"The Tongue of Angels"

The reason I pulled out that talk from two years ago was because I had a similar speaking assignment for this Sunday. I debated about just doing the same talk again, but decided against it.

Here is the talk I did give today:


As a small child, my parents moved into a ward where some Deaf people resided. We picked up some sign language during that time. I was nearly as proficient in sign language as I was in English, which, at the age of two, wasn’t too much in either. Twenty years later, as a college student, when it came time to choose a language to study, I choose American Sign Language. I took to it quickly, even remembering the things I had learned as a toddler. Although I have no memory of those visits, the words I had learned stayed with me.

What is it about words that stay with us so much? Our brains are wired to learn and retain language. We spend the first years of our life focused on mastering the language around us. Why did God program us to seek that first, before all else?

Joseph Smith said, “It is by words … [that] every being works when he works by faith. God said, ‘Let there be light: and there was light.’ Joshua spake, and the great lights which God had created stood still. Elijah commanded, and the heavens were stayed for the space of three years and six months, so that it did not rain. … All this was done by faith. … Faith, then, works by words; and with [words] its mightiest works have been, and will be, performed.”
The words we speak have the power to build, destroy, uplift, and degrade. The works we perform in this life stem from the words we speak.

Jeffrey R. Holland said, in his talk “The Tongue of Angels:” “Our words, like our deeds, should be filled with faith and hope and charity, the three great Christian imperatives so desperately needed in the world today. With such words, spoken under the influence of the Spirit, tears can be dried, hearts can be healed, lives can be elevated, hope can return, confidence can prevail.”

President Hinckley gave us a great example of speaking with faith, hope, and charity. His words were always full of optimism for the future, and faith in those living today.

On September 11, 2001, while Pres. Hinckley was the prophet, America was attacked. This was the first time that those in my generation were faced with such a tragedy. I spent a majority of the day huddled in the office of the institute building with the other LDS students. A few of us had ventured out onto campus, but found the assemblies and chaos more than we wanted to handle. Like most of the nation, we spent the day glued to the TV. I remember hoping that somehow, they would announce something new that would change this. There would be something said or done that would make this nightmare just disappear. The sister missionaries came running in, asking why everyone kept telling them that America was at war. We updated them, and they started back out the door. Some of the students questioned whether they should go back to campus. One of the sisters responded, “If there was any day that people needed to hear the words of Christ, it is today.” They knew that words of faith, hope, and charity, could heal hurting souls that day. At some point that day, it was announced that President Hinckley would be addressing all those who would listen. We gathered together to listen to the address. President Hinckley shared the following: “But dark as this hour, there is shining through the heavy overcast of fear and anger the solemn and wonderful image of the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the Prince of Peace, the Exemplar of universal love, and it is to Him that we look in these circumstances. It was He who gave His life that all might enjoy eternal life.”
Those shining words of faith, hope and charity, made an impact on people. Years later, on Sept 11, I was discussing with a nonmember friend the events of the day. She shared with me that her boss at the time was LDS, and a Bishop. He came into the office, and invited everyone to come to the Stake Center and listen to the Prophet speak. She did, and she was greatly impacted by the words shared that day. She said that it was the first time she felt a beacon of hope that day.

We can, even in our darkest hours, share words of hope and faith. The things the Savior taught, and the atonement, cannot be undone or reversed. No matter how hard things get, for us as individuals, for our families, or as a nation, hope exists through the Savior. Fear and faith cannot co-exist. Hate cannot reside where Charity is, and hope will always drive away despair. If our words are full of faith, hope, and charity, there will be no room for fear, hate, and despair.
John 16:33 is one of my favorite scriptures. It reads: 33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have apeace. In the bworld ye shall have ctribulation: but be of good dcheer; I have eovercome the world.

Faith in Christ allows us to put aside the fears of this world, and fill our lives with hope and charity.

Elder Orson F. Whitney once said: “The spirit of the gospel is optimistic; it trusts in God and looks on the bright side of things. The opposite or pessimistic spirit drags men down and away from God, looks on the dark side, murmurs, complains, and is slow to yield obedience.”
Do we allow our testimony of Christ to raise us above the trials and tribulations of the world?

Elder Holland said, “We should honor the Savior’s declaration to “be of good cheer.”7 (Indeed, it seems to me we may be more guilty of breaking that commandment than almost any other!) Speak hopefully. Speak encouragingly, including about yourself. Try not to complain and moan incessantly. As someone once said, “Even in the golden age of civilization someone undoubtedly grumbled that everything looked too yellow.”

I want to focus on just a few words he says there, but they are important ones. He says to speak encouragingly, including about you. Perhaps, of all the areas our words turn negatively are the ones we speak to and about ourselves.
1 Corinthians 3: 16 Know ye not that ye are the atemple of God, and that the bSpirit of God dwelleth cin you?
17 If any man adefile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is bholy, which temple ye are.

We often use this scripture to talk about not defiling our body through immorality. But, let’s think for a minute about not defiling it through our words. How should we speak of the temple?
We speak of it in reverence, with love and respect. We don’t mock or degrade the walls themselves, or the sacred things that happen within those walls. Why do we do that to ourselves? Why do we speak negatively of our talents, abilities, or physical appearance? If we are a temple of God, we owe ourselves the same respect and reverence we give the temple. We are quick to defend our religion and the sacred parts of the temple when we hear others degrade it. We should, as quickly, stop ourselves from degrading remarks about ourselves.

Elder Uctdorf said, “Isn’t it remarkable to think that your very spirits are fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God? Think about it—your spirit body is a masterpiece, created with a beauty, function, and capacity beyond imagination.”

What beauty has God given you? What function does your life have in His great plan? What is your capacity for good in this life? If you don’t know the answer to those questions, I would recommend a heart-felt conversation with God in order to answer them. Each of us came to earth with unique talents and abilities. I don't imagine that Heavenly Father created us in an assembly line. He created you, individually, think of that- You are a hand-made product of our Heavenly Father. He wanted you to be just how you are, but then asked you to make improvements on you. What a great plan! I get to be just how God wants me to be, and just how I want me to be. He started the process of creation, and with careful consultation with Him, I can finish making myself into who God wants me to be.

Sheri Dew said, “"The more we sense...our ultimate potential, the more determined we become to achieve it. It's the difference between your mother hounding you to practice the piano and reaching the point where you want to do it yourself.”

When we speak negatively of ourselves, either internally or to others, we are diminishing what our potential is. Not just that, but we diminish those around us. Elder Holland said: “We see our own faults, we speak—or at least think—critically of ourselves, and before long that is how we see everyone and everything. No sunshine, no roses, no promise of hope or happiness. Before long we and everybody around us are miserable.”

How we speak of ourselves leads to how we speak of others. If we speak positively of ourselves, that spreads. Think of those people who you feel uplifted by being around. How do they speak of themselves? How do they speak of others? Do those who uplift you speak negatively of their own potential? No.

Fault-finding is not speaking with faith, hope, or charity. There was a young man who gave a talk as a youth speaker. I have never met this young man face-to-face. I only had the privilege to hear him speak in a sacrament meeting on my mission. He said something so impactful to me, that it is jotted down in my list of favorite quotes in the front of my scriptures. He said, “Faults are easy to find in someone, if that is what you are looking for.” Simple, but very true. If we look at someone, including ourselves, with the intent to find fault, we will find it. After all, we all have weaknesses. They do exist, and they are there. However, I believe the reverse of that statement is true, too- Greatness is easy to find in someone, if that is what you are looking for.

I want to point out something else about this story. That young man, whom I never met, said words that are etched into my memory, and my scriptures. He does not know the impact he made on me that day.

I wonder what he may have said if the person asking him to speak said, “We will be recording your words and reading them to other congregations across the United States.” But, that is what happened.

Nephi, Jacob, and other writers of the Book of Mormon etched their words into metal. They were so important, and so vital, they took the time and energy to do that. What of our words? What if we started imagining that every word we spoke was being etched into a permanent record to be reread somewhere?

They are being recorded, though, and replayed, too. We know from the hymn “Do what is right” that angels are taking silent notes. However, they aren’t the only ones. Our children have the words we speak etched in their minds. At the ages when they are learning language, the words we speak are forming those first understandings of who they are, and what language is. I learned sign language as a two-year old, and, as an adult, I could recall those words I learned. How much of what is said to a child is retained, permanently, in their minds?

Elder Holland said, “We must be so careful in speaking to a child. What we say or don’t say, how we say it and when is so very, very important in shaping a child’s view of himself or herself. But it is even more important in shaping that child’s faith in us and their faith in God. Be constructive in your comments to a child—always. Never tell them, even in whimsy, that they are fat or dumb or lazy or homely. You would never do that maliciously, but they remember and may struggle for years trying to forget—and to forgive. And try not to compare your children, even if you think you are skillful at it. You may say most positively that “Susan is pretty and Sandra is bright,” but all Susan will remember is that she isn’t bright and Sandra that she isn’t pretty. Praise each child individually for what that child is, and help him or her escape our culture’s obsession with comparing, competing, and never feeling we are “enough.”

I wonder how the words we speak to and around children would change if we understood that every word was being etched into their minds forever. As adults, what will their memories be?

I wish to share what a friend of mine said about being a victim of verbal abuse. Her memory, as an adult, of what happened as a child, struck me.

I don't know what it is like to be a human punching bag, and I am really very grateful for that. I do know how it feels to be verbally abused by a parent. I imagine the memory process is very similar. I can remember exactly what I was doing, exactly what was said, and exactly how it hurt. I can remember who was there, who wasn't, in some cases, what I was wearing. I can remember who showed up and stopped it, or let it continue. When I think of it, the pain, if I allow it to be, is just as real and as evident at the day it was when the abuse happened. In a way, I am lucky because some of my verbal abuse, and actually very silent. No one thinks of it being that way, but I was called horrible names and told that I was worthless in one way or another - basically ripped to shreds, and the only thing said to me over the course of several months to follow, was either related to that experience OR related to passing food condiments - the silence became as painful as the words.

As Elder Holland said, and my friend experienced, it is both what is said, and what isn’t said, that makes a great impact.

One of my favorite professors in college was my sign language professor. He was completely Deaf from birth. He was the only member of his family that was Deaf, but his family all learned sign language in order to communicate with him. When he was just 15 years old, his father was in a car accident. In a head-on collision, the windshield shattered, spraying glass everywhere, including into his father’s eyes. His father was completely and permanently blinded by the accident. He was never again able to have a conversation with his father without the help of someone or something else. From 15 years old and on, many words were left unsaid. Many conversations that should happen between a father and son, didn’t. This tragedy was inflicted on them by an accident. Unfortunately, all too many family members leave conversations that should happen undone, and words are unspoken that should be spoken. For most, there is no reason for this. On my last day of class, he told us that no matter where life brought us, and no matter if we went on to learn more sign language or not, his hope was that we always made the effort to communicate with those we loved, for all too suddenly, that ability can be lost.
I have been blessed with the ability to use my sign language at times. It isn’t those words that I first learned at the age of two that I use, though. I can’t imagine those few signs would do me much good in most conversations. It took years of study and practice to be able to speak the language. I had the foundation, but I had to put the effort in. The only way to learn a language is through practice.

2 Nephi 23:2-3 Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had areceived the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the btongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?
Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, bfeast upon the cwords of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will dtell you all things what ye should do.

How can we learn to speak in the tongue of angels? The same way we learn another language. We have a teacher, the Holy Ghost, a textbook, the scriptures, and now all we need to do is study and practice. That study and practice comes through daily study of the scriptures, looking to the Savior’s words as an example of how we should speak to each other. The practice comes in daily conversations we have with our fellow man.

Why should we learn this language? Because, as Elder Holland said, “When Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ speak to you—and They will—it will not be in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but it will be with a voice still and small, a voice tender and kind. It will be with the tongue of angels.”

How else will we understand their words, if we have not learned to speak Their language?

I know that Jesus Christ lives, and that He desires us to draw close to Him. I know that as we speak with faith, hope, and charity, to ourselves and to those around us, we will draw closer to Him, and we will hear His words and feel His spirit. I am grateful for the atonement, for without it, there would be no faith, hope, or charity to speak of. With it, we have all the faith hope and charity we need to draw us from day to day.