Episode Details

Welcome back to Streaking the Scriptures! I'm Jeff Downs, and today's study session is coming to you right in the middle of the day—a little lunchtime lift.

Earlier this morning I was blessed to attend an endowment session in the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple. Our home temple in Saratoga Springs is temporarily closed for maintenance, so a whole bunch of us just "moved temples" for a couple of weeks. What an incredible blessing it is to live where, even when one temple is closed, you can choose from several others within about 30 minutes. That thought alone sets the tone perfectly for today's study in Doctrine and Covenants section 138—a section all about the reach of the Savior's redeeming power and the hope He offers to everyone.

In this episode, we'll walk with President Joseph F. Smith as he sits in his room, pondering the scriptures and the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and then receives a sweeping vision of the spirit world. We'll connect his pattern of pondering to President Russell M. Nelson's invitation to study the names of Christ and to Elder Peter M. Johnson's experience of wrestling with hard questions and finding peace in remembered revelation. Along the way, we'll highlight a simple, repeatable pattern you and I can follow to better receive personal revelation.

And because we're all about tiny, consistent actions here on Streaking the Scriptures, I'll also invite you to turn what we're studying today into a living, breathing streak in your life—something you can track daily in the MyStreaks – Streak Tracker app so this kind of pondering doesn't just happen once in a while, but becomes part of who you are.

Let's dive in.

1. 00:00 – Lunchtime Study & Temple Tender Mercy Saratoga Springs Temple closure, attending Mount Timpanogos, gratitude for multiple nearby temples, and welcoming listeners to a lunchtime study in D&C 138.

2. 02:26 – Historical Setting: Joseph F. Smith's 1918 Vision Context for section 138: October 3, 1918; General Conference; Joseph F. Smith's divine communications and the canonization process of this revelation.

3. 04:33 – "I Sat in My Room Pondering": A Pattern for Revelation Begins President Smith's simple setup: a dedicated place, pondering the scriptures, and reflecting on the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God—all scriptures pointing to Christ.

4. 05:33 – Names of Christ & President Nelson's Topical Guide Challenge Searching for the talk, discovering that the "2,200 references" story grew out of earlier teachings, and then connecting to Elder Neil L. Andersen's "We Talk of Christ" and President Nelson's invitation.

5. 10:20 – "I'm a Different Man": Drawing on the Power of Jesus Christ Reading from President Nelson's April 2017 talk "Drawing on the Power of Jesus Christ in Our Lives"; the danger of shortcut phrases like "the Atonement," and the need to focus directly on the Savior Himself.

6. 14:46 – Pondering the Savior, Not an Abstract Event Tying Nelson's counsel back to section 138: Joseph F. Smith pondering the Son of God and His atoning s