

They want to return to that place of comfortable, taken-for-granted belief, so they double down on what the church has taught them to do (and which Nelson emphasizes in the first of his five points): study the gospel and be engaged learners.

Rather, they study in order to recover beliefs they feel are fraying. In my experience, few people who are having doubts study with the intent of finding flaws in the gospel or the church’s interpretations of it. Stop increasing your doubts by rehearsing them with other doubters.” Study with the desire to believe rather than with the hope that you can find a flaw in the fabric of a prophet’s life or a discrepancy in the scriptures. Take your questions to the Lord and to other faithful sources. If you have doubts about God, Jesus or Joseph Smith, Nelson said, you should “choose to believe and stay faithful. Nelson’s talk on faith in the Easter Sunday morning session of general conference hit upon some classic points, like the role of faith in overcoming obstacles in life, and the role of study and prayer in increasing faith.īut the second of his five points struck a nerve with some listeners.
