallas West Mission, learned about listening.

“I feel like I learned how to listen, and listen to what the Spirit was saying to me instead of just the words that were being said,” she said. “My heart is so full of joy, and I just feel so much love. It was an amazing experience.”

Sister Adi Mitchell, Ohio Sites Mission and Florida Jacksonville Mission: “I learned that everybody feels the Spirit in different ways.”

Elder Kenneth Hansen, of Highland, Utah: “I need to make sure I am acting and not being acted upon, and I can do that by following the Holy Ghost.”

At the end of the meeting, Elder Bednar paid tribute to one senior missionary, Elder Robert Johnson, of Suisun City, California, for the being “one of the most energetic choristers of all-time” after watching him reverently bounce and wave his arms to the rhythm of each musical number.

“That meant the world to me,” Elder Johnson said.

His wife, Sister Maxine Johnson, added one lesson she learned: “The Holy Ghost teaches us through inspired questions.”

Kirtland Stake Devotional

Hundreds of Latter-day Saints from the Kirtland stake packed into the chapel and cultural hall to meet with Elder Bednar on Saturday afternoon.

Elder Bednar was accompanied by Sister Bednar; Elder Kyle S. McKay, a General Authority Seventy and the Church’s historian and recorder, and his wife, Sister Jennifer McKay; Elder Allen D. Haynie, a General Authority Seventy who serves as the Church’s North America Northeast Area President, and his wife, Sister Deborah Haynie; and Bishop L. Todd Budge, Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, and his wife, Sister Lori Budge.

In plain language, the Apostle encouraged members to testify concisely of what they know to be true by the power of the Holy Ghost and omit unnecessary explanations and stories. To conclude the devotional, Elder and Sister Bednar and his fellow Church leaders and their spouses bore brief testimonies of the living reality and divinity of the Father and The Son — and of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the latter days.

“I learned the power of keeping your testimony short and sweet. It is true that we tend to get long-winded in our testimonies, but we should keep them short and sweet,” said Alan Mowrey, a Latter-day Saint husband and father in the Kirtland Stake.

Jessy Jackson, 17, said hearing the Church leaders’ testimonies was her favorite part of the devotional.

“I feel like a lot of the time testimonies are like ‘this happened to me because of this, and so I feel this way,’” Jackson said. “But he taught us to say only what you believe, be short, simple and strong, and I really felt the Spirit then.”

Jackson also felt a powerful spirit when Elder Bednar invited the members to sing the closing number — “Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise” — twice.

“He had us sing it twice to feel the Spirit stronger, and because it would be a cool, memorable experience,” the teenager said. “I thought that was amazing.”

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