Latest / STRONG / FSY Nov. Week 3: What If I Have Gospel Questions but I'm Afraid to Ask? (feat. Michael Batty)

Transcript

FSY Nov. Week 3: What If I Have Gospel Questions but I'm Afraid to Ask? (feat. Michael Batty) · STRONG

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_04: Welcome to Strong, where we follow the For the Strength of Youth curriculum to help you get a little closer to Jesus Christ and a little more ready for what's ahead.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_04: The temple, a mission, and the life that you're building.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_04: I'm Kirby Hayworn.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_04: This month, your For the Strength of Youth curriculum is truth will make you free.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_04: I love that.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_04: This week we're learning more about the search for truth.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_04: We'll talk about where to look when you have a question, how to examine what you find, and how Jesus Christ can strengthen you while you keep learning.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_04: Let me tell you a story.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_04: When I was 16, barely a new driver, I had a 1979 Chevy Blazer.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_04: It was a tank, beautiful.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_04: And even back then, it was old.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_04: My dad gave me the responsibility of checking the oil, an easy enough task.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_04: He'd ask, Kirby, how's the level?
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_04: And I would check.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_04: Every time I looked, it was full.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_04: For months I thought everything was fine.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_04: Then one day I was with some friends downtown, and one of the most embarrassing moments of my life, my engine blew up.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_04: We're talking steam coming out from the sides of the hood.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_04: It had like bounced and it was scary and embarrassing.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_04: We had to get a tow truck and we had to replace the engine.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_04: And I learned while it was in the shop that it had run out of oil.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_04: I couldn't understand it.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_04: I told my dad I'd been checking it all the time.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_04: It was always full.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_04: So when we got the car back, my dad asked me to show him what I'd been checking.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_04: So I showed him.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_04: It wasn't the oil.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_04: It was either the power steering fluid or the brake fluid.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_04: Whatever it was, that fluid was doing great.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_04: The engine oil was a different story.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_04: I was checking regularly.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_04: I was confident in the answer, but I hadn't understood what I was looking at.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_04: Here's the thing.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_04: I needed someone to help me understand what I was checking and how to check it properly.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_04: That's a good reason to ask questions, even when we think we already understand.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_04: Let's look at what the FSY guide teaches us about seeking truth and where we can turn when we have questions.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_04: It says, Your heavenly Father is a God of truth.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_04: All truth comes from him and leads to him.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_04: How amazing is that.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_04: John chapter 3, verses 16 through 17 reminds us that God loves us and sent his son to save us.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_04: That means we can approach him with our questions.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_04: You might have a question about a commandment or a scripture or something you heard about church history.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_04: I love what the FSY guide says.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_04: Having questions is not a sign of weakness or lack of faith.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_04: In fact, asking questions can help build faith.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_04: All right, joining me today is Michael Batty.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_04: Michael and I, we've worked together as actors.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_04: He's a teacher in his ward, and he also, this is the coolest thing, he creates images and video using AI for computers, for consumption, for film, for everybody.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_04: Michael, welcome.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you so much.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you, Kirby, for having me.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, Michael, I'm so glad.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_04: We've been, we've known each other for a few years now.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_04: You've you've always impressed me.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_04: The first time I met you, you were 12-ish years old.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_04: Now look at you.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_04: 14, 15, you've grown up.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_03: So if I can return the favor, you've always impressed me.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, even though you get that a lot.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_03: I love this.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_04: This is the best episode ever.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_04: Um, okay, so Michael, I would love to show everybody and to show me.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_04: Is there something that you've created using AI that surprised you?
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_04: And uh then can you talk us through briefly how you did it?
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um the most recent thing I've created is this on screen.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_03: And um the way I made it, it surprised me because I made it all using AI.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_03: And I made it in music, everything, everything.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_03: All of the uh animations, the motion.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_03: So this is a game.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, fully playable.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_03: It's uh 12 to 15 hours of content.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my goodness.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_03: And it's fully AI.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_03: I've been putting hours into it every day for the past three or so days, and it's been a lot of fun.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_03: The way I've made it is by using Claude.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I use what's called um it's a certain type of prompting to allow Claude to give output such as these.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_04: So it it seems like if if I were to do that, I would do a dumb prompt like make a cool video game.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_04: Like you have to know what you're doing when you're putting in the prompts.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_03: So a lot of what I do is with AI and creating images or video games or apps or websites, is I have to understand what I want from Claude.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_03: I have to see the vision and I have to understand what about the vision I actually want or I don't want.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_03: And so when I create something like this, it's not me going and creating all of these things by myself.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_04: But you know the vision before you go in.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_04: I love that.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that's what allows me to create uh images.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_03: Such amazing things.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_04: You've brought a little test for me um to uh really, I think, take my confidence down a couple of notches.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_04: So hopefully.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_04: Hopefully.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, so let's go and uh let's see how see how it goes.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, we're gonna play a game.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_04: Michael is gonna challenge me.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_04: It's called Camera or Computer.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_04: So you have made some images yourself that are so photorealistic that it could fool even the most trained eye.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_04: I've got three-ish seconds to say whether it's a computer or a camera.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, computer or because that's the name of the game.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_04: And then if I get it wrong, then uh I have to put on some embarrassing stuff.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_04: Camera or computer, here it is.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_04: Here we go.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_04: Three, two, one, one.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_04: There's a pair of boots.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_04: This is AI.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: No way! Are you kidding me?
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that is not AI.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_03: You can tell because you can't.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, let's make sure your hair is down.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, okay, I'm ready.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_03: Next one.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, I feel like I've seen this picture before.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_04: It's a photo, it's a photo.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_04: It's a photo.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_04: The T Tons that's Mormon Row.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, is it?
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_03: That's great! It's a photo!
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, boom!
• 7:35
  unknown: Alright.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_04: Beautiful lake, and there's a boat dock.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_04: There's a little boat tied up to it.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_04: Yep, this is a photo.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_04: This is a No it isn't! Yes, it is.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_04: It's too real.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_04: I can totally tell you.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_03: Go great with your new hair.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_04: Um, let's go on to the next one.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_04: Alrighty, this is this beautiful forest fox going along.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_04: I haven't guessed AI.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_04: I'm gonna guess AI.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_04: This is real.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_04: Is it a real photo?
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: It's a real photo.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_04: Do I look cool?
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_04: All right, Michael, let's go talk about what all this means.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_04: Alright, let's do it.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, time to take this off.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_04: I'm humbled.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_04: I looked good, but I'm humbled.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_04: And you know, putting on the wig made it harder for me to see what I needed to see.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_04: And I think that's perfect for what we're talking about today because some things make it harder to judge what we're seeing.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_04: But even with a clear view, when I moved the hair away, we still need more information.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_04: So, Michael, when something online looks convincing, how do you tell where it actually came from?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um, for me personally, I go to credible sources.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_03: So I think one of the best things is going to a website or a person that I can trust and that I know will tell me the truth and give me reliable information.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_04: I love that.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_03: And when I go there, I know that what I'm looking at is the truth.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_04: That's perfect.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_04: I love that.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_04: That's what we're going to be talking about today.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_04: And you just illustrated it so perfectly.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_04: And the curriculum this month and especially this week, it also asks where we can turn with spiritual questions.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_04: The for the strength of youth guide gives us this invitation.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_04: It says, seek answers in the scriptures, in the words of God's prophets from your leaders and faithful family members.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_04: And this is the best part, from God Himself.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_03: That reminds me of a quote, and the quote goes something like this when it comes to holy things, go to holy sources.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, I love that.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_03: And it makes me feel inside so connected when I when I follow that advice.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_03: Because sometimes things need a little bit more attention.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_03: And so we need to go to places that give that necessary attention.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_04: Michael, thank you.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_04: That's beautiful.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_04: Have you ever wanted to learn more about a gospel topic?
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_04: Um if so, what was it and how did you find the answer to it?
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_03: And I think the answer should be yes for everybody.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_03: Because everybody is learning and growing, and there's no end to this stuff.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_03: And it's a lot of fun to be able to figure out answers.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_03: One answer I found was while I was at FSY this year.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_03: And at FSY, I had the amazing experience of being able to meet President Emily Bell Freeman.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, awesome.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_03: And she actually studied scriptures with my FSY company or group.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_03: And one of the things she taught us was how to seek personal revelation.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_03: And that was so important for me.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_03: She she taught us in a way that I don't know if I can exactly remember what she said word for word or uh topic by topic.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_03: But it impacted me to try to reach out to those holy sources and to try to connect with my Heavenly Father and Jesus and see uh what He would have me learn.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_04: That's beautiful.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_04: That's so perfect.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_04: Did you feel closer to Jesus Christ when you went through that process?
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_04: 100%.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_03: There's no doubt in my mind.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_03: And today, as I seek personal revelation, as I do scripture study, it helps me learn and grow.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_03: And it helps me find things that are true or things that I have questions about, answers to those.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_04: Let's suppose that you come across a post that's claiming that the church teaches something that you've never heard before.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_04: You need to slow down and you ask, just like Michael has taught us, where did that statement come from?
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_04: Does the original source say what the post claims?
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_04: What do the surrounding words explain?
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_04: The church has an amazing resource called Seeking Answers.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_04: You should look it up, it's in the Gospel library.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_04: Seeking Answages us to examine a source's knowledge and evidence and compare reliable sources and distinguish facts from someone's interpretation.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_04: A strong emotional reaction doesn't settle whether a claim is true.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_04: I think it's important to differentiate a strong emotional reaction with a spiritual reaction.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_04: If you feel the spirit, then you can go with that.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_04: And we feel that when we read the Book of Mormon or when we go to these holy places.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_03: Definitely.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_03: And I think with AI and the internet, the these there isn't necessarily more uh incorrect information in the world, but it's a magnifier of the incorrect information that we have.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_04: Well said.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that can really affect us if we can't identify that incorrect information.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_04: And sometimes we'll we will have like this visceral emotional reaction to something.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_04: And that's sometimes what gets likes and clicks is if you have that emotional.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_04: So I think it's important to follow the counsel from seeking answers to step back.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_04: Is this an emotional reaction?
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_04: Is it is it a spiritual reaction?
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_04: Specifically for questions about church teaching, begin with scriptures and living prophets.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_04: For history questions, consider the setting and each source's perspective.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_04: Some details remain unknown, and understanding the context doesn't excuse mistakes.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_04: There's a beautiful thing just recently, an October conference, Elder Gong mentioned that there's some things that he doesn't know.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_04: And that's amazing to hear.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_04: And I think reassuring for me.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_04: What we need to know is that Jesus Christ is our strength, that God loves us, that we're divine beings created in his image.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_04: And that's brings me comfort.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_03: I like what you said about uh there are some things we just don't know, and we might never know.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_03: And what I love about that is because if we did know everything, um we wouldn't be here.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_03: We would be somewhere else.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_03: And I think uh our role in this mortality is not to know everything, but instead to have faith and believe in Christ and through Christ.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_04: The Topics and Questions guide teaches us our understanding of eternal truth comes from God through the Holy Ghost.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_04: And like Michael has said, along with careful study, we can ask for his guidance.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_04: The FSY guide says, seek your heavenly father in prayer, pour out your heart to him.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_04: Beautiful example is in the Joseph Smith history.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_04: Joseph Smith had a question.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_04: There were so many things being presented to him that he didn't know which one was right, which one was true.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_04: And I think there were a bunch of emotional reactions too.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_04: And so he did, he teaches us perfectly.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_04: He went to the scriptures and in James.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_04: Do you know what he did?
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_04: What did he find in James?
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_03: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_04: And that's exactly what he did.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_04: He was uncertain about something.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_04: He went to the Bible, he followed what the Bible said, and he went out and again and again he read it and he prayed and he decided to ask God.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_04: And that's so beautiful.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, so Michael, I've got a hard question for you.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_04: And we can use resources that we have here.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_04: What do you do if you continue studying and praying and an answer doesn't come?
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_04: There has to be something in the FSY guide, I'm sure.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_03: Well, a good friend of mine recently showed me the answer to this question.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_03: And it's on page 61 of your FSY guide.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_03: And it says, if answers don't come right away, trust that you will learn line upon line.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_03: So we're breaking it down.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_03: And keep living by what you already know and keep seeking for truth.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_03: So if an answer doesn't come, don't be afraid.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_03: It will come slowly, line upon line, precept upon precept.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_03: But while it's coming, believe in what you already know.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_03: There are things that we already know.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_03: We already have faith.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_03: We already have trust.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know if you remember, there was a conference talk from President Ukdorf, but he talked specifically about this.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_04: Do you know?
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_04: Of course you remember.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, President Ukdorf talks about how we can doubt our uh doubts before we doubt our faith.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_04: I love that.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_04: It's so beautiful.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_04: And I love how you said you you keep you hold on to what you already know.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_04: All right, let me ask you this, Michael.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_04: You're teaching me so much.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_04: What does that mean to you?
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_04: What does it mean by can holding on to what you already know and living by what you already know when you're seeking for questions in your everyday life?
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I think it's really important to identify this because for everybody it's different.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_03: For me, this quote um means that everybody goes through hard things.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody will have doubts.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_03: That's just the nature of mortality.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that's so important to me because so many times in my life I've had to turn to Christ.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_03: And I've had to doubt my doubts before I doubt my faith.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_03: And it's made such an impact.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_04: I love that.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_04: You are turning to Christ because I feel like you know, as all of us should know, that Jesus Christ is our strength.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_04: When we go to him, we carry questions, we carry hurt, we carry burdens.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_04: He will lift us and be our strength.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you for that.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_04: Here's one way that we can put that counsel into practice.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_04: When a claim troubles you, give it careful examination.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_04: Look at the evidence and the assumptions.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_04: Also allow what you've already learned about Jesus Christ to remain part of your thinking.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_04: Keep bringing the question to him as you investigate it, just like Michael so beautifully taught us.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, now it's your turn.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_04: Tell me about a time that you asked someone a question about God or the gospel.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_04: What was your question?
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_04: And what did that person do that helped you?
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I recently asked someone, how can you find proof that God exists?
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: And they told me to look at his children and his works, and that we can see his light and um that he was a real person through his creations.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: So my question was um I asked my mom how I could feel the spirit more, and I got answers to that question by going to church.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: There was a speaker who talked about how to feel the spirit more, and I just felt that so much more in my life.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_04: Now, here's a question that you might have wanted to ask in class.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_04: I have a question about the church, but I'm afraid people will think I'm losing my faith if I ask it.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_04: How do I bring it up?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_04: That's a great question.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_04: You know, that can feel like a risk.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_04: You want help with a question, and you also care about how people see you.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_04: Let's listen again to this sentence from the FSY guide.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_04: It says, having questions is not a sign of weakness or lack of faith.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_04: This is what you do.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_04: Choose someone that you trust and ask for a private conversation.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_04: It could be a parent, it could be a leader, or it could be a teacher who listens carefully.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_04: You don't have to start by raising your hand in front of the whole class.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_04: You could say to this trusted person, there's something about the gospel that I want to understand.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_04: Could I explain this whole question to you and then we could look at it together?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_04: Michael, can you think of a time in your life where you had a question and someone made it easy for you to ask that question?
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_04: What did they do?
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_03: There are so many times in my life where I've had questions.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_03: A great example that comes to me are my teacher leaders or teacher quorum advisors and deacon quorum advisors.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_03: They always made it so easy and simple to reach out.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_03: And sometimes that gap was closed because they reached out first.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, I love that.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_04: They reached out first.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_04: So, yes, teach us as leaders, as adults, what that's a great way, like reaching out first.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_03: What makes it easy for me to reach out to somebody with a question about the church or even something else that I'm having is the loving way they minister.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_03: And by ministering, I don't mean going to my house and bringing cookies.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_03: I mean the way they they are friends to me, even though they're advisors or my parents or uh anybody.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_03: When they're a friend, it changes the connection and it makes me it allows me to see Christ through them.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_02: That's beautiful.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_04: So to everyone out there, leaders and youth included, when someone brings us a question, we can listen carefully, um, express love to them, like Michael taught us, and admit what we don't know.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_04: And then we can offer to learn together.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_04: Preach my gospel gives this direction.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_04: It says, if people have questions or concerns, first seek to understand them clearly.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_04: Now, my dad understood what happened when he asked me to show him what I was checking with my blazer.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_04: When someone brings us a gospel question, we can take time to understand what they're looking at and what's confusing them.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_04: And just like my dad did, we can we can make it so they don't feel dumb.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_04: Um and that's one thing that I love that how my dad reacted in that situation.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_04: He taught me how I needed to see things, and um, I came away smarter.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_04: And I always check the oil in the right place now.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_04: Sometimes the person that you approach, they may respond awkwardly or they might get defensive.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_04: You can give a conversation time, and if you need to, you can seek another trusted person who will listen and study with you.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_04: You can bring the question and your worry about asking it to Heavenly Father.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_04: You are his child.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_04: Jesus Christ is your strength while you seek understanding and you can keep turning to him with what you know and what you still hope to learn.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_04: Michael, you're amazing.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_04: I've learned so much from you today.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you so much for being here.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for having me.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_03: Kirby, this has been so strengthening, and I feel strong now.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_03: Good.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_03: That's what this is for.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_04: Here's your move this week.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_04: Write down one sincere question you have about God or the gospel.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_04: Take it to Heavenly Father in prayer.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_04: Then choose one next step.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_04: You could study a scripture or a relevant church resource, or invite someone you trust, someone that you know loves you, to study with you.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_04: Write down what becomes clearer and what you still want to understand.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_04: That's strong for this week.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_04: Remember, you are a beloved son or daughter of God, and he has a work for you to do.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_04: Go do it.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_04: I'd like to thank our sponsors, Jared and Holly Swain, for making Strong possible.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_04: Visit strongyoutfoundation.com for episodes and more.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_04: I'll see you next week.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: Praise his name is Master.