A Teacher Come from God

This talk from Elder Holland in the April 1998 Conference is exceptionally powerful to me. It may be partially because I spend my day with children. Though my job as a teacher is civic, I believe I can have a more positive influence on days where I remember the principles of this talk. I feel that my "job" is a calling in many ways and that the people and students around me are people I am meant to influence for good...and I want to. I feel that many of our professions put us in the vicinity of people we can make a difference for...and we ought to take advantage of that and spread a little light. 

I know for sure that in my Church callings and at my home these principles hold true. I definitely have room for improvement, but these excerpts serve as great guideposts for all of us seeking to better influence the people and children around us who need strengthening.
I have taken a couple of pretty long segments from the talk, but it was impossible for me to not share more of this with my feelings of the importance of the principles being taught. Elder Holland is an excellent teacher himself:

"In all of this we must remember that the Lord has never given more emphatic counsel to the Church than that we are to teach the gospel “by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth.”"

"Do we teach the gospel “by the Spirit of truth?” He has inquired. Or do we teach it “some other way? And if it be by some other way,” He warns, “it is not of God.” In language echoing other commandments, He has said, “If ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach.”"

"No eternal learning can take place without that quickening of the Spirit from heaven. So, parents, teachers, and leaders, we must face our tasks the way Moses faced the promised land. Knowing he could not succeed any other way, Moses said to Jehovah, “If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.”"

"That is what our members really want when they gather in a meeting or come into a classroom anyway. Most people don’t come to church looking merely for a few new gospel facts or to see old friends, though all of that is important. They come seeking a spiritual experience. They want peace. They want their faith fortified and their hope renewed. They want, in short, to be nourished by the good word of God, to be strengthened by the powers of heaven. Those of us who are called upon to speak or teach or lead have an obligation to help provide that, as best we possibly can. We can only do that if we ourselves are striving to know God, if we ourselves are continually seeking the light of His Only Begotten Son. Then, if our hearts are right, if we are as clean as we can be, if we have prayed and wept and prepared and worried until we don’t know what more we can do, God can say to us as He did to Alma and the sons of Mosiah: “Lift up thy head and rejoice. … I will give unto you success.”"
***
"Satan is certainly not subtle in his teachings; why should we be? Whether we are instructing our children at home or standing before an audience in church, let us never make our faith difficult to detect. Remember—we are to be teachers “come from God.” Never sow seeds of doubt. Avoid self-serving performance and vanity. Prepare lessons well. Give scripturally based sermons. Teach the revealed doctrine. Bear heartfelt testimony. Pray and practice and try to improve. In our administrative meetings let us both “instruct and edify” as the revelations say, that even in these our teaching may ultimately be “from on high.” The Church will be the better for it, and so will you, for as Paul said to the Romans, “Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?”"

"A memorable account of the power of such teaching comes from the life of the prophet Jeremiah. This great man felt the way most teachers or speakers or Church officers feel when called—inexperienced, inadequate, frightened. “Ah, Lord,” he cried, “behold, I cannot speak: for I am [but] a child.”"

"But the Lord reassured him: “Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee. … Therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them.”"

"So speak unto them he did, but initially not with much success. Things went from bad to worse until finally he was imprisoned and made a laughingstock among the people. Angry that he had been so mistreated and maligned, Jeremiah vowed, in effect, never to teach another lesson, whether that be to an investigator, Primary child, new convert, or—heaven forbid—the 15-year-olds. “I will not make mention of [the Lord], nor speak any more in his name,” the discouraged prophet said. But then came the turning point of Jeremiah’s life. Something had been happening with every testimony he had borne, every scripture he had read, every truth he had taught. Something had been happening that he hadn’t counted on. Even as he vowed to close his mouth and walk away from the Lord’s work, he found that he could not. Why? Because “his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.”"

"That is what happens in the gospel to both the teacher and the taught. It is what happened to Nephi and Lehi when, the book of Helaman says, “the Holy Spirit of God did come down from heaven, and did enter into their hearts, and they were filled as if with fire, and they could speak forth marvelous words.” Surely it must have been that kind of heavenly joy Mary Magdalene experienced when near the Garden Tomb she unexpectedly beheld her beloved resurrected Lord and said to Him simply, “Rabboni,” which is to say, literally, “Teacher.”"

The full text and video can be found here:

 A Teacher Come from God - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland