From Kathy K. Clayton’s book ‘Teaching to Build Faith and Faithfulness’, from Chapter 1
I did not grow up with the gospel in my home, but because of a teacher I had as a young woman, I gained a personal testimony of the reality of my Savior’s love. My teacher did not live within my ward boundaries, nor did I attend her formal classes, but I claim her nonetheless. My teacher was a regular on the Church speaking circuit, and she invited me to be her visual aid. After she had offered extensive important instruction to her audience, she invited me to sing “I Know That My Redeemer Lives” as an illustration of principles she taught. I was flattered to be invited and sang with my whole heart to please and honor my mentor, but something else happened in the process. As I sang those lyrics, I knew. I knew what I was singing was true. I knew He really “lives and loves me to the end”; I knew He really was “my kind, wise heav’nly Friend.”1 I knew. As I committed my voice to the task and offered the best of my young talent, heaven burned into my soul the truthfulness of the things about which I was singing. . . .
At a new student orientation at Brigham Young University one year, an energetic presenter began telling the freshmen that there were many myths about BYU. She assured them that some of them were true, including that students got engaged a lot. “In fact”, she continued, “I have been engaged several times. I make it a goal to get engaged at least five times a semester.” The new freshmen were wide-eyed and giggling. I suggest you call your patents at the end of the semester, even at the end of this class, to tell them that you got engaged.” Marriage was not the topic. Engagement in learning was. My serving as a visual aid was not critical to the success of my teacher’s presentation, but being engaged in learning was to my achieving a changed heart. . . .
Psychological research demonstrates that people are more likely to behave their way into thinking than they are to think their way into behaving. Put simply, if we smile, we will actually be happier; if we whistle a happy tune, we will be less afraid; and if we count our blessings, we will feel greater gratitude. Or, as the Lectures on Faith state, “Faith is [a] . . . principle of action.”2 We receive a testimony of truth and grow in faith as we live the gospel. Learning and becoming happen best by doing because “if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine” (John 7:17). I sang “I Know That My Redeemer Lives,” and as I sang those lyrics, their truthfulness became my personal testimony. The message became my own as I did something with it. The doing afforded the Spirit the occasion to seal it upon my heart and promote my knowing and remembering. ~Kathy K. Clayton, Teaching to Build Faith and Faithfulness (Deseret Book, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012), 1-3 (‘I Know that My Redeemer Lives’. . . .scroll down to see words only)
