Spiritual Thought: Can ye feel so now?

"And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?" - Alma 5: 26 

My current scripture study has me in my favorite book, Alma. This particular verse is one of my favorites because I love that question: "Can ye feel so now?"

Hans on his baptism day, September 13, 2008
with Edgar Torres, who baptized him,
and Jalaine Wasson (whose photos I stole
for this post because she has a photo
for every moment of life).

Whether you are born into the Gospel or come to it later in life, each person must have their own personal conversion in order to gain a testimony. So even though I was baptized at 8 and Hans joined the church at 22, I still think of us both as converts.

It's exciting to be around new converts. Their enthusiasm for the Gospel is infectious and inspiring. That fire burns so bright. But it can be hard to keep that burning, can't it? I'm not talking about someone dumping water on it or putting it out all together (how long can I keep this metaphor running? sorry guys...), but the gradual going out of a flame that's not properly nurtured and fed. It happens slowly and by small degrees and sometimes we don't even notice.

That's why those seminary/primary answers are so important. Read every day. Pray every day. Have family home evening every week. Attend all your church meetings. Visit the temple as often as possible. Sometimes we (I?) spout these answers without really internalizing what they mean. Because they are so simple. And we hear them so often. "Yeah, yeah, I know," we think. 

So your spiritual thought this week is to fan that flame. To think about the joy you felt at the moment of your personal conversion and try always to feel that way. Keep this question always in your mind "Can ye feel so now?"

At the temple after taking out our endowments,
October 10, 2009