Why Do I Write So Much About Hearing Him?

    For the past several months, I've made it a point to think and write a lot about Hearing Him, or about receiving personal revelation. I've quoted President Nelson's conference talk where he invited each of us to work on this, and I've tried to explain many thoughts and goals on different parts of it. The simple answer for why I write so much about it would be that I have faith in the words God speaks to us through His prophets. I would like to share something that has helped me lay a strong foundation for that faith.

 

When I was a young man, President Gordon B. Hinckley was the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; In October 1998, he shared these words in a conference talk:

...the time has come to get our houses in order. So many of our people are living on the very edge of their incomes. In fact, some are living on borrowings.

Later, after discussing the need to avoid borrowing, especially staying out of credit card and other consumer debt:

I recognize that it may be necessary to borrow to get a home, of course. But let us buy a home that we can afford and thus ease the payments which will constantly hang over our heads without mercy or respite for as long as 30 years.

I was 14 when he gave that talk; along with that talk, I remember the many similar teachings he shared in subsequent general conferences, articles in the Ensign, church pamphlets, and so on that discussed the same principles. By the time I was in a position to buy a home, my wife and I had heard these principles hundreds of times, and to this day if I hear the words "modest home" my mind immediately jumps to President Hinckley. Of course, as a young adult I saw the housing market collapse, and many people around me - both inside and outside the church - struggled. Like everyone else at this time, I personally know people who lost their homes, and a lot more who lost the equity in their homes because they were forced to sell at a time when the house was devalued. 

I do not wish to judge anyone, and I know that people suffered despite making sound financial decisions, but anyone looking at the financial reality of what is often called the Great Recession has to admit that if the principles God taught through President Hinckley had been generally followed, then the suffering would have been at minimum greatly reduced, and perhaps even entirely avoided. I feel very grateful to have heard this counsel throughout my life, and I know that it helped my wife and I avoid what could have been a major financial disaster early in our marriage. In other words, I saw the financial mishaps of that time and know that there, but for the grace of God - through the teachings of His Prophet - went I.

I sometimes think about the way the Lord warned us all about this tragedy: He didn't tell President Hinckley to warn us that there would be a collapse of the housing market. Instead, the message was to get finances in order, minimize debt, and purchase affordable homes. We don't always get to know the reasons from beforehand, but the message is made clear. I am grateful for this and the other guidance the Lord gives us through prophets and other of His servants, and I have faith that working to "increase [our] spiritual capacity to receive revelation" will bless all of us for years to come.