There's No Proof!...or is there?

by Kari Diane Pike

Three-year-old Travis and his four-year-old brother Wesly love playing at Grandma's house. One day when little Kylie came over to play, Travis didn't seem to mind too much that this little friend was a girl, until it became obvious that he would need to share his toys. Travis decided that some of the toys were "girl toys" and some were "boy toys." When Kylie tried to play with the boy toys, Travis became very insistent that under no circumstances was she allowed to play. Wesly, always the peacemaker, quietly handed Kylie one of the boy toys she desired. With great indignation, Travis approached Wesly and soundly smacked him. Upon hearing the commotion, Grandma asked Wesly why he was crying.

"Because Travis hit me!"

"Travis, Wesly said you hit him. Did you hit Wesly?"

Travis looked up at his Grandma, his hands held up and out from his sides and pronounced, "There's no proof!"

How can you not laugh until you wet your pants when a child says or does something like that? It is very difficult to discipline when the little angels decide to wear devil costumes for the day. Can you blame me when I open my scriptures and read about speaking with the tongue of angels and wonder what that really means.

2 Nephi 31:12-15 promises that "by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel." What does it mean to "speak with the tongue of angels? Obviously this scripture is not referring to these little angels in devil's clothing who regularly visit my home.

In 2 Nephi 32:2-3 we are given further insight. "Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue 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 say unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what you should do." 2 Nephi 31:15 says, "...Yea the words of my Beloved are true and faithful...."

Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost testifies and teaches that Christ is the Son of God. Therefore, angels speak the words of Christ, which are true and faithful and teach us all things we should do. From this we learn that in order to obtain that gift --to speak with the tongue of angels--we must have faith, be baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and be obedient to thost covenants we have made. The Holy Ghost will bear witness to the truths we learn and when we speak we will speak and teach truth. The incedible gift of speaking with the tongue of angels is to speak truth as the Holy Ghost bears witness to the words of Christ.

In order to speak the words of Christ, we must first learn them. We are commanded to "feast upon the words of Christ." Just as we pray before partaking of a daily meal, praying before we begin our spiritual feast is vital to our understanding. The Bible dictionary states: "Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings" (Bible Dictionary, pgs. 752-3). Heavenly Father has blessings and gifts waiting for us...just for the asking!

Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, "The more you trust and rely on the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create. That is your opportunity in this life and in the life to come. Sisters, trust and rely on the Spirit."

Just thinking about the potential we have to reach out to others as we share the gospel message through our gift of writing brings joy to my heart. That writing might be the thoughts we put in our journals that will one day inspire a child or grandchild. That writing may be in the story line of a work of fiction..which at some time will give strength and hope to someone whose heart is hungering for a glimmer of truth. Whatever we write, do it with love and prayer and a conviction of truth so that what we write testifies of Christ. Then we will know we can speak with the tongue of angels...and even be granted the power to discipline with love and laughter when caring for the precious angels entrusted to our care...even when there seems to be no proof that they aren't really little devils!