‘Testimonies Are cumulative,’ President Lund Teaches Missionaries at MTC Devotional

An advertising executive recently told Young Men General President Steven J. Lund that a good brand needs three things — to be short, memorable and singable.

President Lund’s friend then wondered for years why the Lord’s Church had such a long name — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Then one day, it occurred to me,” the man told President Lund. “That name isn’t a brand at all. It’s a testimony.”

Encouraging missionaries to follow President Russell M. Nelson’s charge to use the full name of the Lord’s Church as a starting point in missionary work, President Lund taught about growing one’s testimony as he and his wife, Sister Kalleen Lund, spoke in a March 5 Provo Missionary Training Center devotional.

“Knowledge of such things comes in degrees, layers, flashes of light, experience and inspiration that comes. It’s cumulative in nature,” President Lund said. “The more experience we have, the more we learn, the more like that we can be. Testimonies like that don’t come all at once; they accumulate.”

Flashes of Light

Reflecting on an experience he previously shared in a 2022 BYU devotional, President Lund remembered driving across a bridge in the early morning darkness. Walls on both sides blocked his view, yet after crossing, he somehow knew to turn back and see boats on a large body of water. How did he know? The walls on the bridge had slits that offered little snapshots or flashes of light.

The experience taught President Lund that little experiences here and there — “Sunday school lessons and prayers said” — provide testimony-building “flashes of insight that there is more to this world than is readily known to us,” he said.

“You, too, know more than you think you know. I wouldn’t have ever had this realization if I hadn’t thought to turn back to see. And if you will turn back and see, you will discover in your life, up to this moment and throughout your mission and throughout your life, that Heavenly Father will send you telegraphic signals, alerting you to the fact that you are not alone and that you are part of something amazing. I can truthfully say to you that I know that the Church is true.”

‘More to Learn’

President Lund recently heard a little girl bear her testimony and say, “I know the Church is true.” He heard the same words from a member of a bishopric who is suffering from brain cancer. How can they both make that statement? While the little girl may not know it like the older member knows it, they can still both have a testimony and say those words — “because testimonies are cumulative,” he said.

“They come in waves, and they come in stages, and they come in layers, as we have experiences with the divine.”

Consider the experience of Joseph Smith going to pray about which church to join. He already had faith in God and the words of James before kneeling in the grove.

“Why did he go?” President Lund said. “He went because there was so much more to learn. Testimonies are cumulative things.”

In his search for light and truth, Joseph described being thrust into darkness before experiencing various levels of heavenly light and divine brightness.

“The adversity that came to him became part of his testimony of the coming light,” President Lund said. “On your missions, you may have some dark days, but it will become part of the beauty of your mission and your testimony.”

Discomfort for Christ

Sister Lund spoke of their daughter receiving a mission call to Korea, where she struggled to learn the language and share the gospel. When she could do nothing else, she focused on eating and being grateful for the food, smiling a lot and praying for others.

“She wondered what she could do to contribute to these beautiful people and to her mission and to her God, when she so struggled to communicate any of the lovely things in her heart,” Sister Lund said.

She grew to care about one man they were teaching and was devastated when her companion decided to stop teaching him because he wasn’t keeping his commitments.

She asked her companion to help her write the man a letter expressing her love as a missionary for him and the gospel, and why it mattered to her. She pleaded for the man to give it one more try.

The man was so touched by her letter that he began reading the Book of Mormon. The Spirit touched his heart, and he was eventually baptized.

Sister Lund taught that any discomfort felt in the mission field is worth it to bring souls to Jesus Christ.

“Thank you for being willing to go and share this precious, precious message of the reality of Jesus Christ and His amazing plan for us,” she said. “It is really worth any discomfort that you may feel, and you’ll feel some. Don’t be afraid to sit in discomfort for a while. Think of it as your special gift for Him.”

What Missionaries Learned

Following the devotional, missionaries talked about what they learned from President Lund and Sister Lund’s messages.

“It taught me that we have such a big responsibility and a blessing to be here at this time, that God is giving us these teachers and these instructions so that we can take it and go forth and be the future examples for people in the Church. I feel really blessed and inspired,” said Sister Elizabeth Harper, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, assigned to the Japan Sapporo Mission.

Elder Will Van Ry, of Buffalo, New York, assigned to the Norway Oslo Mission said, “What I learned just helps confirm the truths that I knew about the Church and about Jesus Christ.”

President Lund’s talk about the growth of testimonies resonated with Sister Macy Dupaix, of Cottonwood Heights, Utah, who is assigned to the Japan Tokyo South Mission.

“I loved how he talked about testimonies coming in waves,” she said. “As a missionary, I’ve only been here for three weeks, and my testimony has grown so much.”

Elder Jaxon Weaver, of Highland, Utah, also assigned to the Norway Oslo Mission, said, “You can always receive an answer through the Holy Ghost — it might take time — but you always will receive an answer.”