Elder Jay E. Jensen of the Presidency of the Seventy spoke to BYU students at the Tuesday devotional about using the word of God to ensure they weather the storms of life and build their testimonies upon the rock Helaman spoke of.

“We do live in the perilous and stormy times prophesied,” he said.

Jensen said members of the church during his lifetime have weathered these storms because of their willingness to study and obey the word of God.

He spoke of two examples of the word that were a constant in his childhood which helped him to build his own testimony. One was the Pearl of Great Price; the other was “A Voice from the Dust,” a narrative version of Book of Mormon stories.

He said the Book of Mormon is a treatise on the power of words.

Nephi wrote in the first verse “I was taught somewhat in the learning of my father,” and the book ends with a promise from Moroni about the word of God.

Between pages 195 and 427 of the Book of Mormon, there are 165 uses of “word,” most of which speak of learning and teaching. Jensen quoted Alma 31:5, which says the word of God had a more powerful effect on the minds of the people than anything else, including the sword.

He used the example of Alma’s comparison of the word to a seed. He emphasized Alma compares the word, not faith, to a seed.

“True words, true doctrines and true principles will sprout and grow,” he said.

He urged students to take time to study and ponder the scriptures and gave six tips he promised would help students gain more in their scripture studies.

First was to pray. He told of a time when he was waiting for his airplane to take off — he thumbed through the in-flight magazine and then began to flip through his scriptures. As he did so, he felt the Spirit tell him that he should pray before studying the scriptures instead of treating God’s word as he did a common magazine.

Second, pay the right price. It’s important to search, ponder, analyze and compare instead of merely reading.

“Going through the scriptures regularly is good,” he said, “but to have the scriptures go through you and have them change you comes with a price.”

Third, look for patterns, using whatever study aides necessary.

Fourth, have a pencil and notebook ready to write down impressions. He said we have the 138th section of the Doctrine and Covenants because President Joseph F. Smith wrote down the inspiration he received while studying the scriptures.

Fifth, mark, annotate and write in the margins. Jensen is on his fourth set of scriptures since serving as a mission president in Colombia. He said well-marked scriptures serve as a “portable revelatory filing system.”

Sixth, teach what you learn. He said he does not consider a principle mastered until he can articulate it to someone else. He said it is our responsibility to teach others.

“You, my young brothers and sisters, have an obligation to participate fully in this wonderful and sometimes tumultuous time of preparation,” he said. “We simply cannot afford to be anchored to anything less consequential than the saving rock of our redeemer.”

Copyright Brigham Young University 10 Mar 2009