Just prior to Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles delivering his message from the podium in the BYU Marriott Center for the campus devotional on Tuesday, Dec. 6, two students sang a rendition of the Primary children’s song, “I Will Walk with Jesus.”
Included in the chorus is the refrain, “Change my heart forever and help me clearly see. I will walk with Jesus, and He will walk with me.”
In the lyrics of this “beautiful song” is an invitation for profound reflection, Elder Soares said.
“Truly there is no greater, more thrilling, and more soul-ennobling challenge than learning how to walk with the Lord and simultaneously receiving the magnificent blessing of having Him walk with us,” Elder Soares said.
This year’s Old Testament “Come, Follow Me” study has included examples of “wonderful and faithful disciples” who walked with the Lord. “As we ponder more profoundly the lives of those people, we find that they sought to fill their souls with light and truth despite the wicked environment some of them endured,” Elder Soares noted.
Speaking to a packed arena in the last devotional before Christmas break, Elder Soares discussed the search for light and truth and how it can help individuals learn to walk with Jesus Christ.
“As we embrace the light and truth of the Savior, we will be able to follow His footsteps and listen for the sound of His sandaled feet and learn how to walk with Him,” the Apostle promised. “I pray that each of us will be able to declare with great joy, ‘I will walk with Jesus,’ and that we can confidently say, ‘He will walk with me.’”
Search for light and truth
According to the Guide to the Scriptures, light is divine power or influence that proceeds from God through Christ and gives life and light to all things. It can help individuals understand gospel truths and put them on the gospel path to salvation. The Savior declared, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).
“Therefore, as we seek for light in our lives, we are seeking Christ,” Elder Soares explained. “As we seek Christ and embrace His light, we become His children — ‘children of light.’ Children of light let their light shine so that others may see their good works and glorify our Father in Heaven.”
As individuals walk with Jesus and gain more light, He in turn blesses them to “always have His Spirit to be with them” (Doctrine and Covenants 20:77). “This is the exact promise the Lord made to Enoch: ‘And thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore, walk with me’” (Moses 6:34).
Elder Soares then explained that truth relates to light, knowledge and revelation from heaven and is consistent with the mind, will, character, glory and being of God. “Truth enables us to see clearly, discern and avoid deception, and set a course through the uncertainties of our day,” he taught. “In fact, we should always be searching for truth in our lives in one way or another.”
While the world is filled with more information than ever before, it has also never been harder to discern truth. “We live in a world with differing views, loud and divisive opinions, and subtle philosophies that often come from self-declared experts and influencers — many of whom may be shouting from the dark recesses of the internet,” Elder Soares said.
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln once asked an audience how many legs a dog would have if the tail were counted as a leg. When they said, “five,” the president responded that it was still four because calling the tail a leg did not make it true.
“There really is such a thing as truth,” Elder Soares said. “No matter how many people like and share their ‘truth’ or how many social influencers confirm it, the truth is that a tail is not and cannot be a leg.”
In today’s world, the standard of truth for the world has become relative to what feels good. “You might be able to walk with incredibly powerful technology in your pocket or backpack, but you cannot simply ask technology for light and truth. Walking with technology, even with its amazing capabilities, should never be confused with walking with Jesus. Relying on our walk with worldly voices and earthly sources can leave us vulnerable to false philosophies and untruths,” Elder Soares said.
Standing at the same pulpit, President Russell M. Nelson taught during a devotional in 2019: “Truth is truth. Some things are simply true. The arbiter of truth is God — not your favorite social media news feed.”
Elder Soares said the quest of life is to seek for light and truth and walk with the Savior despite the darkness that exists in the world today.
“How can we walk in the light and discern the truth without being deceived by relative truths that are advocated by people who are disaffected from divine and absolute truth?” Elder Soares asked. In response, he offered three strategies.
1. Study the Book of Mormon
“The Book of Mormon contains the answers to life’s most compelling questions, and it teaches the doctrine of Christ,” Elder Soares said.
Spending time in the Book of Mormon will guide individuals to Jesus Christ and fill their lives with revelation. “It will fill your soul with light and help you discern truth,” he promised.
Young Elder Soares first read the Book of Mormon cover to cover when he was a seminary student. “I still remember the warm feeling that swelled in my soul, filled my heart, enlightened my understanding, and became more and more delightful.”
Elder Soares called the Book of Mormon a keystone, a cornerstone to his faith in the Lord and a shield to the adversary’s attempts to weaken his faith and instill disbelief. “It gives me courage to boldly declare my testimony of the light and truth of the Savior to the world,” Elder Soares said. “I promise you that as you prayerfully and consistently study the Book of Mormon, you will find light and truth in your life and you will come closer to our Savior Jesus Christ and learn how to walk with Him.”
2. Spend more time in the temple
Quoting President Nelson, who said, “If you have reasonable access to a temple, I urge you to find a way to make an appointment regularly with the Lord — to be in His holy house — then keep that appointment with exactness and joy,” Elder Soares encouraged listeners to make temple attendance a priority.
“Temples are literally houses of the Lord. And when we are there, focused on worshipping Him and seeking for His light and truth, we can feel a distinct impression that we have left the earth behind, and the lone and dreary world is distant from our mind.”
Consider ways to make time for the Lord in His temples, Elder Soares said. “Come and place your burdens before Him in His holy house, and I promise you that you will be filled with a new spirit and confidence in the future. The Lord will hold you, cradle you and lead you step by step along the path to walk with Him. In the temple we learn the truths of eternity and receive more light as we draw nearer to Jesus and learn how to walk with Him.”
3. Follow the words of living prophets
Prophets are inspired men who are called to make God’s will and character known, Elder Soares taught. “Having living prophets in our day is a sign of God’s love for His children.”
When Elder Soares was first called as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and in desperate need of comfort, a phone call from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland provided comfort and confidence in an overwhelming moment.
“You do not need to have a personal phone call from one of the Lord’s prophets to feel God’s love for you,” Elder Soares assured. “You can feel God’s love by simply following their teachings.”
Knowing the prophets’ voices and following their counsel will lead to light and truth, Elder Soares told listeners. “Our greatest safety lies in following the word of the Lord given through His prophets, particularly the current President of the Church. I promise that as you walk with and listen to latter-day prophets and apostles, you will find yourself walking more with Jesus.”
In conclusion, Elder Soares quoted the Apostle Paul who said, “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5).
As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “you are the children of light,” Elder Soares declared. “You have the light of Christ, as well as the guiding light that comes through the gift of the Holy Ghost. Always, always walk in that light, which will lead you to truth and enable you to walk with Jesus Christ.”
Siblings Orion, Autumn and Solstice Welling from Jacksonville, Florida, all attended the devotional together. Solstice Welling said she appreciated the reminder to not worry so much about what others are teaching about what is right but to focus on the light and truth of the gospel.
Listening to an Apostle in person reiterated to Orion Welling that he can trust those called as prophets. “I really felt like [Elder Soares] really wants what is best for us,” he said.
At the beginning of his remarks, Elder Soares spoke of when he and his wife were university students in Brazil. Autumn Welling said she loved the way he related to them as students.
Britta Schramm, a senior from New Mexico, said the end of the semester can be particularly hectic, so a small but important nugget to her was Elder Soares’ counsel to ask God how to find time to study the scriptures.
