Tearing Down to Build Up

In General Conference this month, President Nelson shared this video. As I watched it, I wondered what the pioneers must be thinking. If I were one of them, I would initially think, "Oh my gosh! They are tearing up what I worked so hard to build!" But, as I thought more on the subject, I realized they probably aren't thinking that at all. They are probably looking down and smiling as they watch all of the glorious improvements we are making. The temple that they built is becoming stronger with modern technology and knowledge we have. It is becoming more resilient. 

We often have to tear things up in order to build them up BETTER and STRONGER. 

We have done this with scriptures. We were given the Book of Mormon to add to our Bibles. It adds to what we had been given previously, giving us more and drawing us closer to Christ. We added the Doctrine and Covenants, so modern day revelations are now scripture. Joseph Smith went through the Bible and did translations so that we could better understand what we had been given. We also have footnotes, the Bible Dictionary, and the Index to help us study and learn. 

We do this with revelations. Sometimes we do what we were given revelation to do only to find out it was right for that moment but not for the long term. We get more and more revelations over time to build on one another, to sometimes replace the old, and to gain more knowledge over time. 

We do this with our testimonies. Sometimes we have to tear down our testimonies down to the studs to find out what we truly believe, what is truly important. We cannot depend solely on the testimonies of others. We can use them as a foundation, but we ultimately have to build our own. If you add on to a house you don't just go out in the yard and start building. You add on to the foundation you had and then build on top of that. 

President Nelson talked about the complex task of making the temple's foundation sure. We each have the complex task of doing so with our own foundations. It may not always be easy seeing something we thought was right or something we have worked so hard on torn down, but as long as we are doing so to build ourselves up again better and stronger we will be okay. 

Now, more than ever, we have work to do! 

Continue to question. 

Continue to tear down. 

That is the only way you can build. 

Reinforce. 

Build better. 

Build stronger. 

Just build. 

Then, you be strong. 

You will be resilient. 

You will stand the test of time.