True Versus Truth: Finding the Secret to Latter-day Myths

By Rosalie Mason

What is the difference between something being true and something being an eternal truth?

This question has led many faithful members of the Church to be deceived by the semblances of the world into denying the truths that transcend our mortal experiences. In every aspect of life-babies, bodies, marriage, and more-there are thousands of ways we can be misled by society's standards of "true" instead of embracing the truth.

Drawing from the words of God and His appointed leaders as well as personal experience, Church educator and historian Ronald Bartholomew describes how members of the Church can learn to see the difference by increasing their spirituality. With this enlightening guide to seeking and interpreting revelation, you will discover how to
• identify and ignore Satan's subtle lies about normal, everyday things.
• hear and follow God's will for your life without distractions.
• gently coach your loved ones toward eternal truths.

When you can reliably disregard the "more or less true" in favor of God's truth, you will gain a deeper understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which will enrich your testimony of the Church and strengthen your bond with the Holy Spirit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cedar Fort Publishing & Media
• Release date: Jul 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9781462145225

Book preview

© 2023 Ronald E. Bartholomew

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever, whether by graphic, visual, electronic, film, microfilm, tape recording, or any other means, without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief passages embodied in critical reviews and articles.

This is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The opinions and views expressed herein belong solely to the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions or views of Cedar Fort, Inc. Permission for the use of sources, graphics, and photos is also solely the responsibility of the author.

ISBN 13: 978-1-4621-4521-8

Published by CFI, an imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc.

2373 W. 700 S., Suite 100, Springville, UT 84663

Distributed by Cedar Fort, Inc., www.cedarfort.com

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023931052

Cover design by Shawnda T. Craig

Cover design © 2023 Cedar Fort, Inc.

Edited by Liz Kazandzhy

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed on acid-free paper

DEDICATION

To all my students, past, present, and future

Contents

AUTHOR’S NOTE

CHAPTER 1

True vs. Truth

CHAPTER 2

The Truth about the Atonement

CHAPTER 3

The Truth about Who You Really Are

CHAPTER 4

The Truth about Trying to Be like Jesus

CHAPTER 5

The Truth about Becoming, Not Just Doing

CHAPTER 6

The Truth about Foreordination

CHAPTER 7

The Truth about God’s Power

CHAPTER 8

The Truth about Receiving Revelation

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

AUTHOR’S NOTE

I have written this book with the intent of giving my readers a concise view of how to improve and increase spirituality in their lives. I am totally responsible for any mistakes. My sincere hope is that the reader will both enjoy reading this book as well as learn valuable lessons, teachings, and doctrines about how to become closer to the Lord in their daily life.

CHAPTER 1

TRUE VS. TRUTH

What is the difference between something being true and something being an eternal truth? The scriptures tell us, And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; And whatsoever is more or less than this [truth] is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning (Doctrine and Covenants 93:24–25). Can something that is true be more or less than the truth? Is it possible that it could even be from the spirit of the wicked one, who was a liar from the beginning? It may seem that if something is true, then that couldn’t be the case. Yet I will show you, my friends, that a big difference exists between something being true and something being the truth. To illustrate, I will share two examples from general conference and then one from my own life.

Story from Elder Neil L. Andersen

Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve shared an experience of a good friend of his, a faithful Latter-day Saint who worked as a special agent for the FBI. In that role, he investigated organized crime groups that were transporting illegal drugs into the United States.

On one occasion, the Latter-day Saint man and another agent approached an apartment where they believed a known drug dealer was distributing cocaine. He described what happened:

We knocked on the door of the drug dealer. The suspect opened the door, and upon seeing us, tried to block our view. But it was too late; we could see the cocaine on his table. A man and a woman who were at the table immediately began removing the cocaine. We had to prevent them from destroying the evidence, so I quickly pushed the drug suspect who was blocking the door to the side. As I pushed him, my eyes met his. Strangely, he did not appear angry or afraid. He was smiling at me. (Beware of the Evil behind the Smiling Eyes, Ensign, May 2005)

The man’s eyes and disarming smile gave the impression that he was harmless. However, at that instant, my friend had the distinct, powerful impression to beware of the evil behind the smiling eyes. A flurry of activity continued until the man was disarmed.

None of us would ever willingly choose evil, yet one of the main reasons people choose evil over good is this: evil frequently lurks behind smiling eyes.

In this example, Elder Andersen discussed a worthy man who was initially deceived by things that were true—smiling eyes and a disarming smile. Thankfully, he was able to receive the prompting of the Holy Ghost about the truth that those eyes and smile were masking intended harm. No one is likely to wake up in the morning and say, I am going to choose evil today. But it is important to remember that choosing good over evil is sometimes difficult because evil can lurk behind smiling eyes.

Story from Elder Gregory A. Schwitzer

Elder Gregory A. Schwitzer, a General Authority Seventy, was working as a doctor in the emergency room one evening when a young man brought his wife in because she was suffering from severe pain. From the outside, they looked and smelled like they were living a rough life—they both had poorly kept hair and their clothing had obviously not been washed for a long time. After the examination, Elder Schwitzer sat down to discuss the problems and necessary treatment. He wrote,

This man looked at me with a deep clarity of love that is rarely experienced and asked with all the love of a caring husband, Doctor, will my dear wife be all right? At that moment, I felt the Spirit testify that he was a child of God and saw in his eyes the evidence of the Savior. (Developing Good Judgment and Not Judging Others, Ensign, May 2010)

In both examples, righteous people were initially deceived by appearances, the focus being on the eyes of the individual. In the first story, as the FBI agent looked into the drug dealer’s eyes, he was disarmed because the man was smiling, and he thought, Oh, he must not be a problem. But that drug dealer later confessed in court that he would have murdered the agent if he could have. In the second story, it was the young man’s eyes that brought the spiritual recognition that even though he was unkempt and perhaps had the appearance of a street dweller, the Spirit testified that he was a son of God who loved his wife.

Why would I begin with these examples from general conference? To illustrate that the devil can deceive us in many different and intricate ways that are not obvious on the surface. I have seen it happen to enough good people that I want to outline how we can protect ourselves from his deception.

Sister Lee of South Korea

While serving a mission in Pusan, Korea, I met a woman named Sister Lee. When we first met her, she was determined not to hear our message, to the point of threatening us with a gun if we ever returned. But my companion wasn’t deterred by her threats. After praying, he said to me in a solemn voice, Elder Bartholomew, the Spirit told me we need to go back to Sister Lee’s house.

I felt like asking him, Which spirit? But not wanting to dampen his excitement, I sighed and said, Okay. We’ll go back.

On the way to her house, I broke my foot getting off the bus, so we had a change of plans. We got back on a bus, my companion took me to the US military facility, and I got crutches and a cast all the way up to my hip. Now I was mad. I told my companion, We’re going back!

As we hobbled up the path to Sister Lee’s house, she came out yelling, I told you not to come back! But she stopped when she saw my crutches. Only for a second, though, because then she started saying, You’re just trying to play a trick on me, aren’t you? I told her no and tried to explain what happened.

Finally, she relented and let us in. She penned up the dogs, sat us on her porch, went and got her kitchen timer, then came back and set it for forty-five minutes. She said, Whatever you’ve got to say, say it. When the timer goes off, you’re out. Agreed? I said, Okay. I did my best to cover what I felt were the key points in all six discussions. Well, the timer rang, and she said, Okay, there’s the door.

As we walked off her porch and headed out of her yard, I pleaded with the Lord, Give me a cue to know what to say. Please give me a cue! We got to the gate and suddenly it just popped into my head to ask her, Do you like chocolate cream pie? She hadn’t had it, so she didn’t know if she liked it or not. Then the lights went on. That’s right! You don’t know if you like it, and you won’t know if you like it until you try it, right? She answered, Yeah, that’s right.

I replied, Well then how do you know if you like our church? You haven’t tried it yet. She thought for a second and then answered in exasperation, You’re right!

When we walked into church that week, we saw Sister Lee and said, Well, hello Sister Lee! How are you doing? and she just glared back at us.

How long are your church meetings? she asked in shock.

I just smiled back and said, Only three hours!

After the third hour, which was Relief Society, she came up to me and said, Elder Bartholomew, I just wanted to know if I could have you over for dinner. I thought, Are you serious? Who are you and what did you do with my investigator?

She had us over for dinner. We taught her all of the discussions. Come to find out, she was a deacon in another church and a very important person there. She taught a Sunday School class and had about two hundred people that came every Sunday. Leaving her church and joining ours was a difficult thing for her to do, so after taking the discussions she read the entire standard works and asked me if we had more books. I got every book that had been translated into Korean and gave them to her—most of them I hadn’t ever read yet: Gospel Doctrine, Jesus the Christ, Doctrines of Salvation. She was a voracious reader, and when she finished all those books, she asked, Don’t you have anything else?

I thought for a minute and said hesitantly, Well, we have a hymn book.

She quickly said, Can I borrow one please? When she got to hymn number 282, O My Father, she read that we have a Mother in Heaven. She called me on the phone on preparation day and said, Get over here right now. I’m getting baptized today! and she hung up the phone.

After the baptism, I asked her, What happened? What changed?

She said, I’ve always believed that there must be a Mother in Heaven, but my minister said there wasn’t. When I read that you believed there was, that was all I needed. And I have to admit that when I read your standard works, with every verse I felt the Spirit testify to me that the Church is true, but I was just having such a hard time leaving my congregation.

The next day when we were getting ready, the phone rang. It was Sister Lee. Oh, I loved this lady! She was so awesome. She never said hello or anything—she just abruptly said into the phone, Elder Bartholomew, what are you doing?!

What do you want me to be doing? I replied. You say. I do.

I need you to come to my house right now.

When we got there, her children took us to a house down the path where there was a larger meeting area, and when we walked in, to our absolute surprise there were twenty-four people. They were sitting on the floor, in rows, filling the room. Sister Lee was obviously in charge. She stood in front of the group and said, These men are angels from God. They have been sent to us to bring us the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. You will listen to what they say. You will not make any noise. If you have any questions, you will raise your hand. If I can’t answer your question, the missionaries will. Then she turned to me and said, Proceed.

She later brought most of her entire congregation to our church, and our tiny branch of four became a branch of seventy-six, many of them brought by Sister Lee.

This story illustrates what I’m trying to teach: it is not easy to discern good (truth) from evil (more or less than truth). This was a good woman, and her initial perception of me and my companion was not accurate: we were bad guys who had come from America to destroy her church and possibly even her life. But as she was touched by the Spirit, her perception of us dramatically changed 180 degrees.

The problem with perceptions is we don’t always know if our perceptions are right or wrong, but we each assume ours are right. So, who’s right? And I am not talking about your testimony. There is a danger in assuming that your perceptions are always right. Let me give you some examples. First, from President Hinckley:

The war goes on. . . . The victims who fall are as precious as those who have fallen in the past. It is an ongoing battle. We . . . are all part of the army of the Lord. . . . We are engaged in a great eternal struggle that concerns the very souls of the sons and daughters of God. We are not losing. We are winning. We will continue to win if we will be faithful and true. We can do it. We must do it. We will do it. There is nothing the Lord has asked of us that in faith we cannot accomplish. (An Unending Conflict, a Victory Assured, Ensign, June 2007)

In addition to the marvelous truths President Hinckley shared about our need to be faithful in the cause of the last days, he inserts an idea that seems to be hard for many people to wrap their minds around: We are not losing. We are winning.

One of the ways Satan deceives us or masks the truth from us, especially through the media, is numerically. It would be easy for someone to conclude from television or many of the online portals that the world is full of bad people! However, we know that there are good people everywhere. Satan wants us to believe we are losing the fight, but we are not. I have lived on both coasts and in the Midwest, and I have never lived or been anywhere where most people were not in general good people.

Can you see how your perception of things might dramatically affect your attitude, your feelings, and especially your actions?

Think about how sinister it would be for the adversary to get us to believe that we are losing the spiritual war—the war that President Hinckley says has been felt in the undying efforts of many, both within and without the Church, to destroy faith, to belittle, to demean, to bear false witness, to tempt and allure and induce our people to practices inconsistent with the teachings and standards of this work of God (Hinckley, An Unending Conflict). Think how dramatically that would affect all of us—what we are thinking, what we do, and how we share the gospel with others.

The last thing I would ever want you to do is question those things the Spirit has born testimony to you that are the truth. But I hope I can encourage you to be willing to question assumptions, especially those that are not borne of the Spirit.

Here’s an example from Doctrine and Covenants 93:24–25: And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; And whatsoever is more or less than this [truth] is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning. Anything that is more or less than the truth—things as they really are, were, or will be—is the spirit of the wicked one who was a liar from the beginning. Satan doesn’t tell you obvious lies—you wouldn’t believe them. Instead, he tells you something that is more or less than the truth. Here are some examples of the difference between true and truth.

Babies

Some things that are true about babies are that they are cute . . . but they are also expensive. Expensive to get here and expensive to keep here. They become teenagers. They control and sometimes disrupt your life, your figure, your career, and your sleep patterns. All of those things about babies are true. But none of them are the truth. In fact, all of those seemingly innocuous things have been carefully calculated by the adversary to dissuade people from having babies.

Look at our culture. How many people have made the conscious choice to limit the number of children they have, or to not have children at all, because of some of the things on that list? We all hear those things and say, Well, that’s true. But if it is only true, it’s a lie—or at least it’s from the spirit of the adversary—because it is carefully calculated to dissuade you from the truth. The truth about babies is that they are Heavenly Father’s children with the potential to become like Him, and they need physical bodies that only we can provide. Those are the eternal saving truths about babies.

If Heavenly Father was the only voice, and the only thing we could hear was the truth about babies, then we’d live in a different world. How could you abuse someone who was Heavenly Father’s child with the potential to become like Him? How could you ignore someone with that potential? But I guarantee you that when you are with your kids, you don’t always remember the truth about them. We often only think about what is true. You’re late again? "You came home with that on? What have you been doing all day?" And so on. When we focus on things that are just true, and ignore the truth, we are deceived. I bear testimony that this is the truth.

Ask yourself how you speak about children, both yours and others. Is it edifying or just true? In our informal conversations at church and at home, I hear us—all of us—talking about our children. We talk about how hard parenting is, what a pain children are, how they have disrupted our life patterns, how inconvenient they have become. Which column would that fall under? True. Everything might be true, but it just happens to not be the truth. And the danger is that anything that is more or less than the truth is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning. So, we allow ourselves to get sucked into true conversations that are seemingly harmless. But they aren’t.

Here’s another example of discerning between true and truth.

Bodies

What’s true about bodies? They age over time. Certain types of bodies in our culture are considered dramatically more attractive than other body types. Interestingly enough, world history students know that this trend changes over time. Also, bodies are expensive to maintain and retain, and mine needs help. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t feel like their body was inferior. Sadly, that’s not the truth about bodies. Let me say that one more time: I have never met anyone who didn’t feel like his or her body was inferior. But that is not the truth about your body—that’s more or less than the truth. The truth about our bodies is this: Satan and the one third that followed him have been denied a body as their punishment for rejecting the Savior in the pre-earth life. And a body is necessary to become like God and experience a fullness of joy.

Ponder for a moment how much more uplifting and edifying the truth about bodies and babies are. Again, I listen in on our discussions about bodies and I am not hearing the truth being spoken. I am hearing disparaging remarks about our own bodies and the bodies of others. It has been a long time since I’ve heard anybody say anything about their own body that wasn’t disparaging. What is the truth about bodies? They were pivotal in our Heavenly Father’s plan for exaltation. They were so essential that you took the risk of coming to earth to get one. And Satan and the third that followed him were denied one, ending their potential to become like God.

Your body is a temple. It is the most sacred thing on earth. It is even more sacred than the temple,