A Year on an Airplane

Yesterday, on a plane, I sat next to this guy who looked about my age. We started talking and I found out he was born in Salt Lake. I asked him if any of his family was LDS and he said that they weren't, his family all went to the New Apostolic Church. This eventually gave way to a discussion of God, faith, prayer, and the Book of Mormon. He used to attend the New Apostolic Church, but has since left and involved himself in a movement known as skepticism. Skepticists believe solely in cold, hard evidence and the scientific method. He did not believe that things happen for a reason, but are merely a result of probability. He also believed that people who pray trick themselves into getting the answers they want. Before I had got on the plane, I was studying the creation of the world and read the following from Doctrine and Covenants section 88:

41 He [God] ^acomprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and ever.

42 And again, verily I say unto you, he hath given a ^alaw unto all things, by which they move in their ^btimes and their seasons;

43 And their courses are fixed, even the courses of the heavens and the earth, which comprehend the earth and all the planets.

44 And they give ^alight to each other in their times and in their seasons, in their minutes, in their hours, in their days, in their weeks, in their months, in their years—all these are ^bone year with God, but not with man.

45 The earth ^arolls upon her wings, and the ^bsun giveth his light by day, and the moon giveth her light by night, and the stars also give their light, as they roll upon their wings in their glory, in the midst of the ^cpower of God.

46 Unto what shall I liken these kingdoms, that ye may understand?

47 Behold, all these are ^akingdoms, and any man who hath ^bseen any or the least of these hath ^cseen God ^dmoving in his majesty and power.

I shared these verses with my friend and explained to him that I believe that all of God's creations testify that He is God and that He created them. I told him of my own experience praying about the Book of Mormon when I was ten, and how the answer I received, a warm, calm, assuring feeling which was at the same time powerful and clear, was from God and that He has confirmed it ever since. We did not see eye to eye on the matter of faith, but I am glad that I got to share with him my testimony. He told me he had dated an LDS girl in Oregon and that he had even been to church. It was an interesting experience.

Today I found this quote by Elder Boyd K. Packer:

"All things not only are not known but must not be so convincingly clear as to eliminate the need for faith. That would nullify agency and defeat the purpose of the plan of salvation.”