How do I study effectively and grow in the gospel?

This is the first of a series of articles that are inspired by studying the chapter called "How Do I Study Effectively?" in Preach My Gospel, pages 17-28.

As I read through this chapter, several statements stood out to me as essential elements of effectively studying the gospel to increase my conversion:

"For you to grow in the gospel and stay on the path that leads to eternal life, you need to develop a habit of gospel study."

"Study is an act of faith requiring the use of personal agency."

"Your gospel study is most effective when you are taught by the Holy Ghost."

"This kind of study prepares you for service, offers solace, resolves problems, and gives you the strength to endure to the end. Successful gospel study requires desire and action."

"Learning the gospel is also a process of receiving revelation."

"As you study, pay careful attention to ideas that come to your mind and feelings that come to your heart."

In this series of articles, I examine the key phrases in each of these statements. I explore the depth of their meaning and how I can apply them in my life to improve my ability to study the gospel. I testify that Preach My Gospel is an inspired book of instruction that can help all of us, whether or not we are missionaries, increase our conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ and enrich our lives in many ways. 

This first article addresses the topic of how studying the gospel can help us grow in the gospel.
"Grow in the Gospel"

To grow in the gospel is to

• grow in knowledge of principles and doctrine
• grow in the ability to keep the commandments
• grow in the ability to receive blessings and direction from Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost
• grow in "the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Eph 4:13).

The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith: "It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance" (D&C 131:6). It is impossible to be saved in ignorance of who God is, who Christ is, who we are, and who we may become, and that we are on the right course that surely leads to Christ and to exaltation.

Over the forty-five years that I have been a member of the Church, I can see periods in which I have grown and expanded my understanding and acceptance of the gospel. I can also see periods of stagnation when I have stunted my growth. Some examples of critical steps of my progression in the gospel include:

• When I first started with the missionary discussions when I was fifteen years old, I was pretty sure that God was an ethereal cloud of intelligent energy floating through space. A week later a knew that God was a perfected and glorious person of flesh and bones and that I could become like him. I do not recall how this change happened. I did not work at it. I did not even pray about it, since I was still resistant to the idea of prayer. But miraculously the Holy Ghost communicated the correct idea of God to my mind. Through the gift of a believing heart, I accepted it readily.
  
• My experience in seminary was a rapid period of growth in knowledge and understanding and conversion. I resisted early morning seminary during my sophomore year after I was baptized. By Fall of my junior year I decided to try seminary simply because all of the other kids in the ward were going. Once I attended a couple of classes and felt the Spirit, I loved seminary and could not wait for each day so I could soak up the gospel knowledge that was offered.
  
• After receiving my mission call, I realized in a dramatic way that I needed a sure testimony of the Book of Mormon. Through sincere prayer and study, I was granted the gift of a firm witness. That witness has sustained me for over forty years.
  
• My mission was not a time of growth for me, with one bright exception. During the hardest and most discouraging time of my mission, I received a stunning testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the First Vision. Prior to that moment, I had believed that Joseph was a prophet because I knew the Book of Mormon was true. Nevertheless, at a moment when I desperately needed to be strengthened, Heavenly Father revealed to me in my own sacred grove that he and his Son had indeed visited the fourteen-year-old Joseph in of grove of trees.
  
• I returned home from my mission and sat on a plateau for several more years. Then I had a Gospel Doctrine teacher who opened my eyes to the practice of searching and pondering the scriptures. I became not just a fan of the scriptures but a student as well. Even today I continue to grow in my ability to study and understand the scriptures by the Spirit because of what that teacher taught me.
  
• Among hundreds of sacrament meeting talks, one sticks out clearly in my mind. I do not remember the exact date, but somewhere during the late 1980s, more than ten years after my mission, a speaker talked about the role of Christ as the Savior and Redeemer. During that talk the Holy Ghost bore testimony to me that Christ is the very center of the gospel and the plan of salvation. For twenty years I had relegated Christ to a supporting role behind Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, the Word of Wisdom, the three degrees of glory, and most other doctrinal principles. But in that sacrament meeting, the Holy Ghost finally helped me to see Christ in his true role and position. Christ became primary, and everything else became secondary. The sacrament became meaningful. I began to have a true love for my Savior. I believed for the first time that he could actually save me, and that I did not have to try to save myself.
  
• Fast forward another ten years. Thanks to my high priest group in the Haight Bench Ward, I finally started to understand the significance of the temple and to appreciate the blessings that temple covenants and ordinances offer.
  
• As recently as a few months ago I attended a priesthood lesson in which a single word was spoken that is changing my life: charity. The Holy Ghost testified to me that now was the time for me to learn charity and to ask for that gift "with all energy of heart". In my slow and methodical way I am seeking opportunities daily to practice charity. I stumble and fail more often than I succeed, but the Spirit corrects me and teaches me and guides me when I take the time to listen.

I am happy to be able to look back on my life and recognize the growth that has occurred in my knowledge, my testimony, and my conversion. At the same time, I am unhappy to realize that I could have progressed so much faster had I been focused continually on the right things. I allowed myself to be distracted by too many meaningless things that robbed me of precious time. Had I condensed these marvelous moments of growth into twenty-five years instead of forty-five years, I could have been at this point in my spiritual maturity twenty years sooner. Add twenty more years of concentrated and purposeful effort, and I would be a different person at the ripe old age of 60 than I am today.

I am a living witness that the distractions of the world are very effective in stunting our spiritual growth. I thank the Lord that I can also be a witness that we can repent and make progress. He will help us wherever we are on the path. He is more interested in our direction than the particular point at which we have arrived. Mortal life truly is a journey and not a destination. Heavenly Father will help us and guide us if we ask him.