All Things Bear Record of Me
by President Chipman
I want to share an experience that Sister Chipman and I had on Sunday. We were meeting with the pharmacist lady and her boyfriend. We were teaching them about Heavenly Father. I asked them what they believed. Her answer was illuminating. She believes in God, a supreme being. She believes that He is above all. She believes in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. She sees some truth in many different philosophies on the earth. She then pointed to a plant in her office. She said she feels a connection to the Earth, to dirt, and to plants. She feels it has a spirit (what the ancients call the "Pachamama"). We explained that we embrace and accept all truth, wherever it is found, and that all truth comes from Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ is Heavenly Fathers son. He is "full of grace and truth" and that all truth, wherever it is found, is centered in Them. I then pointed to the pot of dirt and the plant. Sister Chipman and I taught her that God created the earth spiritually before he created it physically, that plants and the earth itself have spirits, and that God created all such things for us. Because of my many years of hikes and experience with family in the mountains, and the spiritual connection I feel to natural things, and the understanding I have gained about our stewardship and responsibility for natural things, I could feel the Spirit testify to all of us when I promised our friend that this connection she feels to dirt and plants and natural things was divine and came from God. I felt the influence of the Spirit reaffirming the truth of these things as I explained them to her. This foundational understanding helped her understand as we explained that this same Heavenly Father yearned to gather all of His children through covenants and ordinances made possible through the Atonement of His son, Jesus Christ. I left the meeting feeling a great appreciation for the things I have learned from having experiences in nature and as I have learned about the importance of protecting nature.
As Elder Christofferson said, “Truth is scattered liberally across the globe.” Joseph Smith who encouraged us to “get all the good in the world” and to “receive truth, let it come from whence it may.” Truth has many aspects — spiritual, physical, philosophical, historical — and in the end they all fit together into one great whole.
Scripture references and Talks
Our Earthly Stewardship by Bishop Gérald Caussé, Presiding Bishop
October 2022 General Conference address
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2022/10/31causse?lang=eng
Moses 6:63:
“Things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.”
Doctrine and Covenants 104:13-14
13 For it is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man accountable, as a steward over earthly blessings, which I have made and prepared for my creatures.
14 I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the earth, my very handiwork; and all things therein are mine.
Doctrine and Covenants 59:18-20
18 Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart;
19 Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul.
20 And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion.
President Russell M. Nelson once remarked: “As beneficiaries of the divine Creation, what shall we do? We should care for the earth, be wise stewards over it, and preserve it for future generations.” (The Creation, April 2000 general conference)
Environmental Stewardship and Conservation
